Movicol help please

[2Siobhan]

Ds has been dry since 3 except at night and only started pooing in the potty at 4.5 nearly a year ago. He has never pooed on the toilet as he is very scared of it.

Since starting school ds has got really constipated and I really don't know what to do. I visited the gp who first gave him lactalose and then changed him to movicol. I am really struggling with the dosage. I was giving him one sachet a day which was to much and had huge accidents so started giving on alternate day which isn't enough?? He has also started wetting himself.

2Siobhan, sympathy to you as constipation is such a worrying thing and so distressing to the child and parent - I know as my ds is 4.5 now and has suffered from it off and on for nearly all his life.

Can you give him half a sachet daily and see if that works better than alternate days? Shedloads of blueberries (I swoop on special offers when I see them) and dried figs help as well - a major part of our food budget goes on them! Prunes, oddly, don't help at all

Is it a recent change? DS had some huge accidents for the first week or so probably because there was such a huge amount of overflow built up and once the "rocks" were removed it all came splurting out (can you have TMI on a poo thread? ) But now it has settled down. I give him a daily sachet but he hardly ever drinks it all so I would guess he is probably on about 1/2 to 1/4 a day. He is much more comfortable and is now co-operating with toilet-training.

DS would never sit on the loo until we got a Bumbo loo seat which feels nice against his bum and a footstool just the right height. He also got some special books which are right up his street and which he can only read at that time. He must feel safe now as I overheard him saying contentedly during "toilet time": "Two feet on the footstool. A boy on the loo. What could go wrong?"

Sorry I can't help more, just wanted to give some support from a fellow worrier!

Agree with fickle, as the blockage clears there will be more accidents in short term, wetting is likely due to constipation due to excess poo in bowel pressing on bladder. I wld be inclined to go back to one a day tbh

I would guess as well that you are seeing some overflow.. We recently had an impaction and we got up to 12 sachets before we hit diarrhoea - dd is nearly 5 - I'd be inclined to try and weather this bit and return to one sachet.. Or if that continues try half a sachet but make sure plenty of fluids.. Total chaos suggestion makes lots of sense about bowel pressing on bladder.. could it possibly be that the stress of the situation is causing regression? I'm sure things will settle once you have sorted out regular and softer poos.. Good luck..

Don't cut the dosage... the dosage is to clear the constipation.. and it takes a LOT longer to clear a bowel than you might think. Then when it IS cleared you have to maintain the dose because the bowel will have stretched , and it take anything up to 6 months and more to go back to being able to function normally... so please go back to the prescribed dose.

With constipation you get big lumps, small lumps and overflow. Movicol breaks down the lumps and eventually turns it all to mushy poo that can be passed... however this takes a while and what you are seeing is most likely overflow. if he is wetting too then he is almost definitely still VERY constipated and he needs the movicol!
Go back to the full dose and if no improvement UP the dose (check with GP first if you aren't confident).. he needs to be cleared out, then maintained to allow his bowel to work again.

Sadly I have many years experience on this topic.. plus hospitalisations for fecal impaction as my son has major bowel issues...

Thanks for all the advice I had a feeling that was what I should do but was hoping there was another way lol. It is difficult because of school. They don't really want to deal with it and I have had to go in to change him a few times already. His ot went in recently and demanded their support but it is still limited :-( xx