# Is this True about Senna ?



## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

My GI after using Senna i was told that with using herbal based stimulants like Senna , Cascara or Rhubarb they damage the cells of the intestinal lining and because of that he wants me to stop using my Sennokot or Senna Tea he wants to put me on Dulcolax so I wanted to ask is this true about senna and those plant based stimulants do they really damage the cells of the colon or is it just some type of hoax . I was reading on internet that after some time of damaging the cells it causes darkening of the colon . Can somebody explain this if its true ,BTW it worked so good till now but he constantly tells me that it irritates the colon rather than bisacodyl only stimulate the nerves which contracts the muscles?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

the plant based stimulants like senna, cascara and rhubarb do contain anthraquinones which cause melanosis coli (darkening the colon) but this condition is no longer believed to be harmful like it once was years ago. this is what both my gastro docs told me as well as my colorectal surgeon. and i've read articles about that as well:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2809429/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12702977

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8234421

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15654804

i took senna and cascara for a number of years--as well as dulcolax. my colonoscopy showed that my colon had developed melanosis coli (the darkening) but my gastro doc told me that he was not concerned about it and that it was nothing to worry about.

dulcolax does work in a different way and does not cause melanosis coli so if you're really worried about it, you can take dulcolax.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

OMG , Thanks annie i thought i instantly developed Melanosis Coli iam using Senna almost 1 year and on the last colonoscopy nothing was seen as a darkening of the colon it was still bright and and pink somehow but , in the mean time i tried Dulcolax yesterday and somehow it works the same like Senna but as people say it works differently than the irritants maybe i guess i'll take 2 tablets Dulcolax from now on which is i think healther if you don't wanna develop Melanosis Coli , But doctor also mentioned Castor Oil (which i had tried ) to take when Dulcolax isn't doing the thing . Thanks BTW ..


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

glad i could help out.









that's good that dulcolax works as well as senna for you. i took it, too. i alternated it with senna and cascara sagrada.

one thing about dulcolax--be sure to follow the directions on the box and don't take it within an hour of any antacids or dairy products--otherwise, you'll get cramping.

good luck with everything.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

OMg thanks annie for mentioning that i was about to use them after Goat Milk today glad you saved me thanks because on the packaging i didn't see that they mentioned something about that .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh good--so glad you happened to read my post before drinking the goat's milk and then taking dulcolax.

i couldn't get your pic to come up but maybe they aren't putting this instruction on the packing any more?? it does mention that on the dulcolax website. they really should put that on the box or bottle, too, so people know.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

annie , Again sorry for bothering you but today and yesterday i took 1 and tommorow i plan on to take 2 Dulcolax tablets as they didn't work as they did when i started the first 2 days what just happened at least with Senna i had a little cramps and and after that they start to do the job but with Bisacodyl its like you didn't even took them the doctor told me to start with one maybe i need to start to take 2 what is your point how much did you take and do you still use them today or not . If they are like this i will really stick to Sennokot no matter the Mealanosis Coli ( if its harmless for the colon , althought i heard it fades when you stop taking them after some time) as they were working like magic like no other drug i was alternating with the Senna Tea its basically the same 2 bags equalls 2 tablets or something like that .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

i always had to take three dulcolax tablets. taking one or two never worked for me.

yes, you're right--- melanosis coli does reverse itself if you stop taking senna or any of the other laxatives that contain anthraquinones .

it's truly best to take whatever works for you.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

Do you still take the same therapy or you are on another more efficient .? Because economically i think there are more efficient and long term treatments or ?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

long story short---after several tests, i was diagnosed with colonic inertia, pelvic floor dysfunction, a long twisted colon, megarectum and rectal hyposensitivity plus i had numerous abdominal adhesions gumming up my colon from a previous open abdominal surgery. things eventually got so bad for me that i had to have my colon removed. now i have an ileostomy. so no, i don't need to use laxatives any more.

