Overflow or too much lax?

[Cath88]

Hi,

Does anyone have any thoughts re this subject they can share with me? I am really struggling to determine if the bouts of poo accidents we sometimes experience with our 9 year old are due to over flow or that we need to reduce her Movicol. I always assumed over flow was liquid and would be really stinky or hve occasional hard bits in it. My daughters accidents are very very soft mashed. She seems to have little warning or isn’t aware of it happening. She’s had quite a few abdo x rays and I’m reluctant to do another just to see if it is still constipation.

My other thoughts were that this could actually be one of the effects of movicol (urgency and reduced control) and a change of meds may be in order. She rarely had poo accidents when we were on other meds but then she did end up more constipated. Hard to know what to do sometimes!

Any pearls of wisdom you can throw my way would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Cath

[ERIC-Charity Partner]

Hi Cath

It is difficult sometimes to work out if the child is on too high a dosage or if they are impacted and having overflow. Overflow can still appear soft and mushy, not necessarily runny. A good way to find out is by doing a sweetcorn test - details can be found on the ERIC website. Give her a portion sweetcorn to eat and if you don't see it in her poo 24-36 hours later that indicates that she is backed up and will be worth doing a disimpaction to clear her bowel of the poo build up. There is a Parents Guide to Disimpaction on the ERIC website to with clear instructions on what to do.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Amy, Helpline Advisor

ERIC