Medications

So I have been given medication by doctors pretty much my whole life. Mostly, this has involved laxatives, which would be given to me after my mum had taken me kicking and screaming to the doctors. I thought it would be useful to list all the different options and write about how I found them, because doctors are often keen just to prescribe senna tablets rather than considering all of the options:

Lactulose: This is a kind of sugary syrup that you get given to take every day. I have memories of having this as a fairly young child, but it's hard for my to really say how effective it is as I've taken it for so long. Nowadays, certainly, it doesn't seem to have any effect, but maybe that's because either my constipation is too bad, or because my body is so used to it. I find some medications (and this is perhaps one of them) are better for people who have normal bowel movements most of the time and then have constipation as a one-off or infrequently, rather than for someone like me who is permanently 'blocked up.'

Senna Tablets: These are another standard mediation, which works as a laxative. I tend to find senna tablets (I use the brand 'senakot') work quiet well for getting things moving, although I find I have to take several days worth of tablets before anything happens now, but they aren't really suitable for long-term us (no laxatives are, as they make your colon 'lazy' and actually make the problem worse long-term).

Glycerol Suppositories: I'm not going to lie, these are about as grim as it gets. I first had these when I was about 8 years old. The nurse said it would feel 'like a jelly baby.' Well, let me tell you, it feels nothing like it!! It's particularly uncomfortable to administer but does have the advantage of acting fairly quickly, although you have to resist initial urges to go to the bathroom to ensure that it has gone far enough in and has worked. I find that sometimes they have not worked or gone in far enough which is particularly frustrating, and they are my least favourite option (I would rather be in pain for a few days waiting for the senna tablets above to work in all honesty). However, there is no doubt that they are a very effective instant relief. Just a bit grim.

Movicol: Not going to lie, this is my favourite and really transformed my life whilst I took it. It's a powder that dissolves to make a not-too-unbearable drink and can be taken up to three times a day. It works (I think) by absorbing more water into the gut, so it doesn't act on your muscles in quite the same way as some of the other laxatives do, and the plan was to take this long term, as it made my stools much softer and for the first time in my life I was able to empty my bowels daily, which felt so amazing! I went on holiday and didn't have to worry about it at all! HOWEVER, I was unfortunate enough to suffer one of the rarer side effects of heart palpitations and so had to stop taking it. :( But I would definitely recommend it!

Then, in addition to those above, there are also two medications I have tried which are fairly new to the UK:

Prucalopride: A tablet which unfortunately had horrific side effects for me, and made me really very sick. However, on the plus side I did have diarrhea so maybe it can be effective. I didn't take it for long enough to find out, but would be interested to hear from anyone that ever has.

Linaclotide: Tablets that I took for a month (the hospital had to get them in especially) which didn't appear to have any effect whatsoever.

So after all that, I am currently not taking any medication long-term (just senna when I really need it), but have been having natural products and fibre products instead, which I will hopefully post about soon, as I've found several that do help a bit. Nothing is as effective as movicol for me yet though...


Louisa x