# GoLytely for constipation not working?!



## jl20 (Feb 12, 2017)

I have been having constipation issues for almost a year now, and for the past 4 months, my GI doc and I have agreed to put me on something that usually works really well for me. I have been using golytely as an everyday med for 4 months now, and I go through a jug about every 3-4 days. I havent had any constipation since this week, so I would say it has been doing it's job nicely. I have pelvic floor disfunction, so my GI says this is only a "band-aid" while i go through biofeedback and PT.

Anyway... this week I have been doing my normal golytely but only going liquid yellow, no stools at all since tuesday. I had an x ray on tuesday at my doctors office and he says I wasn't really constipated, I was had a normal ammount of stool in me, with a lot of gas. That night I wanted to do kind of a colon cleanse deal. I didn't eat, and did a whole jug of golytely and pooped again, clear green/yellow liquid with no stool. Never happens. Yesterday (friday) my abdominal pain got worse so I went back to the doc and had another x-ray, which showed almost the same ammount of stool just that it had moved down. The doctor said there was no blockage or anything, and that it should come out eventually. But this never happens, golytely is always foolproof, and now that I know that there is actually stool in my bowels, why isn't it emptying with the top notch laxitive?

Any suggestions on what to do next would be helpful!


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

Well the problem is that the GoLytely has likely ruined the integrity of the mucus layer on your colon so that nothing slides out of you anymore. The more GoLytely you take, the more it will just strip all the mucus that has built up since your previous GoLytely dose and flush it out. Catch 22. It would be wise to stop the GoLytely and let the mucus layer rebuild, and then try a stool softener and magnesium. For a multitude of reasons it is a really, really, really good idea to NOT use GoLytely every day, but then again I'm not a doctor so take my recommendations with a grain of salt.

Have you tried magnesium before?


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## pukka (Nov 28, 2004)

i never heard of GoLytely is it like a fleet colon prep? I been using Linzess but have mixed results. I need to up the dose but don't want to. my symptoms have gotten worse with age.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

yes, GoLytely is a colonscopy prep.

when things started getting really bad for me, my gastro had me take half of a colonoscopy prep once a week to keep me from developing an impaction. i chose to take prepopik because it's low volume but very effective.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

pukka said:


> i never heard of GoLytely is it like a fleet colon prep? I been using Linzess but have mixed results. I need to up the dose but don't want to. my symptoms have gotten worse with age.


Yes, it is a colon prep, the ingredient is polyethylene glycol, which is the same thing that is in Miralax.

It is probably fine to take 1-2 doses up to a couple times per week with minimal side effects. But going through a jug of it every 3-4 days is far too much, as is likely why the thread starter has issues.


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