People abusing laxatives for bowel incontinence or irregularity

[TroubledTeen]

I have read zero articles on the matter, because it seems to be something no one is willing to discuss. I admit to having thoughts on the matter, mainly because I know that laxatives are a leading cause of IBS and furthur constipation. I was just wondering if some members of this community knew about a few things that are hardly ever asked...

A. Laxatives are supposed to be taken in the maximum quantity of one (anally):
What happens when a high number of laxatives are used?

B. If possible, how would laxatives go about damaging your sphincter muscles (depiction, not a how-to).

C. Had a person taken 10+ laxatives at one time, what are the precautions that must be taken to ensure dehydration and serious damage from occurring?

There are many more questions, but I'd rather not raise an eyebrow with them. I'm just curious as to what safety measures should be taken if all an abuser was trying to commit to would be a temporary feeling of incontinence.


Please, no negativity. This is purely out of curiosity and not me wanting to go out and damage myself. If I did, I wouldn't even be asking, I would be doing.

 

[daria7483]

I don't think there are many articles about it because I don't think anyone does it to become incontinent, or at least not many people. I've never heard of anyone trying this, and my guess is you'd wind up in the hospital for serious dehydration long before you ever became incontinent. There is probably a lot of info about people abusing them to lose weight, which is a serious problem and a symptom of bulimia.

I don't know how laxatives damage your sphincter muscles, but the simple answer to your other two questions is that if you are taking laxatives and don't need to be, you will be voiding more water than you should and become seriously dehydrated. And if you're taking 10 at a time when you should only be taking one, there are really no precautions you can take to prevent that kind of severe dehydration. No matter how much water you drink it will come right back out of you.

 

[Pojo]

10 at once would definitely hurt your body...It would be best to take the recommended dose...If you want to try to prevent dehydration then do the obvious and drink plenty of liquids while taking them...Laxatives damage your sphincter after prolong use...Since the laxatives force you to poop a liquidy mess (thats the least gross way I could put it) your sphincter can't hold it in, and will lose the force it had...It's like how always peeing at the slightest urge will cause you to lose bladder control...

 

[Darkfinn]

Playing around with laxatives can be extremely dangerous. If you want to mess your diaper I do suggest using better alternative like eating high fiber foods or using a fiber supplement. It is a more natural and healthy way to produce bulky mess without using drugs.

That being said... taking the reccomended doseage of a laxative every once in a while won't hurt you. But if you use it too often your body can become dependant on them. Taking more than the reccomended dose is considered poisioning and can kill you... so if you've done that I suggest calling a poision control center or seeking other medical attention.

 

[ballucanb]

All laxitives work to take the excess moisture from your body and put it in the colon to ease the consipation.

As one who was and for the most part is still laxitive dependant, you can screw yourself up with them once you become depandant you stay that way.

I started takeing laxitives a long time ago, because I have always had trouble going, but after a while I became dependant, I tried every laxitive on the market.

If you use one once and a while you will be OK, it's when you start to use them daily, it becomes a problem.

I am still dependant, but not to laxitives I use enemas now, at least there are no chemicals involved just a little mild soap and warm water.

When you take laxitives you have to wait for maybe up to 8 hours for them to work(depending on the laxitive) some work in less time, the safest is prune juice(liquid rasins) it works in about 2 hours, but you have to wait for it to start, and then you have to wait for it to stop working, if you want to spend 4 hours + daily then go for it.

With an enema your done in a few min.and it's over, a bit more messy but fast.

If you have any laxitive questions I would be glad to answer them, just Pm me if you would like....B

 

[kitsiulla]

TroubledTeen, maybe this can help answer some:

Those with eating disorder may take one laxative, two or even the entire box for one dosage. The effects can be painful and even lead to death. Those who take laxatives are only encouraging their body to lose water and nothing else. Weight loss may be noticed but this is temporary as the weight will return as the body rehydrates itself of water loss. The small intestine where food is digested and where nutrients and calories are absorbed cannot be stimulated by laxatives or even enemas. Once the water loss has taken place, it can lead the body to retain water leaving the person feeling even more bloating. In some cases, individuals take even more laxatives as a way to relieve the water retention and bloating they feel. All laxatives do is reduce fluid levels within the body by inducing severe diarrhea. The misuse of laxatives and enemas can cause serious and sometimes irreversible damage.

There is a lot of good information here that describes everything in detail.
http://www.geocities.com/gina_rlp/lax.html

Hope this was good enough to answer your questions

 

[InconJenOnWheels]

I take a laxative every two days as part of the bowel program my doctor put me on. Everything said in this thread is 100% true. Messing around with laxatives, especially taking 10 at once, with deffinitely screw up your body.

 

[diapeybabybrian]

If you want the effects of a good laxitive (but not from a laxitive pill) (in about 1/6 of the time of a pill laxitive)...The answer is Prune Juice my friend.

Buy a $3-4.00 bottle of prune juice, (i get the all natural kind), and drink a glass with a meal. You'll feel it working in less than an hour, and it doesn't give you stomach cramps like pill laxitives i've tried (Ducolax). The stool will be on the dirreah side, depending on how much food/what kind of food you ate with it.

Depending on how much prune juice you drink, will depend on how long you have the effects. One glass will most likely produce at least 2 or 3 medium sized bowel movements, but if you drink a whole bottle, you might find the whole, "changing every 20 minutes thing", kind of annoying...and painful if you don't change quickly and use lotion...

you might wanna stock up on some diaper rash cream just in case, or use some petroleum jelly (that stuff works great, but it makes it more difficult for changing, it creates a lot of friction while you're trying to wipe.

