Disimpaction - experiences please

[Chocolate-chicken]

So we're about to embark upon our first ever disimpaction over Easter.

I have no idea what to expect... I'm picturing literally not being able to leave the house for 2 weeks. I realise that all situations are different and it obviously depends on how bad it is etc... But, I was just wondering what other people's experiences were in general.

I'm guessing she'll get cramping etc... Will she need calpol? Or will it resolve relatively quickly once she's on the toilet?

Could she be pooing round the clock?? Or does it generally seem to be a certain amount of time after the sachets (movicol)

Agh... Any experiences or advice would be massively appreciated!!

Thank you!!

[Hidden]

When we did it we didn't go out much so was mentally hard, lots of running up and downstairs to loo and accidents as didn't always make it on time but no complaints of tummy ache, good luck

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I've loads of craft stuff in, so hopefully we can stay busy...

[SallyandPaul in reply to Chocolate-chicken]

Hi lovely presume you have been told that she will need a maintainence dose when you've finished the disimpaction. This is because her bowel will be stretched and you will need to keep going until it's back to normal size,which can take months. Our daughter is nine now and has three sachets a day plus a spoonful of senokot. Your daughter may only need one or two sachets. Sorry if you know this already. Presumably you've seen the pooh nurses video which I found so helpful. Good luck,let us know how you get on xx

[SallyandPaul]

Hi it only took us four days. No tummy ache or poohing at night. In fact although we had lots of toilet trips at least she had the sensation of needing to go !! Good luck x

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to SallyandPaul]

Thank you, this is what I'm hoping for...

[LGS83]

We are also starting our first disempaction. Like you I have no idea how long it will take but will take each day as it comes. Just wish we had been advised to do this before now as my 3 (nearly 4) year old has been suffering for a year now!

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to LGS83]

Thank you for your reply, good luck!! I feel the same... We could have done this a year ago if someone had listened to me!

[LGS83 in reply to Chocolate-chicken]

It’s so frustrating isn’t it? My daughter has been on cosmocol for a year (probably more!) but we had literally no support until now we have school nurse helping so finally we can hopefully get her sorted! Good luck to you too.

[Helen36]

Hiya - I'd echo what the others say - it was no where near as bad as I feared! My little girl was still only three when she did it (over Christmas). She was still soiling a lot back then but actually had fewer accidents because the sensation was stronger that she needed to go. She did get some tummy ache but it wasn't awful and I don't remember giving her calpol. It took us about three days to get to the brown water and I seem to remember it's important to keep that brown water stage going for a period of time to make sure everything is out (check the advice, but a couple more days??). I don't remember any night-time explosions so it was much more controlled than i feared. I think we were doing the drinks around meal times.

A good tip is to get her to sit on the loo and try for a poo about 20 minutes after every meal. This is when the gastro-intestinal reflex is strongest and her bowel will be at it's most ready to go. A high step so the knees are above the hips and good toilet seat will help her relax to let it all out. Sorry if you know this already but I seem to remember you are a bladder issues person that has been advised to start with this!!

The main challenge for us on the disimpaction was getting her to actually drink it because it is such a big volume of liquid when you keep upping the sachets - and you need to make sure they have other drinks too as the liquid in a movicol/laxido isn't actually hydrating them. I was doing all sorts of stupid games to get it down her, many of which she still makes me play now she is nearly 5! At least you will have lots of chocolate around to bribe with! Have you talked to her about what is going to happen? I would take some time to explain it and reward her at every possible stage for drinking drinks, making it to the loo, trying for a poo and doing her best with it.

For us, it was the start of everything starting to get a bit better. It took us a long time (like, 18 months) to really get her bowel in a good shape. The girth of her poos back then was huge showing just how stretched the bowel was and almost certainly pressing on and aggravating her bladder and now we have nice slim pale frankfurters which make me very happy! Importantly, doing this and getting the bowel working well has really allowed us to focus on our bladder issues knowing the bowel is not aggravating or causing more problems.

Good luck xxx

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to Helen36]

Thank you so much, this is incredibly helpful!! Yes, it is bladder issues we went about and were told it was constipation, which in hindsight makes complete sense, but did completely throw us! After getting some hints off here I've got some picture books about pooing and the mechanics of it all... So hopefully that might help. It's good to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

[lyns08]

It only gets quite hard once you're up to around 6 sachets a day upwards as that is when they will need to go a lot so don't make any plans to leave the house then. My child didn't seem bothered about it at all though and we didn't need calpol. Good luck!

