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Can Taking Dulcolax Beyond The Recommended Dosage Stop Bowel Movements?
Question: Low carb diet for 10 weeks. Lost 20 lbs. Had no bm for first 2 weeks despite water, fiber, fruits, veggies, softeners, bulkers, etc. 8 weeks ago in desperation used dulcolax. For the last 8 weeks I have taken 1 pill (max dose 3 on box) ever 48 hours to induce bm. Tried to stop them and had no bm for 6 days. Had to take one due to full abdomen. Bm induced and I lost 3 lbs. Just read online that this medication can cause your colon not to work without it when used for longer than recommended. Have I caused my colon to stop working by taking this medication every 48 hours for 2 months? I have a Dr apt but until then can you give me any information? Is it possible I have ruined my colon at that dose for this amount of time? Scared.
Brief Answer:
The bowel had become lazy, but gradually can be retrained again.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for using Healthcaremagic to post your health query.
I read carefully your question and I understand your concern.
Sadly, the physical and physiologic dependence from Dulcolax is real and a problem, but not impossible to treat. Dulcolax is one of the most worse too.
Your bowel is not completely ruined, it just has become lazy and would not move unless you take the tablet which stimulates it.
What you can do is to gradually increase the gap between one use and the other- start using the pill every 72 hours first and so on even more rarely.
Also, help your bowel to be more active by exercising, using pure fibers like Psyllium and see what you can adjust else in your diet to add more fibers.
Unfortunately this problem is not studied well and there are no fixed recommendation of what works best, or either a treatment for it. So, the above advises and your patience and will combined, hopefully will be enough to make your bowel work well very soon.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you need more clarifications.
Regards,
Dr. Papaqako
The bowel had become lazy, but gradually can be retrained again.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for using Healthcaremagic to post your health query.
I read carefully your question and I understand your concern.
Sadly, the physical and physiologic dependence from Dulcolax is real and a problem, but not impossible to treat. Dulcolax is one of the most worse too.
Your bowel is not completely ruined, it just has become lazy and would not move unless you take the tablet which stimulates it.
What you can do is to gradually increase the gap between one use and the other- start using the pill every 72 hours first and so on even more rarely.
Also, help your bowel to be more active by exercising, using pure fibers like Psyllium and see what you can adjust else in your diet to add more fibers.
Unfortunately this problem is not studied well and there are no fixed recommendation of what works best, or either a treatment for it. So, the above advises and your patience and will combined, hopefully will be enough to make your bowel work well very soon.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you need more clarifications.
Regards,
Dr. Papaqako
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Kampana
Answered by
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