can it take months to clear a loaded bowel

[Shopnow1]

I have been taking movicol for two months now ( different amounts ) going numerous times bit still feel impacted

[weegmack]

Hi there. Sorry you’re suffering 😕. In my experience, yes, it can take a while. I take Laxido (same a Movicol) and when I started that a few years ago, I didn’t feel “empty” for a couple of months. It also took me a while to get the dose right! There were times I felt I was taking too much as I couldn’t get off the toilet! How much are you taking on a daily basis? X

[Shopnow1 in reply to weegmack]

Hi Thanks for replying . At the moment I am taking 3-4 and had various scans that thank god are ok but show overloaded bowel .This has gone on two months now ! I just seem permanently on the loo and stomach ache all day

[weegmack in reply to Shopnow1]

It’s horrible. I know - I’ve had years of gut problems in various forms! Like you, I’ve had lots of tests which have, thankfully, come back safe and no nasties. Sorry to ask this, but is your poop still really hard? It’s important to drink plenty water throughout the day, even when you’re on Movicol. And fibre is so important to help bind your poop into a decent one!

It’s very possible that you have slow motility and constipation does cause a lot of very painful gut spasms. I’ve been IBS-C predominant for some years now and it’s really hurt my entire intestine. It’s just stretched and sore and I get pain a lot.

You could try taking a good probiotic too. Have you got any food allergies or intolerances? Xx

[edwangy in reply to weegmack]

Hi I'm IBS C and slow transit, what do you take for the pain? Does it affect your sleep?

[Risita in reply to Shopnow1]

Be careful with scans , doctors don’t recommend more more than 2 scans a year. Radiation is intense Calling cancers.

What is good is blood work Sediment.

And do enema.

[weegmack in reply to Risita]

Thanks - that’s not helpful. I’ve been really ill and I’ve HAD to have CT and Gamma scans. I already had a cancer scare last year (benign kidney tumour). I don’t need the worry of getting more cancer from scans

[Meleber]

Hi, have you also adjusted your diet? For me it's important not to eat insoluble fibres and really mind my fat intake. And because of motility problems I also need to take a laxative 3 to 4 times during the day.

[Mango3]

Drink lots of water, very important for good gut health. I also take flax seed powder in a glass of water which really helps my ibs c. Peppermint capsules are also worth a shot. The other thing that really helps to get your system going is gentle excercise, a gentle walk is enough. Hope these suggestions help.

[Orchid99]

Hi, I really understand what your going through as I'm too going through it again now after taking antibiotics. I have diagnosed slow transit colon throughout my bowel and colonic inertia in the left section, I have to take movicol fir the rest if my life otherwise I can't pass stool. Everything was well managed the last 5 months with my daily laxative and nortriptyline, then I took antibiotics for a mouth infection and a week later I'm back to square one despite my medications. I did an 8 sachet treatment of movicol for suspected impaction and I only managed to pass small amounts of liquid stool 3 times that day after drinking it all, now all my overflow cramps have returned and nothing is helping. I've considered going to hospital to get an x-ray done to see whats happening but I don't know if they will help. It can take months for a loaded bowel to clear if your just doing light movicol treatment, the only thing that really helped me was drinking colonoscopy prep as it emptied me completely and I had relief for about 2 months after but because I wasn't diagnosed then and not taking a maintenance dose of movicol to keep things moving, I got backed up again. It's a nightmare to live with unfortunately, my loaded colon was seen by ct scan I then had a nuclear transit study which confirmed slow bowel x

[Bits1961 in reply to Orchid99]

I find Movicol can give me a lot of discomfort at night waking me up, I'm trying Bisacodyl at the moment it's more convenient to take(no mixing etc) just pop a pill and hey presto ! It's working at the moment but time will tell if it's a long term fix or not.

[Meleber in reply to Bits1961]

Bisacodyl works fine when you have motility issues like I do but can be too harsh/painful when there's too much fecal impaction in the colon. Perhaps then you need a more gentle alternative. I found out the hard way 😟 . But it's possible to cut the little tablet in half and in that way it's less painfull but still working (for me).

[Orchid99 in reply to Bits1961]

My gastro is reluctant to give me any stimulants like that because of how much pain I get. I hate taking movicol because I've heard it can alter the microbiome which can make you worse off in the long run, I've just ordered some mag07 to try and see if I can switch to that from movicol instead.

[Shopnow1 in reply to Orchid99]

Thank you for making me sound normal ! as I am very similar to you and diagnosed with slow transit several years ago. Unfortunately the last two months have been the worst I have ever been and even though taking movicol ( up to 4 satchets a day ) and to be fair going to the toilet a awful lot CT scan two weeks ago shows I am still impacted. GP wants me to take dulcosate tablets with Movicol which I am very scared to take and failing this a enema which I am also hesitant to have . At my whits end with it all !

