# Is it possible to overdose on Movicol (Miralax)?



## Aidara (May 9, 2014)

Hello everyone. Forgive me for so frequent topics, but I have so mnay questions and my doctors don't know the answers or not willing to help.I am just wondering if it is possible to overdose on Miralax? I had been taking it for about 8 months along with a glass of prune juice. It was a miracle. Then I noticed that 1 sachet stopped working. I still had soft stools, but no urge to go. I had to strain a lot and this is not good for my haemorrhoids and anal fissure So I decided to rotate it with something else. I started taking fybogel (ispaghula husk) and lactulose. It worked very well, but lactulose gave me horrible gas and pain, so I had to stop it. Then I started to take magnesium (750 - 1000mg per day). It worked initially, but it stopped. So I added movicol to fybogel. But I need at least 2-3 sachets daily. On really bad days I take 4 sachets. It says that long term use shouldn't exceed 1-2 sachets.


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## Aidara (May 9, 2014)

I am worrying that I am taking too many sachets yet one of my doctors said that he has patients taking as many as 6 sachets per day. And he told me that Movicol is safe to take in high doses and you can't overdose on it. Is it true???

Also, I am thinking to stop fybogel and get some pshyllium husk supplement. I don't like all those artificial ingredients in fybogel and pshyllium seems to be more natural option then fybogel. But what do I do with Movicol? Should I continue with so many sachets? I regret so much that I decided to rotate it with something else. I ended up in much worse situation. I have been thinking about sodium docusate instead of Movicol. Is it as effective as Movicol? I am looking forward to your responses. Many thanks.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

......(i'm sorry if i seem like i'm repeating myself from previous posts here--just disregard this if you want... i don't mean to be pushy or repetitive and i do know you worry a lot about taking laxatives etc. hopefully you'll get some other responses from other people to reassure you. take care)

about movicol (miralax in the usa) the instructions on my bottle say "don't take more than directed unless advised by your doctor".

both my gastros and my surgeons all told me much the same thing your doctor has said-- i could take as much as i needed--that they had patients take 6 to 8 doses or more a day and that the only problem one encounters when taking too much is diarrhea. if that happens you lower the dose. i know people who, with their doc's advice, have been on high doses of it for years.

docusate sodium is a stool softener not an osmotic laxative like milk of magnesia and movicol. . i used to take it years ago but later found milk of magnesia worked better for me. my docs all told me and i read that docusate sodium is safe to take.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Well it is safe enough to "overdose" to the point you are completely cleaned out and having pure water diarrhea (a colonoscopy prep), so I think that is why doctors are not concerned when their patients need to up the regular dose for routine constipation.

If you are constipated bad enough to need more than the usual dose on a regular basis and haven't consulted your doctor about your symptoms don't go higher just to avoid the doctor. But once the doctor is on board, if they say it is OK, then I would not be too concerned about it.


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## Aidara (May 9, 2014)

Annie and Kathleen M THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your advice is so important for me. I feel much better now. I am waiting for my appointment to see colorectal surgeon, hopefully he will do some tests on me soon. But I need to survive in the meantime. Movicol is a life saver for me, just I need higher doses for it to be effective and I have been worrying about that a lot, since I am dreading that day it stops working. I don't have any diarrhoea, so I suppose the dose is right for me. Thank you so much for your posts, I really appreciate it.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh you're more than welcolme--glad it helped







.


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