Movical

[Turkish Delight]

Hi

I have been taking Movical for 3 days for chronic constipation on the recommendation of my colorectal surgeon.

I take it twice a day with no action

How long did take you to get some action??

[Ginger]

hi, i take it too. i find it fantastic.
i think the first time i took it, it took about 4 days to actually 'kick in'. i was a bit like you, thinking 'when it this going to work?' but believe me, it works wonderfully.
i think you'll find you'll get some 'action' tonight or tomorrow.

[Turkish Delight]

Thanks Rainforest.

I think i can expect some action sometime today. I am feeling like i can go soon.

I have a real hard time drinking it though. I gag so many times after drinking it. The taste is foul.

How many a day do you drink? And how often do you go? Everyday? Every second day?

[Sammiejane]

TD - Do you drink a glass of water following it? This can help get the extra flid to the po (sorry tmi coming) so that it will loosen and be able to pass easily.

It is a fantastic product (not that i have used it personally - but on patients) but we did find that the water intake needed to be upped sometimes to get a better result and yes it taook a coupld of days with some peopl to get a good result and from then it worked really well

[Turkish Delight]

SJ, I do drink fluid afterwards to get that foul taste out of my mouth! I drink about 2 of fluid per day. 1.5 litre of water and the rest is tea, diet coke etc..

Can't wait to get the good results too

Is it addictive? Like some laxatives cause the bowel to become real lazy and the dosage needs to be upped to get the bowel motions. Is this the same?

[Footsteps]

with movicol you can add some fruit squash to it to help flavour it can 2 or 4 days to work but its excellent.
take care
rachxxx

[Ginger]

turkish- i don't 'hate' the taste- i guess i just try not to think about it and suck it back iykwim?
i only take one sachet every couple of days now and that's enough for me to 'go' everyday.

[Sammiejane]

Is it addictive? Like some laxatives cause the bowel to become real lazy and the dosage needs to be upped to get the bowel motions. Is this the same?

All laxatives can cause a lazy bowel after prolonged use, its not that the dose has to be upped, its the fact that you have to use it all the time to have a normal bowel action.

Is there a short term reason why you need movicol?

IMO it is best to treat the problem, not take a medication to fix it, if you can that is.

How much tea, coffee and coke are you drinking? these have a slight diuretic property (make you wee) so you loose fluid that way.
Are you exercising and not replacing your fluid?
Are you eating enough fruit and veg?
What about fibre, are you eating white bread or multigrain?

Dried fruits, although high in sugar are quite good for getting things moving along...

HTH

[Leemar]

Hi SJ,

My son takes movicol half and it took a few days to work. It works a treat now.

[Turkish Delight]

I take Movical as it was recommended by my colorectal surgeon as i have been REALLY constipated. I would go say like once every 10-12 days. I took senna laxatives but gradually had to increase the dose to like 4 tablets per day to get things going. Eventually, they stopped working and just gave me cramping but nothing more. Mum recommended this herbal chinese tea which she uses and at the start it did work but then i was putting like 2 teabags and it did nothing but cramping.
I have IBS too, so i think it is part due to that.

I have lost a lot of weight (15kgs through liteneasy and exercise) and only then has thing become an issue, prior to that i was fine. I drink water, exercise, eat wholegrains only, 2-3 serves of fruit but must confess don't get much veg in me.

tea/coke - in a day maybe 2 cups of tea and 1-2 cans of diet coke/pepsi.

I did have some action today and it was fantastic.
WARNING TMI TO FOLLOW

Was at work and a lady who i talk to a lot was in the other cubicle and i was busting to go but she wouldn't shut up, so i lost concentration and held back most of it but when i got up, there was so much i was shocked and happy! I must have done it all.

Isn't it funny how we have to concentrate to get a bowel action???

Thanks for the advice and responses all, it is greatly appreciated. I shall add a squeeze of orange in the mixture before drinking it.

[mum3girls]

Just did a long post and lost it - hope this one works.

My 11YO DD has been taking Movicol for over a year now - and hates it with a passion She's about to start taking Macrogol 3350 instead - which is the active ingredient in Movicol. It's supposed to be completely tasteless. But is not available at all chemists, just the ones that mix their own medicines (can't remember what they are called?)

What dosage are you taking? DD takes up to 2 sachets a day if she's really blocked up, usually gets her going pretty quickly.

[Turkish Delight]

i take 2 sachets per day. i wil ask about macrogol 3350 and if its orderable (if such a word) i shall try that too.

[Sequoia]

My colorectal surgeon said that women and men differ greatly in their bowel habits, women are usually worse.

He recommended a product called colocap (basically just Epsom salts in capsule form), I have to take 15 tablets over 30 minutes before I go to bed and voila tomorrow, I should have some action.

He said it is vital to have a good clean out once a week to really get the bowels moving.

Will start it tonight!

SG
xo

[pollyanna]

I'm taking the movicol as well. I find the taste absolutely disgusting but given that I'm 26 weeks pregnant and still suffering morning sickness, i find i'm really intolerant to anyhthing that isnt sweet-unfortunately. I don't add anything too it i just knock it down and hope for the best.When you are in absolute agony and the choice is going to hospital for iv hydration and an enema the motivation is pretty strong to drink the stuff. At my worst i was drinking three sachets a day for two days with at least a one litre increase in my water and it took two days for action. The thing that had me worried was was i going to have an uncontrollable explosion when i did go. But rest assured it was very normal just alot of it as it had been over a week. Hopefully once this pregnancy is over things will return to normal as i've never had a problem with constipation in the past. It has taught me though to express a little more empathy to patients now that i've had first hand experience and know how painful it can be.