# Miralax works but do I still need a stimulant? Pains in sides again!



## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

I have been taking Miralax for a week now. After day two of Miralax I will admit I took one dose of Milk of Magnesia to get things going. After that it has worked.The only thing is it doesn't seem to have the stimulating effect of Milk of Magnesia. It softens the stool like crazy but that's it. I am having very small bowel movements. The only thing that get me going is some caffiene in the morning. Still I'm not going as much as I would like.Should I occasionally take some form of a stimulant with Miralax?Also for the past few days I have been having side pains again. I have been having this side pain on and off for about the past six months. It is on the right and left side under my ribs more torwards my back. Sometimes it hurts like crazy and other times it almost feels like an itch under my ribs. Every single doctor I have seen told me the pains couldn't be my colon but I don't see what else they could be. Test show it's not my kidneys and there's not that much stuff that's on both sides of our body.After all the test I have had done I am thinking the pains are coming from the bends in my colon. I keek thinking it's trapped gas because it is very hard for me to pass gas. Is it possible the pains could be caused by using osmotic laxatives? Milk of Magnesia or Miralax? I have been taking this stuff so much recently it's hard to tell if the pains are there only when I take them or not. I have seen in the past the pains can be made worse by eating or laying down on my back. I could be wrong but picking heavy stuff up might make the pain worse also. I can't touch the pains with my hand. The pain is under my ribs. When it is real bad even moving hurts yet is doesn't seem to be muscular skeletal.I was also thinking that the pains could be from me being backed up constipated still. Like I said my bowel movements have been very small. I did kind of a colon transit test the other day and ate corn on Monday and noticed I still had corn in my stool as of Friday. Don't know if this is normal or not.One more thing. For the past six months I have noticed my stools have been floating. My docs told me that wasn't good. Well ever since I have started the Miralax my stools have been sinking. I also started to take garlic on a friends request to see if that would make my nausea and pains go away as I was told it is like a natural Antibiotic. I did not feel the pain in my sides for a week or so. Don't know if the garlic helped or not. The pains came back after I stopped the garlic though. Could it be a coincidence?


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## Lauzy (Feb 7, 2010)

Lots to consider there but just a word of warning from my use of miralax (movicol where I am-in UK).I have tried (and stopped) taking movicol on a number of occasions. I tried varying the dosage, etc but all I found is that I had lots of small BMS through day-which is not ideal. I also got bloated and had lots of pains and gurgling. I found it increased my wind problems and alot of the time it was trapped. I began taking other laxatives with it to try to improve my BMs but that made all the symptoms and the amount of small BMS worse!!!All these things have different effects on different people and I know movicol works wonders for many but I also know that a lot of people suffer a lot of side effects like me. Good luck x


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## Matt b (Feb 27, 2011)

Thanks for the advice.So far the pains in the side and possible trapped gas have been there way before I ever took Miralax.So far from taking Miralax I have noticed it is definitely softening my stool. It's just it has no stimulating factor to it. I have no urge to go. When I do have the urge the bm is usually pretty small.Like I said though most of the bad things I mentioned have been happening to me for months now so I don't think Miralax could be the problem.The reason I am trying to switch from Milk of Magnesia to Miralax is because I believe the magnesium in mom was messing me up. Possible electrolyte problems. It is also just safer to take Miralax more frequently then it is to take Milk of Magnesia. It's just so far Miralax does not have the stimulating effect that mom had.I have no idea what could be causing all of my physical problems. Pains in sides. No appetite. Weight loss. Low blood pressure. Severe fatigue. Brain fog. Depression. Anxiety. Nausea. Pains all over. I started feeling bad in December and have gotten worse every month after. It all started with severe constipation.


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## micropb (Jun 18, 2011)

My situation is similar. I had been taking Miralax twice a day for almost a year and taking a stimulant laxative when I would feel pain again. A coworker of mine is married to a GI triage nurse and had me talk to her. She then referred me to a different doctor than the one I had been seeing. Since April I have now been continuing to take the Miralax, but have also been taking fiber supplements daily and Dulcolax once a week (another stimulant laxative, just different active ingredient than Milk of Magnesia). I had previously taken Milk of Magnesia, but eventually even the smell of it made my stomach feel nauseous. So far having a regular regimen of both of them has helped a lot with the pain. The experience is similar with the Miralax, but taking the stimulant laxative once a week has helped prevent build up on my intestinal lining.I, too, get frustrated and upset having to deal with this, as well as the lack of information out there specifically for IBS-C. I have to plan when I take the stimulant laxatives so that I am at home when they kick in (I normally take them on the same day each week, but if I have plans I need to take them on a different day to make sure the pains don't come in the middle of someone's wedding or work days). When switching GI's, he told me that once a week was fine for stimulant laxatives, but if you take them too often, you can become dependent on them. Might help developing a regular routine for when you take them. The combination has helped me a lot, it would just be nice if insurance covered OTC medication


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