# WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT A LAXATIVE ONCE IN AWHILE?



## Cordy (Jul 1, 2002)

I am so SICK of not having a bowel movement; I took a laxative last night. I feel wonderful right now, having just had a bowel movement. To All those people that tried to encourage me not to begin a longterm habit of laxative use----what is worse? 1) trying and trying and trying various things, going thru an entire day in the house, back and forth between the bathroom and the kitchen, trying to manually extract bmï¿½s and having nothing but pain as a result, and no substantive relief, eating tons of prunes and getting a low blood sugar attack, being grumpy and making everyone in my house just as miserable as I am, etc. etc. etc. or 2) just simply taking a laxative at night, and having reliefï¿½oh, blessed relief---in the morning!? The bottle said, ï¿½take only as needed and as directed by a physicianï¿½. Well, my physician told me to buy this stuff, and I definitely NEEDED it last night after such a horrible day yesterday of trying to go without success ad infinitum. I think if I just take this peri-colace for one week, I can get my system adjusted and maybe heal up some of the painfulness in the rectal area due to straining/picking/poking/etc., and THEN maybe after a week of nice and easy daily bowel movements, THEN maybe my system will be ready and able to work on its own, as long as I continue to take and eat the healthy things (fiber, vegetables, water, exercise, etc). that help me. Now, what can be so bad as that? Is that really such a bad Idea? I am SO FED UP with this, I donï¿½t know if my spirit can take another week of this aggravation!What is really so wrong with taking a laxative for a week or so?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

The problem with stimulatory laxatives (rather than osmotic laxatives which are generally much safer for regular use) is that sooner or later with daily use you stand a chance of becoming completely and totally dependant on them to the point that getting off of them and have an unprovoked bowel movement takes weeks or months of retraining and can be very uncomfortable.The question which we can't answer is just how many weeks of taking a stimulatory laxative (senna, cascara rather than an osmotic like milk of magnesia) it will take before you, personally, run into trouble.Usually most people will not run into trouble if they use stimulatory laxatives 2-3 times a month. But if after a week of daily dosing most people if they can't go you will do another week, then another, then another and pretty soon it has been the 1-48 months that it takes for you to get into real trouble.The other issue is taking it daily without ever going to the doctor about the problem.Now is this the stool softener + the laxative stuff or just the stool softener stuff (colace is a stool softener and from what you describe I assume this is the softener + stimulatory laxative). Usually it is OK to take the just the stool softener stuff (as long as your doctor knows you are doing it) more often than the stuff with a stimulatory laxative in it.If you need something to keep the stool softer longer than just for this bowel movement, take a product that is *just* the stool softener or milk of magnesia (an osmotic laxative) and use the stuff with the stimulatory laxatives once in a while, not every day.K.PS. We have had on occasion a few people here who became completely and totally dependant on large doses of stimulatory laxative. Trust me, their stories make your current issues seem very minor when they try to get off and retrain the bowels. We are talking that it takes weeks to get off of them and take your current misery and make it several times worse and you can't take a stimulatory laxative even occasionally during the retraining process.


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## Cordy (Jul 1, 2002)

Yes, it was the peri (stim. lax) with colace (stool soft.) that I took. wow kmottus. I don't want to go thru that. You make a good argument. big sigh. GOSH, THIS PROBLEM JUST is SO HARD FOR ME TO SOLVE! i HAVE tried so many things!!!! for so long! I'm tired of trying. But I DON'T want to go thru what you describe. argh. I'm back to the drawing board. I guess I'll enjoy my empty bowel for today, because it's not going to feel this way very long. sigh. What do YOU do for your C, Kmottus?I truly do not want to become another case of laxative abuse. and I truly know all the things that I can do to help myself. It's just that I'm a bit depressed at this time (could be pms, could be C for so long, plus fighting a cold)....and trying to do everything that I know works just takes so much energy! I'm too tired to cook, too tired to exercise, too tired to ....what have you. I'm going to go back to bed.....


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

Post: It's just that I'm a bit depressed at this time (could be pms, could be C for so long, plus fighting a cold)....and trying to do everything that I know works just takes so much energy! I'm too tired to cook, too tired to exercise, too tired to ....what have you. _________________________________Cordelia, That's where chronic constipation put me tonly with me it finally wore my heart out and I now have to take meds for heart failure.So, when the ol bowel problem becomes this kind of problem, It's time to create a plan of action under a Doctors supervision and simply forget about any advice and of us can give you because at the point of exhaustion, ones vital bodily functions are giving out.I personally don't do anything with out talking to one of my followup doctors.These days that would be the Cardiologist.Take Care and let us know how you are doing.Oh, by the way,it's always easier for someone not in your shoes to give advice.Just remember, it's your body and you have to manage your condition in the way that is best for your own body and quality of life.I do agree with K's advice on the stimulents.There are other things that can be used for help that she mentioned, such as milk of magnesia.Personally, I hate the stuff. It makes me cramp and gag.However there are magnesium tablets by Fibre Con that work well and you don't have to GAG it down.It still makes me cramp but it was useful help recently when the new heart meds threw my delicate balance off.Take Care,Kamie


