# How long does it take for Movicol to work?



## insniivg97 (Dec 24, 2016)

So, I'm going to talk to you about what's been happening to me over the last months.

In June, I started having some serious cramps on my belly, I even got sick twice. Whenever I went to bed, this pain would stop, but on the next day, the pain was back. The pain continued for a week. I went to the doctor and she said that it could be a gastroenteritis and she prescribed me some medication, however, that medication made me sick, so two days later I went to the doctor again, this time, a different one and he asked me to do a colonoscopy and some blood tests. On the next day, I was fine. I did my blood tests, everything was fine and I did the colonoscopy and it came out clean, the doctor said that it could be IBS. A month later, the pain returned and I went to the hospital this tame and she said it could be anxiety. I agreed in some point, however, I wasn't worried about anything (I was very excited because I was going on vacation for the first time with my family). She prescribed me some anxiety pills and told me to take a dulcolax everyday (yeah, well, I didn't take it everyday because that thing is very bad for our health and it would worse everything). Then, she told me to go to a gastroenterologist. I did it. Less than a month later, I had an appointment with a gastroenterologist and she saw my preview exams and she told me to drink a lot of water and eat a lot of fruit. She prescribed me some pills for the spasms (to when I felt like the pain could come back); some vitamins and in the worse case, Movicol. Since then, I didn't have any serious pain. However, since last week, I've been constipated. Everytime I go to the toilet, I have a bowel movement, however, it was just bits and pieces in the beginning and now, I have to strain to do it but I do it anyway but it hurts like hell. Like, two days ago I had two bowel movements, but it was an incomplete bm (because I felt something was left in there), then yesterday, I had three bowel movements (happened the same thing) and today, I had two bowel movements, but I still have a lot of pain and I had to take a Movicol. It's Christmas, maybe I'm just excited for that, but I hate this pain and they're suck. So, I would like to know, how long does it take for Movicol to work??? HELP, PLEASE!!!

P.S. - I also notice something. When I'm really distracted with something, I don't feel the pain, like, when I'm in school, I barely felt it.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

depending on how backed up you are and how hard the stool is in there, movicol can take anywhere from about 12 to 72 hours to work. be sure and drink lots of water when you take it. some people when they are really backed up take more than one dose of movicol a day in order to get things moving faster.

please try not to strain when you go. straining isn't good for you and it's counterproductive. it just locks up those muscles down there (the pelvic floor muscles) so that not much stool can get out .

have you tried elevating your feet on something like a footstool, overturned waste bin, shoe box or squatty potty. elevating the feet when your're on the toilet helps straighten up the anorectal angle to allow a more complete evacuation. it might take some experimentation to find the right height.

and remember to relax when you go and push with your abdominal muscles--your belly----not strain with your rectum

sounds like your doctor gave you some antispasmodics to take . are you still taking them? they are great for relieving spasms and pain but they can also have a side effect of constipation because they relax the colon so you might not want to take them --or take them as often--when you are constipated.

also, like you noticed, when you focus on pain it just makes it worse. try to distract yourself and focus on something else instead.

a warm (not hot) heating pain can also be helpful in relieving pain.

good luck. hope you feel better soon.


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