My stool softeners and miralax aren't working, how come?

Posted by pb0o7 @pb0o7, Mar 21, 2023

I've been struggling with stomach issues for a long time now and it runs in my family. I went to the hospital recently and had to have a GI clean out through an NG tube. When I was discharged from the hospital they told me to take one stool softener at night and one stool softener in the morning and one capful of miralax each day. But it stopped working. I'm in a crazy amount of pain. I had a CT scan done when I was in the hospital, it showed I had stool stuck almost half way through my colon. But before my stay in the hospital, I had been to many other hospitals. No one could find anything, until I had that CT scan. iv had both scopes done, but the doctor didn't see anything wrong. I have no clue if it has something to do with it but I have really bad hashimoto. I have no idea what to do now. Please help me with what I should do next. Please and thank you.

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Miralax makes me constipated because it takes fluids out of the body to work and I don't absorb enough fluids for Miralax to work. I also can get dehydrated from drinking plain water. I drink fluids with glucose and sodium in them for my body to absorb. Apple juice helps my constipation.

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My doctor told me to take Miralax twice a day.. Also that you must be consistent taking it.. regularly..
Don't drink caffeine, but do drink lots of plain water every day.

i am following her advice and find it is helping..

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Profile picture for h8bigbiz @h8bigbiz

@lauracbaker

Thanks for the kind words, however, I know all this walking hasn't replaced fat with muscle because my clothes still fit the same. And I know it hasn't improved my mood because the whole time I'm walking I'm thinking "I'd rather be reading or be online than doing this boring old physical sh*t!" So I'm about ready to dispense with the walking; I swear my digestion's gotten worse since starting it. Since I was born with this almost non-functional digestive tract, I've spent close to a quarter of a century and have tried everything (so has every medical professional I've consulted) and nothing has worked so I'm pretty sure there's nothing left to try; thanks anyway, though for the kind words.

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Try the vibrant capsule. Continue MiraLAX. Did you ever take Linzess or Prucalopride prescription drugs for chronic constipation. I have to take Linzess daily, drinks loads of water. I also started the vibrant capsule and it has helped look it up. I also take a dose of MiraLAX and take 400 mg of Magnesium Citrate at 7 pm. I walk daily and am active. My colon doesn’t move either. I’m 66 and it shut down at age 36. Who knows why? The SITZ test was positive meaning the pill never passed. Look up Sitz test. I have avoided a colon resection by the skin of my teeth. Believe me all I have to do is a royal pain in the A**! I feel your Pain!

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Prune juice, apple sauce, bran muffins besides over the counter meds has worked for me.

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Hydrate with more than 64 ounces of water. In addition to whatever else you drink. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol as both cause dehydration.

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If you use Miralax you need to drink more fluids not just water. Some people's bodies don't absorb plain water like other people.

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Profile picture for bb03 @bb03

Try the vibrant capsule. Continue MiraLAX. Did you ever take Linzess or Prucalopride prescription drugs for chronic constipation. I have to take Linzess daily, drinks loads of water. I also started the vibrant capsule and it has helped look it up. I also take a dose of MiraLAX and take 400 mg of Magnesium Citrate at 7 pm. I walk daily and am active. My colon doesn’t move either. I’m 66 and it shut down at age 36. Who knows why? The SITZ test was positive meaning the pill never passed. Look up Sitz test. I have avoided a colon resection by the skin of my teeth. Believe me all I have to do is a royal pain in the A**! I feel your Pain!

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@bb03 I want to try this but am not sure you mean 400 mg of magnesium citrate. I have it in 10oz (296 ml) bottles as a liquid. Do you take pills?

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Profile picture for tj @tjanet

If you use Miralax you need to drink more fluids not just water. Some people's bodies don't absorb plain water like other people.

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@tjanet This is very true; I think I'm one of those people whose body refuses to absorb most of the water I drink. My problem is that the only fluids to drink besides water are fruit juices and I'm allergic to most fruits. And I can't drink water with electrolytes because of the sodium since sodium tears my digestion up something fierce.

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Profile picture for tumblewind @tumblewind

@bb03 I want to try this but am not sure you mean 400 mg of magnesium citrate. I have it in 10oz (296 ml) bottles as a liquid. Do you take pills?

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I take a capsule form of magnesium citrate.

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I am only going to tell you what my doctor at Stanford in Palo Alto told me I COULD, not should, take two capfuls of Miralax at night if needed. Now TWO things I was only taking omeprazole, nothing else for digestive problems. After two years, most of my difficulties were gone. DON'T do this without asking your doctor if might try it and see if it could help. Any good idea, double check with your doctor because it certainly can be the best idea ever ever that they think is good, but you might have something ( maybe medication, medical condition) that will keep you from using that idea. Good Luck, hope you feel better, I have some new problems maybe I'll write in about.

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