Glad to see its helping you Andrea. Thats me been on Movicol just over 6 months now and I couldn't be better. I still don't take BM for granted though, as i am still careful of what i eat (i.e. no stodgy pizza's or fast food, etc).
Has anyone heard of any long term side effects of using Movicol?

Hi ewan,
I haven't heard of any long term side effects and have wondered the same thing as I have been taking it 9 months myself. I believe NG said (if I'm remembering correctly) that there has been no long term study on what effects it could have. I'm seriously afraid of my bowels becoming dependent. I have reduced the dose slowly since surgery with no real problems but I'm not sure what's going to happen if I get brave enough to stop. I'm also curious if it's really necessary to have a bm everyday since healing from LIS. I know constipation is a no go but I'm not sure if going every day is really necessary and cause to panic since I'm healed?!

Hi Dawn,
I read somewhere on the web that the "normal" range of BMs ranges from 3 times a day to 3 times a week. I guess that most people are in the middle of this range, for me I am pretty much once a day. I think that the key thing is how fast food passes through the gut and in general this rate is slower for females than males and of course will be different according to individual metabolism.

Ewan I totally agree with you! I don't take it for granted either! I have asked the Doc about long term affects and he seems to think there is no problem! And I for one will carry on taking it as reading on here it seems that once you have a fissure they seem to return! So, to hell with that. Movicol a day for me for ever lol...Yeyyyy ;-)
p.s
I won't take fibre gel ever again. That constipated me if I didn't drink more than 2L of water a day. I just am not that thirsty though ??

I've not had LIS, but in terms of daily BM's, for me it depends on how much i eat. Normally, i have a movicol an hour before bed (gives time to go for a pee before bed) ! then i will have a BM in the morning. However, if i have a big breakfast, big lunch and a full 3 course dinner, the next day i'll have 2 BM's for sure! (and i'll get fat! haha). So i'm just careful what i eat and how much i eat.

Dawn wrote:I'm seriously afraid of my bowels becoming dependent. I have reduced the dose slowly since surgery with no real problems but I'm not sure what's going to happen if I get brave enough to stop.

Yeah, i had thought about starting to reduce the dose down, but whenever i think about it, there's always something coming up (a friends wedding, a holiday, doing up the house, etc) and i think "what if i get sore again?", so i end up putting it off.

of all the places to hurt wrote: I won't take fibre gel ever again. That constipated me if I didn't drink more than 2L of water a day. I just am not that thirsty though ??

Yeah, it can be tough going. I'm not office based at work, so i'm out and about a lot and toilet breaks can be few and far between, so its all very well if your at home, but not for me.

Does anyone know if Movicol is available in the UK without prescription?
Thanks
Alikg

Hi Alison
yes movicol is available over the counter although you tend to have to ask for it but its cheaper on prescription. A box of 30 sachets just cost my partner just over Ј11 without a prescription

Yep just paid about the same from Boots for 30 sachets.