How to tell if it’s overflow poo?

[Socko2021]

Hello,

We are still experiencing occasional soiling a few weeks after successful disimpaction (we’ve disimpacted successfully in the past also, but every six months or so need to do one again as soiling starts to creep back).

He’s nearly 12 and on a maintenance dose of 2 movicol a day, toilet sits after meals and is trying very hard to drink 1.5 litres a day (doesn’t always manage this). He generally does 1 or 2 soft poos a day. No additional needs, eats a healthy diet but does struggle with drinking enough.

The occasional soiling is not smelly, it’s light coloured, wet and like a giant skid mark.

Is this overflow (sneaky) poo, and thus indicating another disimpaction is needed, so soon after the last? (And yes, we did have rusty tea for days, and yes we did reduce movicol slowly).

Or, is it more likely that his bowel is lacking sensation, so letting some poo out as he’s not feeling the urge? If that’s the case, I was wondering if a stimulant such as senna might be beneficial, we’ve never used one before as the disimpaction, movicol and toilet sits seemed to manage it.

[ERIC-Charity Partner]

Dear Socko2021 , if his daily poos are very soft, it could be that his daily dose is a little on the high side. Sometimes a GP might recommend introducing a stimulant (they usually take 8-12 hours to work) to help encourage the poo to move along.

Some other tips are: encourage him to sit to wee; he is more likely to relax, which will help him to empty his bladder properly and also he will notice whether he needs a poo as well. Feet on step so that his knees are higher than his hips. A relaxed toilet sit 20-30 minutes after eating (when the bowel is squeezing most strongly) as a routine can really help too. If you're unsure on how much and how often he is pooing then a poo diary can help. best wishes ERIC

[Socko2021 in reply to ERIC-Charity]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful.