Not able to have bowel movement with Miralax

[Bentfield]

I have had a problem over the last three months. I have tried luctose and milk of magnesa for transit. I have been using Miralax for the last few months. I started with a cap full and strained to have movements in the beginning, now I am up to 10 caps 5x morning and 5x in evening. My primary doctor thought it was stress and prescribed xanax to help me relax. I no longer have Normal BM's I just sit and try several times a day. Color of BM is presently green, but I have went through liquid tar color when doing a prep for a test to yellow liquid after taking magesium citrate. I was diagnosed with IBS several years ago but this seems to be a complete shut down. Is there any test the I can have done to see if my body is becoming toxic? I can use my sphinter muscle to push out whatever is in the colon. But not getting the normal signal to go. I am not sure what I can eat I have tried ensure, normal diet and even just eating what ever I come across. I have had a barium mri, colonoscopy, barium enema and defecogram. I have done enemas and supositories to make it this far. Intitially it was caused by stress and I am on medication to for that but I can't have a normal BM with ten capfuls of miralax per day. I am worried because I have been trying to eat normally and output doesn't seem to be that same 1x per day as before all this started. Is there anything that anyone has tried that gives you normal transit. I am presently doing a sitmark marker test. If not and I am fecally impacted what is the next step? Is there a way to clean me out? Is there anything that is experimental. I have seem to be at my wits end. can anyone please share how they got there system back after long fasting due to religious beliefs and mental problems?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

You have had a pretty comprehensive evaluation, including colonoscopy and now a marker test.  Certainly irritable bowel disease can cause constipation, and optimization of treatment should be considered if the tests remain negative.

If the marker study is negative, anal manometry studies can be considered to evaluation if there is a problem with the sphincter.

If all the tests are negative, you can try a medication called Zelnorm, which may be of benefit in constipation-predominant IBS.

You may want to discuss these options with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[yoshi]

have you tried castor oil??

[Bentfield]

I haven't tried castor oil... does this help cause a BM?

[yoshi]

it helps,but i dont know why the other remedies are not working for you??
i dont know how old you are or male/female and what have you done??
severe fungal/yeast infection could cause constipation,hormonal change could do that too.
or something else ??

[Bentfield]

Male 37, I have 2 problems... I thought everything was just mental but it is physical effect... I have done all the test but except the final sitzmark x-ray. stucturallly everything is ok it just that I have no output.

[Biskie2]

Try eating prunes every day and drink fruit juices and lots of water in the meantime....

[yoshi]

dulcolax pills work for me everytime,but i have heard it could cause cancer if used long term.
i think you should really see some one who know how to treat this kind of problem

[yoshi]

are you taking any thing which contains aluminium??

[tessa0825]

I have never heard of anyone taking that much miralax. How in the world can you afford it? I take it (17gm) twice a day and it's almost 100.00 per month, so you must be paying about 500.00 a month. I also take zelnorm 6mg twice a day and both together seem to work pretty well. I would ask your Dr. for samples of Zelnorm (they are also VERY expensive) and see if they work for you.

[tir5dpony]

A related discussion, IBS and Mirilax OK? was started.