besides taking laxatives, i really don't know of any other long term treatments for C other than taking one of the various constipation meds that are out there like linaclotide, prucalopride, amitiza or plecanatide. or using enemas.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

Ohh and after the removal how its your digestive system working can you tell me if you don't mind i mean and why does it not require laxatives anymore i mean what is the reason can i did the same and ohh yeah ileostomy where your food directly goes out out of your small intestine and it is out of you skin .. ? I think that making that decision is way cheaper than spending on laxatives every week or so .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

i don't need laxatives any more because my colon was removed. i was diagnosed with colonic inertia (slow colonic transit--ie my colon didn't work properly) as well as pelvic floor dysfunction, which means that my pelvic floor muscles were too tight and did not coordinate well enough to allow passage of stool. that's why i needed laxatives--because i could not move stool out of my colon. for a long time, laxatives worked for me but finally everything got so bad that they didn't work well anymore.

my small intestine works just fine. i do not have any motility problems there.

with an ileostomy, the colon is removed and the end of the small intestine is brought through a small opening in the abdominal wall, creating a stoma. and then waste (stool) passes out of the stoma and into the ostomy bag.

an ileostomy is a serious surgery and is really a surgery of last resort done only when nothing else--even laxatives and enemas- works.

actually, having an ostomy is much more expensive than taking laxatives. for one thing, there's the cost of the surgery and the hospital stay afterwards--although thank goodness insurance paid for that. however, the ostomy bag and supplies are very expensive. and unfortunately my insurance only covers half of the cost of my ostomy supplies. i have to pay for the other half myself--not cheap. dulcolax is much, much cheaper


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

Update on the situation : Yup annie , my doctor was right iam maybe immune to the bisacodyl i took 3 tablets after then the other day 4 and nothing happened , after that I took Senokot and boy was i relieved , so to conclude hmm how can a chemical that has been working for years for people suddenly not even cramp me ? , there is something i was really doubtfull about it when i suddenly took 3 and after 24 hours nothing really happened , it looked like first 2 times i had peristalisis was probably after eating maybe because i ate fiber rich food i don't know but after those days i've tried with water without and nothing is it something iam missing out ,am i the only one here that bisacodyl doesn't work ( even cramp) me , weird .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

yes, it does seem odd that dulcolax worked for you when you took it the first time but now it doesn't work at all. you're not alone, though-- i've read posts from other people who say that dulcolax doesn't work for them. we're all different when it comes to medications and what works for us.

one thing, though--perhaps the senna tea you are using is stronger than the dulcolax and that's why the tea works better for you. depending on the brand of senna tea and how much you use and how long you let it steep, senna tea can be quite strong. do you know how many milligrams of senna are in the tea ?


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

I saw 1000 mg or 1 gram of Senna leaves , compared to Senokot i think it works so better so i am taking around 3-4 Senokot and 1 teabag when constipated for some days , which maybe with Dulcolax ill need somewhere 4-5 tablets or maybe more to get it work , i talked again today he said some people need so much more than that to get it work . So in terms of how iam gonna pass cheaper i guess by taking Senna less and more effective but Dulcolax are healthier in my eyes in some terms because it doesn't cause any changes in colon .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

well, based on what your doctor says, at least you know you're not the only one who needs to take more than three tablets of dulcolax in order to get it to work.

like we say around here, it's important to take whatever you need to go.

if you're worried about the cost of dulcolax--i found that buying dulcolax online at Amazon was much cheaper than buying it at the local drug store. and of course, generic ducolax is even cheaper than the brand name. i personally preferred the brand name dulcolax but i saved money by buying it on Amazon. i don't know if amazon ships to macedonia or not but if it doesn't, maybe there's another online source for dulcolax that would still be cheaper for you than buying it in stores--you could try checking online to find out. good luck.


