# How Long Does It Take for Miralax to Work for You?



## Pinskers

I'm giving it another go after not trying it for around a year. I'm taking it three times a day. Just finished my third dose over 24 hours. I can feel food moving in my gut and I'm super gassy, but nothing feels softer and no urge to go yet. I've heard it can take up to a week to start being consistently effective?

How long does it take to work for you all?


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## Sean

I recall it taking four days before it actually made me have a bowel movement. I was bloated on day 1, though. Unfortunately, it gradually lost its effectiveness. I gave up on it after 3 or 4 months.


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## Pinskers

Yeah, I'm rotating back on it after not using it for a year. Hoping it'll at least keep things soft. I know it CAN work, as if I take it like you would a colonoscopy prep, I get pretty much water, but 3x a day is not doing much yet. I'll keep at it for the week.


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## Pinskers

So I believe it's started to work, but my stool has been very mushy and mostly water. Lots of bloating. I remember the last time I took it, I think I had a constriction because it was very, very long and thin, like a rope, so I'm not sure what this means. Should I keep at it and hope it begins to even out over the week?


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## Dreamcatcher32

I would definitely get yourself in at Mayo Clinic as soon as you're able. If you go through bowel retraining, you most-likely will not need laxatives. This is all dependent upon doing the program to an absolute T though. If you're not where they say you need to be - then it won't work. So it requires months and months of hard work. Well.. more like "soft" work in the sense that it's 100% about relaxation. I really think your anxiety is making you tense your pelvic floor without realizing it.


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## Aidara

Pinsker, what did you use before starting Miralax? Have you ever been taking Miralax regularly?


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## Pinskers

I started Miralax a LONG time ago and then stopped it for about a year. I've been using Ducolax since then, as well as fiber gummies. I'm giving it another go around. This will be my sixth day on it. Had a LOT of watery diarrhea these past couple of days, yesterday being JUST water with particles. Things are a BIT more solid today, but small, with urges that come and go, so this weekend MIGHT see something solid.


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## Aidara

Did you stop Miralax because it lost its effectiveness long time ago? I am asking because I had been taking Miralax for 8 months with a very good results and it stopped working all of the sudden.  Stools are still soft, but I have have no urge to go. I decided to take a break for a month then go back to it. It's still the same, so I am considering to give it a much longer break this time. Unfortunately, it is so difficult to find something safe and effective to replace it.


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## Pinskers

Yup, that's why. I may need to boost back up to two doses again, because three was liquid, but one isn't doing much. Ducolax is probably the most effective thing for me. I'd scheduled another appointment with a new GI specialist, so we'll see if I can get an appointment.


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## Benzo Belly

I had to take it consistently for about 2 weeks to notice any real benefit. Though I suspect the Bentyl was helping me poo more than the Miralax since I started it first and saw improvement before adding Miralax. The two together work wonders for my -C, though they stop working as well if I take them every day. Rotating meds seems to work best for me.


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## Aidara

Idkwi, before taking any advice, people must be fully aware, that no one is qualified to give advice on this forum. In ideal world we should get all the advice and support from our doctors, but this forum proves that doctors are not much of help for some people. That is why sometimes unqualified advice is much more better then the qualified one. In my case doctors are doing nothing to diagnose me for almost 3 years and prescribing me tons of laxatives without any concern. I really appreciate Dreamcatcher's advice as well as Annie's. Thanks to both of you I realised what is happening to me and I have been encouraged to seek the right diagnosis and appropriate treatment. In the meantime I am learning how to have bm without much of straining and other natural things to cure my constipation. So, it is not about qualifications it is about personal experiences.


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