[Bits1961 in reply to Shopnow1]

Enemas are nothing to fret about.I had one at A&E a couple of years ago as they spotted a "build up" in the bowel during an x ray.. It was so simple just lie on your side and think of the relief you will get. And don't be embarrassed the nurses do it on a regular basis to patients; to them it's just another part of the job.

[Orchid99 in reply to Shopnow1]

I know how you feel with the apprehension of trying the enemas, I too was scared to try anything like that until yesterday when I got advice from 111 and they told me to do suppositories for 3 days, I just did it and it wasn't bad at all, I'm still backed up though so may need to go to enema next.

[IBS- in reply to Shopnow1]

Hi there,

Have you tried senna for short term relief? It’s always helped me when I’ve been impacted with slow transit and I have severe constipation…

[Iizzy]

When I had an impacted bowel I was prescribed picolax by a specialist bowel nurse. I took that every day for 2 weeks then go on to movicol. Picolax is definitely more powerful than movicol. Maybe ring Gp and say movicol isn’t working.

[weegmack in reply to Iizzy]

I had to take Picolax before a colonoscopy! It was like dynamite. Are you coping with it ok? X

[Iizzy in reply to weegmack]

The dosage I had wasn’t the one for pre op colonoscopy. It’s a lower dosage and it took 3 days before it worked but by god did it work then! After 2 weeks I think all the blockage was well cleared and the nurse said it was needed to make sure the ‘pockets’ started to reduce in size. She was really good at explaining everything. Anyway I now make sure I have plenty of veggies, any other fibre type makes me constipated again. Sick of veg soup but it’s one way of getting a load down me each day.

[weegmack in reply to Iizzy]

Oh phew! I thought you were putting yourself through the mega power of full-on picolax eberyday! I’m really glad it has helped you. When she talked about “pockets”, did she mean you have diverticulitis? Xx

[Iizzy]

She said when you get a blockage the bowel gets stretched in places and develops pockets that the poo gets stuck in and it’s hard for that to be evacuated so needs to be regularly moved for the stretched bit to reduce for the bowel to function efficiently. It sort makes sense cos the build up had been going on for a couple of months. Now I just try and keep everything moving, if nothing after 2 days I take a sachet of movicol. Can’t go through impaction again it was horrendous .

[Dottieeadie in reply to Iizzy]

Hi lizzy did you just take one picolax sachet a day as you say was a low dosage l have been taking movicol what seems like forever still not clear 🙈

[Iizzy in reply to Dottieeadie]

I wasn’t prescribed sachets, it’s a bottle of sodium picosulfate 5mg/5ml. One 5mlDose each evening for 2 weeks. The blockage was cleared fully I would think after about 7 days, and what a relief. It took 3 days to start shifting. The nurse had said movicol on its own wouldn’t shift it because I was so blocked. I now take movicol daily to prevent it happening again. It’s a horrible situation, I have to eat so much veg to keep it all ticking over. I had a pizza and high carb few days and got blocked up again so had to go back to the sodium picosulfate and 3 doses got it cleared. I also have a rectal prolapse so I am so scared of straining.

[Shopnow1 in reply to Iizzy]

Lizzy I would be so grateful for your advice. I suspected a bowel impaction before Xmas but GP didnt prescribe high enough doses of movicol so was taking a max of three each day and did go to the toilet like mad but after a few days feeling ill again with pressure and leaking . Then I requested xrays and after months had Ct scan etc which showed a loaded bowel . My GP response to this was to take 2 satchets of movicol per day and mini enemas. I didnt really want to do the latter so upped the movicol to 4 a day and had two days of passing up to 12 BM per day. But the relief was only short lived with pressure in the bowel again explosive gas, pain ,very loud noises in bowel. My GP now feels I have over done it and reduced the dose of movicol again. I have no idea whether I have cleared my bowel still and still not well . As advised stopped taking anything for two days to give my system a rest and then started on fibrogel and lactulose as this is more gentle but yesterday had the biggest BM in my life which was mushy and then this morning had the most horrendous gas and passed a motion that was so hard wanted to die. I have been to the toilet that much over the last three months so cannot understand why this is still going on but makes me think is it cleared or is my GP right. The CT scan was ordered from a visit to A&E but the specialist deals with Kidneys so I have no bowel specialist to refer to

[Dottieeadie in reply to Iizzy]

Hi lizzy did you take the movicol with the picolax sulphate if so how many powders thank you