Regular movicol- feeling ill and still only going once a week!

[Housey]

Does anybody have any advice please? My son is 5 and had trouble with stool withholding since march, we have disimpacted with movicol twice only needing to go up to 4-6 sachets for it to work. For a couple of weeks on 1-2 sachets a day he was going every other day and it was very watery but now even if I increase to 4 a day he still only going once a week! When he is on 4 a day he looks so ill and just lays about as he feels awful.

The doctor had given me sennokot for him before, thinking maybe I should switch to that? It's just going back to school in 2 weeks I don't really want him on a stimulant laxative making him need to go at school (as he gets in a mess trying to clean himself)

Anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks 🙏

[michelletaylor4]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about what is happening. We had a similar experience to yours, until we put the Movicol and Senokot together. My daughter is now taking one Movicol in the evening, and straight afterwards she takes 1.25ml of Senokot. We didn't notice much of an improvement, until we put the two together Hope this helps..

[Housey in reply to michelletaylor4]

Thank you so much for your reply 😊 I was wondering if I should try both together. I will give it a go, when you gave it in the evening did it usually work by morning? I'm just not sure when to give the medicine to avoid him needing to go or have accidents at school 🤔

[michelletaylor4 in reply to Housey]

I give it to Grace in the evening before she goes to bed. I don't want her having to get up in the night! Yes, it works a treat now. I have just cut her Senokot down from 1.5ml to 1.25ml, and she is still doing regular poo's. Yes, I would definitely give her both of them

[Housey in reply to michelletaylor4]

Thank you for the info, I gave sennokot last night and it has just worked! 😊🎉But he was in quite a lot of tummy pain through the night, think I will reduce the dose a bit too, as doctor had said to start with 5-10mls!

[michelletaylor4 in reply to Housey]

My daughter only has a small 1.25ml dose now, as the higher one made her very windy after a while. I don't know where you are based, but a very useful resource is The Childhood Constipation Service, Children's Resource Centre, Darenth Valley Hospital, Darenth Wood Road, Dartford, Kent DA2 8DA. Contact: 01322 428473 / [e-mail] These people are marvellous. They helped me out tremendously with my daughter, and if I hadn't had dealings with them, we wouldn't be where we are today. Who knows how Grace would have ended up? An tear?? God forbid that should happen I live in a neighbouring area to Dartford, but they take out of area referrals. You could always call them, or email. Please update us with your progress

[Housey in reply to michelletaylor4]

Thank you for all the info I will defo give them a call. It was so lovely to see him happy and smiley again today! I can't believe how much of an impact it can have on a child's mood and behaviour, it's an emotional rollercoaster all the time, exhausting!

[michelletaylor4 in reply to Housey]

You are most welcome. I had a terrible time with my daughter. It would be a whole week before she went, and then it was huge. I am so glad we managed to sort the problem before she got a tear. When I went to Darenth Valley for the workshop, there was a lady there with her son. He had a tear, and because of it, he had a lifelong problem with soiling..

[mummynev]

Hi

We use Movicol in the morning with regular fluid (preferably water) during the day then a stimulant laxative before bed, this should prevent too many problems at school the next day. Hope you get on top of this.

[Housey in reply to mummynev]

Thank you for your reply, I will give that a try 👍