new member-grandchild

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A new member just requested to join and this was the message (edited

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My grand[child] has severe constipation right now. The GI doctor

wants him/her to take a capful of Miralax every hour until regulated.

I want to learn about this med and other options.

Personally, I would really question doing this particularly if the

protocol did not also call for ELECTROLYTE REPLACEMENT DRINKS. There

is a reason why when you as an adult, take the polyetheylene glycol

3350 (miralax) prescription that comes with the electrolyte powders

already in the big jug, and you're supposed to fill the big jug with

water, and then drink all of that solution within a short period of

time (I can't remember what it was, something like a half a day)...

that is because when you are taking in that much PEG 3350

(essentially what miralax is), then you run the risk of throwing the

body's electrolytes out of balance.

I am aware that some GI docs like to use the over-the-counter miralax

or even the prescription miralax, in a clean-out manner, but a full

capful every hour... hmmm... I would ask them " what about the

electrolytes " , i.e. at what point as a parent should I be worried

about it if my child hasn't " gone yet " ? Two capfuls? Ten capfuls?

24 capfuls?

Other options for clean-out of old backed up stool, would be the

children's fleet's enema's-- your child's GI doc could tell you how

many to do per day, but I remember when my son was backed up, and he

was four years old, we actually did a protocol from the GI doc that

included milk and molasses enema's (empty out the fleet children's

bottle, put in warm milk, then add molasses... I think it was two

parts milk to one part molasses.) Anyway, we were instructed to do

the M & M enema I think it was three times during the waking hours of

the first day and then twice a day for three more days, or something

like that. Anyway, that definitely got rid of the old backed up

stool.

If your grandchild's parents decide to use the miralax for the

cleanout, they should still ask about the electrolyte issue, and then

once the child's stools are soft, they really should opt to try other

things to see if they can manage their child's stool problem without

a chemical substance. As much as they claim it is inert, not going

to be absorbed, the truth is, and you can see from the journal

articles in the Files section, that a very small amount of it IS

absorbed by the body, and you have to imagine that cumulatively, over

time, for some people, this can be problematic. Not to mention that

a number of parents on this board report dramatic personality, mood,

tic disorders, kidney problems, urinary problems, etc. all starting

up shortly after the miralax was introduced. For SOME children,

miralax is definitely problematic, so if they choose to stay on it,

they should watch their child carefully over the next few weeks and

months for behavioral, personality, and other neurological changes.

W