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

Actually I have found generic Bisacodyl like 50% cheaper i thought i we here only got Dulcolax with that ingredient but suddenly i found another only Senokot I couldn't find other type i know you guys there got like ExLax or or maybe others but here only Senokot , Senna Tea and Chocolate with Senna Leafs other stimulants like Cascara Sagrada and the most frustrating one was we don't have Milk of Magnesia , i only tried it when i was traveling i suprisingly was trying to change it with Magnesium Citrate i guess but nowhere near MOM Philips .


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

that's good that you can get generic bisacodyl--that way you can save some money.

that's too bad you only have senokot there. i much preferred exlax over senokot because exlax is stronger. it has much more senna in it than senokot does--the maximum strength exlax has 25 mg senna per pill.

yes, i've heard you can't get milk of magnesia in some countries. Milk of Mag is an osmotic laxative and not a stimulant so it didn't work by itself for me. i needed a stimulant. but i did take milk of mag along with the stimulant because i found that adding an osmotic laxative to the stimulant made the stimulant work better. (and like i always tell people--if you take milk of mag and dulcolax, be sure and take them at least an hour apart or you'll get cramping)


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

UPDATE : annie So far so good i experimented with the dosage of the bisacodyl here and there and it i 4 pills that fits me the bets a question annie at what time of the day did you take bisacodyl ? - so far with knowlegde that it is safe for long term i started to love with the results it is producing actually i suggest for everybody to try i don't know is it bisacodyl but i started to have strong peristalisis after every eating which means bisacodyl cured my extra slow motility ?? I dont know but i feell 90 % better with MagCitrate or Miralax in combination with bisacodyl magic combination right there , i've tried Amitiza , Linzess they are efficient too but way more expensive . i will sure keep taking this for the rest of my life since its a miracle thing i started to see that i don't need so much only twice to four weekly since i've started to have extra peristalisis after eating is it bisacodyl activateed my sixth sense i don't know but i 100% sure i swear to everybody to try it i don't care if it is chemical since it is helping this much i know some of you guys are on the natural side but we humans with chemicals can make certain medications to target excatly what we want and to treat we don't know if from herbs or nature we gonna find that i hope less side effects i guess but for now iam Bisacodyl Junkie . I hope everydody gets relief and some tip for the stimulants i have take every laxative 1 hour before eating on empty stomach it works faster better and more efficent forget about gentle overnight relief i don't wanna be wake up from sleep for BM since i had insomnia problems.. 1 question for flossy have you ever tried Bisacodyl and what was the results ?/


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

thanks for the update.

all laxatives always took about 12 hours to work for me. i usually took it around 5:30 pm so i would be able to go the next morning (i had to get up early for work).

that's wonderful that bisacodyl is working so well for you.


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## flossy (Dec 8, 2012)

I don't think I ever tried Bisacodyl. I know it has different name bands: Dulcolax, Laxative Feminine, Laxative (bisacodyl), The Magic Bullet, Fleet Laxative, Women's Gentle Laxative (bisac), Women's Laxative (bisacodyl), Ducodyl, Alophen, Gentle Laxative.

It seems like it is a product more aimed at women? (I'm a guy.) Is that odd or not really?


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## stefan00790 (Jan 9, 2018)

I don't know but i guess there is Women type Dulcolax Pink i think which is also 5mg bisacodyl but less of rhicinolenic acid which is also a stimulant in the original once The green once there is also rhicinolenic acid which acts like a stimulant also and that helps really good with the more active action but i buy alternatives cheaper Bisacodyls i've tried Dulcolax and they act on me the same bisacodyl ingirdient works on the internal nerves to contract the musles and cause peristalisis in comparison with antraquines ones which work on irritating the lining ( which is not overdamaging just causing irritation which leads to peristlastic action ) i highly suggest you to try it instead of IF # Formula 1 i've tried it and bisacodyl works way bettter take it as u take it IF in the same time just beware 1 hour before antacid or milk or 1 hour after antacid or milk or eating something , You just have to try with the dosage what works better for you (mine is 4 or 3 tablets ) you can try it it works just the same like senna just different it works locally you can alternate it with Dr.Shultz and it is way more cheaper ..


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