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to lyns08]

Thank you, this is what I was wondering.... Agh, looks like Easter day could be magical!

[lyns08 in reply to Chocolate-chicken]

Like some others have said it is good to get some Sudocrem in. Mine was in nappies when I did it so I'm not sure how it is with someone using the toilet but it might be a good idea to get some of the older children's night time pull ups to help with any accidents. Also I found thepoonurses.uk website to be helpful with some tips and for when you are on the maintenance dose.

[aimees75]

Hi,

how old is she and how long has she been blocked up?

[Chocolate-chicken in reply to aimees75]

She is 5 and we have no idea how long she's had it or how bad it is, we were asking for help about her wetting, and they think her wetting is caused by her blocked bowel pressing on her bladder.... My concern is that as she has never been dry, this could have been going on for ages, and so the blockage could be significant....

[Knittingmama]

My daughter is going through her first one at the moment. She’s now 9 and has had problems since starting school. I had to buy her some nighttime pull-ups as she can’t move without poo-ing and she can’t spend every minute on the loo! It started on Friday and when I cleaned her this morning there was quite a lot in the nappy again. We’ve had to dig out the Sudocreme again as her bum is getting very sore. She’s not complaining of pain but she is very bored and tired as she’s finding it hard to sleep. She’s also off school as there’s just too much mess for her to deal with by herself. We’ve finally got an appointment with a paediatrician on 24th April so hopefully we’ll get some actual help rather than the endless prescriptions of Movicol and not being believed.

Good luck! x

[Kerry84 in reply to Knittingmama]

I’m going through the same with my son, he is 10 in May. Constantly spoiling him self, it’s getting worse as he’s getting older! Been prescribed lots of laxatives but nothing makes a difference. Going to see a continence nurse 20th April but 1st she wants us to do another movicol session. We are on 6 sachets today

[Chocolate-chicken]

Oh poor thing! (Your daughter and you!) I will get some sudocrem in just in case, thank you!! I hope you get some help at your appointment...

[Knittingmama in reply to Chocolate-chicken]

Thank-you. It’s definitely coming to an end now. She did go to school for a bit this morning as I was in anyway for a parent-child egg rocket race but she felt too uncomfortable and wanted to come home. We just need to work out the best way to go on from here. I definitely need to look at our diet as it’s really not healthy enough, which I’m sure isn’t helping. None of us want to do this again any time soon!

[CN4321]

Oh my goodness I just logged on to get some advice as we are about to embark on our first disimpaction over Easter as well.

We have been given sodium picosulfate and been told it should only take about 2 days, but I have no idea how bad it is going to be. I am supposed to be having people over - is this the most stupid idea ever??? Will he be pooing through the night??

Also, should I give the senna while we are going through this or only after???

I'm so scared about doing this, but my son is 7 and has been struggling for years so it will be good to get something finally sorted.

I've read the above posts, but if anyone has any other pointers I would really appreciate them.

[Knittingmama in reply to CN4321]

I don’t know about the meds as neither of those have ever been suggested to us but if it gets really runny he will be pooing through the night. Get some pull-ups just in case. My daughter’s still in them today, it just means she’s not constantly changing her pants/trousers and isn’t restricted to just sitting on the toilet.

I was told with the movicol that it takes 24hours to take effect so you may need to factor in that as to when you start. Good luck!

[Jayjay-1]

It really to say it’s all the best - we had to do this every 6 months for 3 years as would keep getting blocked up so holidays weren’t much fun.

You will have bad days and you feel like you are the only person doing this but unfortunately you are not. My son wasn’t that bothered it was me tearing my hair out trying to clear up, have we done enough and a bit house bound. Good luck

[Woolyjools]

Good luck with it all. We have done disimpaction several times first time only took a couple of weeks. From start to finish. It’s so important to keep going until the poo is brown water. The last disimpaction we did took 8 weeks and and was t greatly successful. Now we are being admitted to hospital to have an ng tube fitted and medication given through that along with enemas. Any believe it’s come to this. Just stick with it tho as hard as it gets cause the sooner it’s sorted the better.

I didn’t see what age your daughter was but my daughter is 9 now and we have been using movicol and sodium picosulphate since she was 4. It is managed by a paediatrician now who is excellent but I must say I wish we had seen him in the beginning as now her rextum has become so stretched it’s limely to take years to get back to normal size x