 

[Yumi]

Being bulemic/anorexic in the past... I know for a fact you will seriously mess up your system abusing lax! It's not good! =/ Using it once and a while is ok! Unless otherwise told by a doctor! Please don't tell me you plan on doing this sort of thing, ever! (I'm not shouting, its my way of showing concern)

 

[Spiro910]

I once took a lax, just to check what it could do .. and found myself using the bathroom one day after I took it. Lol, rather get an enema which (as stated above) won't mess with your body and will take action right away.

 

[kite]

assuming the effects of a laxative, i would say you would probably get cramping and/or spasming of the anus and/or the rest of your bowel system. every human body runs on a finely tuned cyclical system. any disruption of that usually will cause an equal opposite reaction (i.e. water loss leading to severe dehydration/cramping of muscles). abuse of the drug, like stated, could kill someone.
oh and just thought of it, there are diseases and infections that cause severe diahrrea that have killed people within a few days. what you don't know about those pills is:
it's strength
it's start time and
it's length of action
so like Zagete said, you could take the dose now and find yourself messing almost 24 hours later. doubt that would be pleasant.

 

[Peachy]

so like Zagete said, you could take the dose now and find yourself messing almost 24 hours later. doubt that would be pleasant.

It's all about the timing really. If you insist on trying laxatives despite the possible complications and damage they could cause, you should find the right product. Obviously, products going through your digestive system need about the same time as food going through there. If you want an instant reaction, you need to insert the product right where the reaction is supposed to happen.

Peachy

 

[Darkfinn]

If you really just have to go messing around (ha ha) I would suggest having a big salad and a couple of glasses of prune juice. Do it the natural way... lotsa fiber.

 

[ballucanb]

Whatever laxitive you use, I have used them all at one time in my life, there is usually a 2 to 8 hour wait for them to work depening on the laxitive itself.

That leads to the part where you can't really do anything, waiting for it to work, then after it starts to work you have to wonder when it's going to stop working.

Like I said I tried them all, and nothing is instant with the exception of an enema, that what I do now, the whole process take me 20 min. and I'm done.

 

[Pojo]

I once took a lax, just to check what it could do .. and found myself using the bathroom one day after I took it. Lol, rather get an enema which (as stated above) won't mess with your body and will take action right away.

Actually...Enema's do mess with your body...Just not as much as laxatives, since they don't have as much to go through...But different types of enemas can also have different effects

 

[kite]

on a more hilarious note, imagine a guy just taking some suppository laxative, driving down the highway going "it's been 18 hours and these things haven't done a thing!" then all of a sudden *gurgle, gurgle*
... did i mention i have a very juvenile mind sometimes?

 

[betagame]

I don't think there are many articles about it because I don't think anyone does it to become incontinent

Got it. Who would want to have fecal incon.
let alone urnary.
i know i wouldn't

 

[Darkfinn]

on a more hilarious note, imagine a guy just taking some suppository laxative, driving down the highway going "it's been 18 hours and these things haven't done a thing!" then all of a sudden *gurgle, gurgle*
... did i mention i have a very juvenile mind sometimes?

I've read a few horror stories on some websites about people in those kinds of situations. Traffic jam... not moving... then the laxative kicks in.

It's what we call Murphy's Law. If it can go wrong... it will... and at the worst possible moment. My little return trip from the Zoo earlier in the month ended the same way... and I didn't even take a laxative. It wasn't very pretty.

But I always chuckle to myself anytime I see a traffic jam on the interstate... especially the ones that are 10 miles long. I know someone somewhere in there is going to have a very bad day.

 

[Emileigh]

sounds sorta funny even though it might not be for that person. Also, people shouldn't laugh at that...simply because it could happen to anyone (but is still funny). ^^ and also that return trip musnt have been fun at all >.<

 

[Ecto]

I've read a few horror stories on some websites about people in those kinds of situations. Traffic jam... not moving... then the laxative kicks in.

It's what we call Murphy's Law. If it can go wrong... it will... and at the worst possible moment. My little return trip from the Zoo earlier in the month ended the same way... and I didn't even take a laxative. It wasn't very pretty.

But I always chuckle to myself anytime I see a traffic jam on the interstate... especially the ones that are 10 miles long. I know someone somewhere in there is going to have a very bad day.

Oh, I've been in a situation like that before. I had taken a laxative the night before and in the morning I got some minor cramps but nothing that made me lose control. After an hour of nothing I figured nothing was going to happen so I agreed to go out for breakfast with my mom. Well, as luck would have it that's when the laxative kicked in. Even though I was wearing a diaper I couldn't just mess for obvious reasons so I ended up rushing to the bathroom like three times and managed to pull my diaper down each time. I ended up having to ask her for us to leave early since I knew that wasn't going to work for much longer. Oh, and to top things off I had taken another pill in the morning right before I left (remember that I thought the first one hadn't worked) so that day winded up being a lesson I'll never forget.

Anyway, IMO laxatives are fine to use if you go really easy on them. Definitely don't take more than one per week, and try to keep it at 1 per two weeks if you feel like using on a regular basis. The last thing you want is to be dependent on laxatives. As for what would happen if you took ten: You'd be in the hospital. I don't think it would harm your sphincter though unless you did that multiple times, you'd just end up getting dangerously dehydrated to the point of needing medical attention.