# 18 years old with IBS-C (i think), taking miralax



## applegal6 (May 24, 2014)

hello everyone, i have been having digestion issues (*constipation and bloating*) for about 4 months and haven't really improved. I'm moving away to college this fall and i really don't want this to be an issue when i'm far from home. anyway, i started to have irregularity and bloating. i can't remember exactly when it started but i remember it happening right after i made my first green smoothie (spinach, berries, banana, greek yogurt, chia seeds.. sounds super healthy, right?) it made me feel great for the day, but it was the week after i noticed that my body wasn't itself. i went on with daily life but i just didn't feel right and wasn't going. to try and remedy it, i tried *vegetable laxatives* and they gave me a small amount of relief. however, i still didn't feel well so i tried *ducolax*. after taking it i read all of the reviews on amazon and saw that it was an extremely unpleasant experience but it worked and got the job done. i all day and night for some symptoms that people had talked about. the weekend passed and nothing happened. this lead me to visit a doctor (physician's assistant to be exact) to see if there was anything else i could do. she recognized it as a little *IBS-C*, triggered by stress and anxiety. she told me to try *miralax*. i got home and had my first dose of miralax and continued for about 5 days. this worked pretty well. i wasn't sure how long i could keep taking it, so i stopped. when i stopped, my problems started again. this time a saw another doctor and she told me that you can take miralax for a long time (1-2 months) without it being a problem. I started this, but i tried to get myself off of it because it caused a stich in my side whenever i ran. ok so the same things have been going on for the past 3 months. take miralax for a few weeks, try and get myself off of it or just flat out forget to take it, symptoms come back, etc. Will I have to take miralax for the rest of my life? I've also tried to clean up my diet, add more fiber, i drink tons of water, i exercise when i can but i think i need to be more regular about it. I hate being dependent on something and i wish i could get back to everyday life without this discomfort. does anyone have any advice for a new IBS-C victim? i have recently hypothesized that it could be mostly due to my *stress and anxiety*. I get really up tight with things like school, social situations, and what food i'm eating/how it's affecting me. i think i should start visiting a therapist to sort out those issues as well as see a specialist for stomach issues (not sure what you call one/how to find one).

sorry for this extremely long anecdote about my stomach issues, i just feel so alone and of course not many people want to talk about constipation problems, lol. i would really appreciate it if somebody would respond with some *advice/support*. again, i'm moving to college soon and i want to be the best version of myself when i'm there (physically and mentally)!


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## Jennifer Whitcomb (Jun 3, 2014)

Hey!! I'm 26 and have had IBS-C symptoms most of my life, but only TODAY was officially diagnosed. When I was 17 my doctor said to try MiraLAX and said to take it for a few weeks, but I had the same experience as you where when I stopped taking it, my symptoms came back. I would get constipated and bloated and it would be uncomfortable. I even had a colon cleanse and that was supposed to "start fresh" but less than a week later I was back to feeling bloated. Eventually i started taking MiraLAX daily forever...because eventually a new doctor just said I must be the type to need it. I felt like SOMEthing needed to be the cause, I shouldn't just have to take it forever! SO today I saw the doctor and he diagnosed me, and put me on the FODMAPS diet. Supposedly this will work..so you may want to give it a shot! Check out the low FODMAPS diet. I guess it takes 6-8 weeks to really know if this helps, then you can reintroduce some foods back in and see if they affect you. Good luck!


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