# Long term use of osmotic laxatives?



## oceannir (Mar 6, 2012)

Dear all,I'm just wondering does anyone here have any experience with the long term use of osmotic laxatives?My background, i've had IBS since my mid teens. I remember learning about constipation when I couldn't pass. It got progressively worse, however in my younger years I was fine on just bulk forming style fiber laxatives.In my early 20's things got progressively worse and I moved to lactulose and movicol (i tried both, lactulose worked better for me). To be honest, i've found this gives me pretty good results. My IBS is still unbearable in high stress situations, but as I get older i've found that im beggining to get more IBS like symptoms, like cramping etc.I have a few questions however.Do you feel it would be possible for me to wean myself off the lactulose to try and get back to just taking fiber? I worry that the longer I take it the more 'reliant' on it I will become. I've been trying just taking half doses but I find I get alot of wind and not much bowel activity. Although this could be caused from me stressing about bowel movements, you never really know with us do you!I'm asking this because i've never given this a real go of beating it. I've always just medicated myself and tried to forget it. I just keep thinking 'maybe there is nothing wrong with me, maybe I can make this better'. Everytime I go to research the medications i'm taking (metamucil and lactulose) I scare myself shitness (pardon the pun) at all the serious clinical stuff about it. I'm extremely fit otherwise but i'm starting to already worry that I have become reliant on these medications.


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## Sean (Feb 8, 1999)

I have taken them for periods of months but discontinued them because they tend to lose their effectiveness for me when taken regularly. I had no ill effects though. I pretty much rely solely on stimulant laxatives. Dulcolax has not lost its effectiveness for me over time. Regular stimulant laxative use is not a healthy thing. I would use only as a last resort.


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## oceannir (Mar 6, 2012)

How long have you been taking the stimulant laxatives Sean? Do they provide you with a normal bowel? Or is it still very difficult to live with despite them?


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## KJL (Mar 19, 2012)

Sean said:


> I have taken them for periods of months but discontinued them because they tend to lose their effectiveness for me when taken regularly. I had no ill effects though. I pretty much rely solely on stimulant laxatives. Dulcolax has not lost its effectiveness for me over time. Regular stimulant laxative use is not a healthy thing. I would use only as a last resort.


Snap. I use movicol, but I have to use quite a high dose.Ducolax works for me too, but I find I often have to take a higher dose and then I can end up in a lot of pain.I'm waiting for a hospital referral for tests, which I am hoping will help me manage all this better.


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## TheOutlookChild (Sep 2, 2011)

If osmotic laxatives lose effectiveness and you stop taking them, do they regain effectiveness after a period of time? I am currently taking two kinds of osmotic laxatives and mega doses of psyllium and that is starting to fail me.


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## JB52 (Apr 5, 2012)

Osmotic laxatives do not cause long term damage, they are benign. I saw a very good gastroenterologist yesterday and he said that (it was my first question). So if it is the only thing that helps to ease your IBS, even after trying to wean yourself off of it, you would be fine to keep doing it.


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## Sean (Feb 8, 1999)

oceannir said:


> How long have you been taking the stimulant laxatives Sean? Do they provide you with a normal bowel? Or is it still very difficult to live with despite them?


Oceannir,I have been taking stimulant laxatives off and on since I was 16. I am 40 now. I have tried a lot of other things, so I would not say that I have been on stimulants continuously. They have been my primary remedy for the past five years, however. They do not provide me with what I would call a normal bowel movement. Taken in sufficient doses, they empty my colon pretty aggressively. They typically cause multiple bowel movements over a period of a few hours. The movements are easy and comfortable except for some mild abdominal cramping. The movements tend to progress towards diarrhea though. As unpleasant as it sounds, Dulcolax has made my life a lot more bearable.


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## tourist (Feb 19, 2011)

Fiber laxatives are habit forming too, and over time it can take more and more to irritate and stimulate the colon into evacuating. They can also stretch and desensitize the colon. Before someone leaps on me, I know this is new and controversial info, but I believe you will be hearing this in the mainstream soon enough. But the long and short of it is that both fiber and "stimulant laxatives" can cause dependency. I take Ducolax daily, with the blessing of my GI doctor, and the damage from years of increasingly more fiber may be starting to reverse.


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