Sudium picosulfate questions

[Upthatcreek]

Hi all,

My son has been moved from movicol to sodium picosulfate as the movicol didn't seem to be working. We've been told to give him 5-10 mls a day of it (he's an average-sized 5.5 year old). It's helped clear him out and we're having less accidents

I have 2 questions about it though

1. His poo is now quite runny. Is this what we're aiming for as it keeps him clear daily or are we giving too much? We tend to keep it at 5 mls a day because of the looseness but he's still having a few accidents a week. We're afraid to up the dose if the loose stool is not supposed to happen.

2. Has anybody who uses this seen any side-effects and what are they if so? Especially wrt behaviour.

Thanks all for your help!

[Upthatcreek]

Obviously meant that as sodium picosulfate. Any ideas how I edit my title too?

[Georgina1475 in reply to Upthatcreek]

My son was on this some time ago and it worked well to clear him out but was too strong as a maintenance dose. My son needed time to repair after being constipated for so long. I would ask Gp if as a maintenance if 5ml is too much.

I don't remember if it had an effect on his temperament because in our case his mood was effected so much by being bunged up

[Hidden]

watery poo is what's expected after a Clear Out but I don't think that's the goal for daily maintenance.

[Luella19]

Hi there. When my daughter was nearly 4 and having lots of poo accidents the GP sent her for an X-ray as he suspected constipation and then he prescribed sodium picosulphate to clear the back log. She was given 5ml for a few days and it caused very uncontrollable poo for the time she was on it. After a few days she was put on movicol to use daily as a maintenance program.

I was under the impression that sodium picosulphate was used just to unblock and not as a longer term treatment. My brother (a doctor) told me that patients in hospital are often given sodium picosulphate prior to having surgery to clear their bowels.

I would say if you are getting lose poo then he doesn't need a higher dose. Perhaps a chat with GP to ask about a maintanance dose to use now that you have seemingly cleared the back log. This may be movicol again or maybe a lower dose of the picosulphate.

Best wishes...

[SallyandPaul]

Yes I agree with you it is too much as a maintainence dose. My daughter had a five ml spoon two days running and it was literally running!! She had no control at all. We now just use a sachet a day of movicol and I'm now trying 1.5 ml of the dulcolax twice a week but she still has accidents poor soul. Initially she as given the dulcolax as she was having reflux which the GP felt was also linked to the constipation but it is powerful stuff!

[saramoll]

Sodium picosulfate is a strong laxative. It's the drug that is used to empty peoples digestive system completely for a procedure like colonoscopy. My daughter has been prescribed it in addition to Movicol. The Movicol just softens the poo, it helps with witholding because it's harder to hold onto a soft poo than a firm one ( for maintenance). But the picosulfate actually stimulates the bowel into contracting and pushing out the contents. A small dose will simply make the child do a poo, a large dose will give them diahorrea, which is what's happening to your child. You need to reduce the dose until you find an amount which gives a daily poo, but normally formed. My daughter was prescribed 2.5ml at age 7. But it is normally just used for a week or two to kick start the bowel into working properly again, or for a clear out. Also, the drug acts about 10 to 12 hours after dosing, so choose the time you give it carefully so that the child will have access to a toilet at the relevant time. I was told to give it at bedtime by the doctor, to try and cause an early morning poo, but the nurse recommended not doing that as she said if the poo time came when the child was still asleep she might do it in bed - when the drug acts it acts and there is no holding on.

[Hipedmilo]

Hi the side effects can be anything. It depends upon the child.

It's trial and error with sodium picosulfate. I've been told by my son's incontinence pediatric consultant that it is best to get to brown rusty water and then restart the dosage from the initial dose and work back up.

The higher the dose the better the impact but this does come with side effects of tummy ache. So maybe if this does occur give pain relief.

The sodium picosulfate takes upto 12hrs to work. So I suggest you give it as soon as you get up in the morning. The flavoured sodium picosulfate tastes nicer (orange in colour) than the normal one (white in colour).