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Well I tend to the other end of the spectrum, but I have done a lot of reading about all aspects of IBS. For me a glycerine suppository usually does the trick when I am having one of those days.Stool softeners without the senna in them is one option.Milk of Magnesia (OTC) Miralax (prescription) magnesium tablets can all loosen you up osmotically.Looking at the water intake. Bascially stool enters the colon mostly liquid, the colon's job is to remove the excess water (recycle it) If you are running dehydrated most of the time (what color is your urine most of the time. It shouldn't be bright yellow most of the time...some recommend drinking enough water for 3 very lightly colored to clear pees a day). What the osmotic laxative do is keep the water in the stool. Fiber can also help to do this. But you do need enough water in the body as a whole.One fairly innocuous treatment is caffiene. Drinking something hot, especially something like coffee with lots of caffiene in it often works wonders for some people in the morning.If you tolerate sorbitol well (some people get really gassy and may not do well on this) try adding apples, pears, prunes/plums and peaches (all raw) to the diet. It is common for people to get loose stools in the summer when fresh fruit is abundant and tasty.Occasional use of the stimulants when you are backed up isn't a problem...it is when it gets to be daily.Some people find that an enema (the OTC kind usually Fleet is the brand) often will unplug things and they work pretty quickly and without the stimulatory laxative abuse problem.Also if you can increase your activity level. Walking, jogging are good. Yoga, T'ai Chi, stretching...things that do a fair amount of waist rotation in them can "promote regularity" and based on how much people fart in T'ai Chi classes (and from what I hear Yoga) they do seem to move things along.Abdominal massage can help some people. Start on the lower right and work your way around up the right, across the top, and down the left. Hope some of this helps.K.


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

On the subject of enemas, I was told back in August when I had to go to the ER for my bowel bing stuck, that a soap enema was a good answer for using enemas.You can get the whole soap kit at a pharmacy where they sell home medical supplies. The doctor at the ER said soap enemas are less irritation than the fleet. since the hospital administered mine that day, I'd have to say that's pretty true.So call a pharmacy and get the run down on the soap enema kit.I had never heard of that and later one of the ladies on a womans board said she got the soap enema at the hospital when she had her babies.Kamie


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## hangingin (Sep 7, 2002)

Believe me, I promise you, it CAN be a lot worse! I've landed up almost totally disabled and in constant pain for nearly 4 years and more constipated than ever!!I agree with K Mottus. Getting involved with laxatives can lead you to a total downhill spiral. I for one have become so dependent on them and have tried for years to get off and am totally unable to. My colon barely even functions with them, and I have to take tons and am constantly sick, bloated, constipated and in pain 24/7. Even taking about 20 - 30 a day I still am not able to go most days.I would strongly recommend that you not go "down this path", I started thinking it would be a one time thing and look where it landed me and I havent a clue how to get out of it.Please try to take KMottus's suggestions, they're really good. I wish I could, but I think its too late and I would hate for anyone else to land up like me.Please take care and see how the osmotic laxatives go (getting a good doc helps, but isnt easy sometimes)Good Luck


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## kamie (Sep 14, 2002)

K's post:Abdominal massage can help some people. Start on the lower right and work your way around up the right, across the top, and down the left. _______________________________Abdominal massage is extremely helpful when your colon is stressed from too many laxatives or too much anything.I often hesitate to offer any therapudic advice from my perspective of being a holistic body therapist for many many years, because I get anoyed at all the flame garbage that gets posted on how my thoughts are rubbish.However, I'm going to throw something out from my field of expertise, where I have been a licensed professional, so I hope you just take this for whatever it worth coming from what some people believe to be a less worthy profession of recognition in the world of IBS..... even though my profession has been recognized enough to get referals from doctors and have major insurance companies recognize the practice as real health care therapy.First, the tummmy massage absolutely has to follow the natural movement of your digestive system from right , to up to over to down to left.Otherwise you can make the belly problems worse.Second, placing warm packs of Olive Oil on the lower abdomen and lower back do help in the repair of the whole bowel function.Try not to use too much electric heat. Those blue things you warm up in the mircowave do better because the electricity of a heating pad tends to dive the pain deeper into the muscular levels and then you have temp relief with other problems later.however, if all you have is a heating pad, the keep it a little lower than ultra hot and shorten your application time.In addition to the abdominal massage, which needs to be done with specific pressure, you would also want to then address the quads.People never realize the kind of bowel relief one can achieve if attention is paid to the Quads.Sometimes, if the back up is real bad, you will need to look at the knees and see how swollen they might be or how tender the little area just above the actual knee joint might be.If you find a lot of swelling and/or tenderness there, start working that area before you touch the abdominals.REFLEXOLOGY is actually the safest place to begin when trying to trouble shoot a colon body problem.The feet are our physical foundation and through the feet you begin to allow a natural process of body release with out over stimulating the lymphs all at once.The worst mistake people make with massage and body therapy is that they usually start at the worst achy spot.That is never a good idea because the worst achy spot is already achy because of an over abundance of toxins that have collected or a huge depletion in the energy force.So attacking the ouchy part is just that...an attack on an already compromised area of the body so it is best to ease into the more delicate places by first gaining access to the body through the specific practices of Reflexology no matter how many people on this board Poo Poo the valid and therapudic practice.All I can say is that too much body ignorance of proper procedure can be more damaging to the body and it's best to ALWAYS consult with a professional whoes business it is to restore balance and harmony to the physical unit so the client can return to a better quality of life.So see a licensed therapist. either in the field of body work or in the field of physiotherapy and get some pointers on how to best approach your body.Body work will not cure you over night.But it will help take pressure off places in the body that need freedom, movement and OXYGEN to begin to recuperate.Kamie


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