Poo and Movicol

[notfromaroundhere]

Lovely topic I was hoping for some help with.

DS1 was prescribed Movicol for Chronic Constipation in April. Since then his poo has gone from the hard pellets to what can only be described as a sloppy mess which stink (I know it's not meant to be a pleasant fragnance but this is foul). In the last month he has done one normal poo. He usually goes every day but there is the odd occasion when it is every other day (normally if we have had whole days out somewhere).

I'm finding 1 sachet = poo every other day, and 2 sachets = once or twice a day. And it is huuge volumes of slop.
Unless he has no pants on he will generally go in them and even without it is a very close call to getting to the potty/loo in time.

I've been back to the doctor's and their advice was to keep tweaking the dose which I will do but is it usual for the poo to go to so sloppy and foul on movicol? Any other wise words much appreciated.

Hi When I was caring for the elderly we used to find a lot of people with this problem on movicol, have you tried just one and a half sachets rather than the 2 for him, sorry probably not much help but it's sounds like a case of finding the right dose for him.

I find with movicol that it changes the consistency but doesn't speed things up unless you have too much. So the "right" amount will make it easier to pass but won't make it arrive more often. So I think there's a tendancy to say "oh she should be going twice a day" and then find that once a day is pretty sloppy. So I tend to concentrate on consistency and I'd only worry about frequency after that if it turned out to be eg every 4 days. Once the consistency has been good for a while it may get more frequent as the bowel gets used to it iyswim.

The other thing is it's dependant on how much they are drinking at the time - if that is fluctuating results can be unpredictable. So you might get by on less movicol with more water intake?

Fwiw, I dose DD1 in units of a quarter of a teaspoon. I pour the powder into a glass, cover with clingfilm and scoop out with a measuring spoon at dose time. So I don't have to stick to "packets" or even "half packets".

Thanks for the replies. I am going to try the teaspoon measuring method - excellent idea.

did doc feel abdomen that there were no blockages? Cos it could be overflow runny poo. We had something v much like this and cut back on movicol (on advice from another doctor) but dd actually had a blockage of poo further up the bowel.

She had stomach xray to confirm

I agree with r3dh3d, I have been told that movicol carries water down the colon to soften the texture of poo and lake it easier to pass the rectum, lactulose is osmotic so absorbs water from around the bowel to soften poo. We use both as softeners, along with soluble fibre to give the bowel something to grip on and now a laxative to speed it all up. Only laxative speed it up, the others just deal with texture (loverly!!)

Our dosages can be parts of a sachet, not whole sachets. I have also been told that as movicol is an electrolyte, it doesn't keep once made up.

Movicol has been a miracle drug for ds1. The only thing that has stopped the constipation.

However, I do find that thought it smells a lot less compared to normal poo, it sticks heavily to the pan and requires the assistance of a stiff toilet brush (one poo a day now performed on chiefly on loo - another miracle).

am v interested in movicol not keeping once made up. I always send dd to school with movicol flush made up (she has via gastro)and have put it in her overnight feed before. Is that wrong then?

Mason I was told made up movicol would keep up to 24 hours in the fridge. This is for drinking so may be different for gastro.

Was there an impaction? We have dealt with this since ds1 was 3 1/2. He is 6 now and the last year has been good. We did miralax (I think it's lactulose in UK) for the first year but I had a similar problem as far as finding the right dosage so that it wasn't too loose. Now he is on massive pro-biotics, magnesium glycinate powder and powdered fiber in his morning juice. It has worked really well. This has been a long road of colon rehabilitation and I wonder sometimes if ds1 will grow up being obsessed with poo...

Good luck.

I use fruit alongside movocal.One sachet a day.Always sloppy.However much better than chronic constipation.

We only need to use movical if things get really stuck! We were advised not to use lactulose as its full of sugar, so we use alot of senakot instead....and between you and me....those nappies are ripe smelling too - I just put it down to all the meds, and if thats what it smells like on the outside, goodness knows what it must do on the inside - so better out than in....

Thanks for all your replies. I do agree its far better for him to be going regularly albeit with runny results but he is starting school next September and I would really like him to have better control before he starts. He seems to get zero notice and has to go immediately

masonpixie/jabberwocky My chief concern was a blockage which I asked about and was told he would have the volumes of runny poo he was having if there was a blockage. He wasn't examined at all. I think I'll make another appointment with the decent doctor and see if I can get him referred or at least have his abdomen examined.

I can tell myself if dd2 has a blockage - I can feel it in her lower abdomen when she lies down relaxed. Try this on yourself when lying in bed, you can feel your intestine, and anything in it