Brief Answer: Prunes are advised in constipation Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for posting your query on HealthcareMagic. Prunes (often called as dried plums) are usually advised by doctors for relieving mild constipation. Though prune juice is usually not advised for relieving constipation, but it may be also work to cause softening of stools in some people. The reason is the presence of sorbitol and dihydrophenylisatin which are considered natural laxatives. You are having extremely soft stools. It can also be due to other reasons. Thus if you can tell me your symptoms in detail I will be better able to help you. You should stop taking the foods that may be contributing to the soft stools. Prune juice should be taken in moderation - maybe one glass or 250 ml should be enough for a day in mild constipation. Currently stop the juice altogether for a few days and see if the condition reverses. Regards Dr Vaishalee

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Brief Answer: It is because of discontinuation of laxatives Detailed Answer: Hi again I am not sure which laxatives have you taken apart from prune juice. But if you have taken something that is high in fiber, then it is normal to have disturbances for a while. Your bowels will get back to normal in 2 or at most 3 days. Whenever you start or stop the use of laxatives, your bowel movements will change. I would not be concerned unless it is diarrhea or constipation. Your bowel movements still seem to be normal. In case you have diarrhea, take gatorade or pedialyte to restore the lost water and electrolytes. Regards Dr Vaishalee

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Brief Answer: Colace taken only as needed Detailed Answer: Hi again, I will try to make some sense of your symptoms. You stopped taking colace two days ago but you were taking prune juice. So what happened was that the first bowel movement was normal but second was loose. After discontinuing colace your bowel movements should become hard. But it became soft. So there must be another explanation. Either it was due to intake of prune juice (which is also a known laxative) or some other factor came into play. It can also be a re-modelling of the intestinal mucosa after discontinuation of colace. I hope you do not have any other abdominal symptoms like pain in abdomen or blood in stools, in which case some other cause can be considered. Such symptoms do appear after discontinuing medicine and these usually clear up in time. Nature heals small disturbances. If the loose motion cleared up eventually and no other symptoms are present then it can be ignored. If it is still showing up or some other symptoms are present, then visiting the doctor would be the next best step. Hope it helps. Dr Vaishalee

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