Dulcolax

[voscar]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to ask the GP this on Monday but I was wondering if anyone has any experience of taking dulcolax whilst pregnant?

I have severe IBS and I literally don't get the toilet without a laxative, but I'm worried it could have an effect on the baby.

Any advice?

Thanks

You can take fibrogel in pregnancy which works a treat

I was prescribed lactulose which does the trick

Instead of dulcolax, try Dulcoease, I think it's safer, and instead of jsut making you go, it softens your stool and you can take it for a longer period of time to help regulate your bowel movements and ease the pressure on your bottom! Obviously, talk to GP first.

Lactulose here. Softeners are safer than ones that cause the bowel to contract.
Also I can't take fibogel, the taste makes me throw up (ok when not pg). I have psyllium husk powder (active ingredient in fibogel) in a smoothie instead.

Unfortunately fybogel, dulcoease and lactulose don't work on me. I've tried them all and after two weeks of not having the toilet gave up!

Hopefully the doctor can help. They say pregnancy can sometimes fix these things!

Have you tried Movicol? Similar to lactulose (osmotic), but the general surgeon I went to preferred it over lactulose...though I am now on lactulose instead (not sure why) after being in hospital for 5 days with an infection and subsequent constipation.
I think I'm right in thinking Dulcolax is a spasmodic...I know they wouldn't give me anything like this, or even an enema in hospital for consipation (brough on by opoids and an infection) at 31wks as I was having regular braxton hicks...so it might depend on where you are in pregnancy and the status...ie are you high risk?
Might be worth ringing your GP and asking them to phone you back, or ring you MW today and see what they think.
They might want to give you glycerin suppositories...can't say they did anything for me...2 glycerin and 1 other kind later and they gave up, nothing had happened. 30ml of lactulose a day, upping my fluids significantly, warm baths and gentle exercise got things moving eventually, slowly...
I was also given buscopan to help wiht pain management...dpending on how far gone you are, they might give you this to ease tension/pain.
From what I remember, laxatives do not cross the placenta, so it's just the risk of spasms bringing on early labor...

For anyone else who has similar issues - I had the doctor today and he told me dulcolax was fine to use. Actually gave me a prescription for it.

I'm not convinced he had a huge interest in it so I'm going to exercise caution and discuss it with midwife but doctor was adamant that it was fine to use.

Hi,

I know this post was back in 2011 so you may not see my reply! I wondered how long did you take dulcolax for during pregnancy? I used to take it weekly when not pregnant and since being pregnant I haven’t taken it but it’s now reaching 12 days with no bowel movement and I’ve tried the stool softeners with no luck! My gp didn’t seem very interested either and didn’t give me much information on it all. Thank you x

@DaisyLW have you tried glycerin suppositories? They are stimulant laxatives so work a treat! You shouldn’t take dulcolax without seeking GP’s advise and would need a prescription, however you can get glycerin supps from a pharmacy and are allowed to take them during pregnancy, oh and they work quicker haha.

Hiya!
Yes that’s what I’m using at the moment but as my problem is things moving from the upper bowel nothing really happens when taking them. I’ve also tried milk of magnesia, lactulose and movicol and it just gives me painful wind, still no bowel movement 😩 I was diagnosed with a slow functioning bowel and slow metabolism so unless I take something to get things moving, stool softeners or suppositories won’t really work. My gp has said I can take dulcolax twice a week but my midwife said not to so I don’t know what advise to listen to. All I know is that I need to go soon 😩 xx

@DaisyLW oh no :( have you tried docusate? That is another stool softener but it does also act as a stimulant laxative! There is a brand “dulcoease” but you can also get non-branded over the counter in the pharmacy which are relatively cheap and come in packs of 100! If you have tried them then I would definitely say to ring GP again and get a prescription for Senna or Bisacodyl!

I think I’ll try the dulcoease first and if that doesn’t help I’ll have to take dulcolax x thank you for your replies xx