Soft Stool Constipation Relief For Severe Constipation In Children and Adults
(As always, consult a doctor before making any decision regarding your health. * Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of this post. I am not affiliated in anyway with the makers of the products I share in this article. )
After a 5-year battle with severe constipation, I finally found something that works for my daughter and I can’t tell you what a huge deal this is at our house. It is a big enough deal that I am willing to write this very romantic post about soft stool constipation relief in the hopes that we can help someone else that is going through the same nightmare that we have experienced.
When my daughter (who shall rename nameless in the hopes that she won’t someday hate me for letting the world in on her battles with constipation), was 3 years old, she was potty trained and for two weeks she did great. She stayed dry at night and didn’t have any accidents. Then she became constipated and apparently the experience was so scary and painful for her that she began holding in her bowel movements because she was afraid that it would hurt again if she tried to use the bathroom. This, of course, exacerbated the problem of constipation and began a five year pattern of only having a bowel movement every 7 days. She also began wetting the bed at night and I have never been able to figure out why that is.
I felt like a midwife once a week coaching her into delivering her bowel movement. We would cry together when things came out of her that were horrifyingly large for an a adult, let alone a little girl to have to force out of her body. It has been one of the worst parts of my mothering experience so far, (which I would like to acknowledge means I am very blessed. I realize there are so many worse things mother’s are dealing with with their children.)
So, we went to the doctor who told me to give her Miralax. I know some people have had success with Miralax. For us, it was difficult to find an amount that would work without giving her very runny bowel movements- which created lots of accidents in her pants and would have been a real problem for her at school. She also hated the taste of it in her drink and was very resistant to taking it. The packaging says it is something you shouldn’t take long term, which concerned me. And it is pretty expensive. So, I started looking for other options.
My mother-in-law suggested we try Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Reg. This came in a liquid form and we gave her three droppers full throughout the day. It has kind of a black licorice flavor and she didn’t hate it, so that was a blessing. She would take it any time I offered it to her, but it was hard to remember to take it three times a day and we only had success with it if we were super consistent. She still wasn’t perfectly regular with it, but definitely better than she was when she didn’t take it. I think it is a great option for younger kids.
A year ago, a friend who has struggled with constipation his whole life, found a product that was life-changing for him. He was regular for the first time in his life once he started taking it. He told me about it in the hopes that it could help my daughter, but it was in the form of a capsule and I tried to get her to swallow it, but she just couldn’t get it down, so I gave up on it. Then this year she had had a really horrible bowel movement and we were both feeling desperate enough to try again. I wrapped the capsule in some ice cream and she swallowed it. After a few days, she started to see the effects. She takes one capsule a day and has bowel movements every two to three days now. We could probably up the dosage and get her to have them more frequently (my friend takes 1 in the morning and 2 at night), but she is in school, and I don’t want her to have any trouble by giving her too much. It is much easier to be consistent at taking one capsule a day and she has even learned to take it without ice cream now (see below for how to teach your kids to take pills.)
It is called EZ Cleanse and you can buy it directly at the Vitamin Research Products website. Or sometimes it is cheaper here. It is much more affordable than anything else we’ve tried- around $20 for a 2 1/2 month supply.
Update: I have found one more product that is very effective and yet gentle. It was recommended by a friend who knows who is knowledgeable in this area. It is called Aloe Ferox and the pills are a little less potent tasting for my daughter, so we have been using it lately to see if it works as well as EZ Cleanse. We are impressed. Now, it says not for use in children under 15, so discuss it with your doctor before you use it for your child. I have been removing about a third of the powder before I give it to her, and she is doing well with it.
*Now- FYI- I am obviously not a doctor and these are both natural supplements that are not FDA approved or tested, so do your own research and decide for yourself if you feel comfortable giving them to your kid or yourself. We haven’t seen any side effects- just more regular bowel movements and to us it is a miracle. I am including an ingredients list for both the Kid-E-Reg and the EZ Cleanse below so you can see what is in it to help you in making your decision.
Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Reg Ingredients List :
Fig Syrup, Wildcrafted Slippery Elm Bark, Organic Fennel Seed, Organic Licorice Root, and Organic Anise Seed
EZ Cleanse Ingredients List:
Butternut bark, ginger root, senna leaf, black walnut hull, cascara sagrada bark, citrus pectin, grapefruit, dicalcium phosphate, digestive enzymes, fructooligosaccharides, gum arabic, cayenne fruit, Bacillus coagulans, milk thistle seed, rhubarb root, fennel seed, buckthorn bark, psyllium husk, cranberry fruit and licorice root.
How to teach your kid to take pills:
I had a terrible time taking pills growing up. It wasn’t until my mother-in-law taught me this little technique that I was able to start taking them with no problem. Maybe you already do it this way, but the key is to have your child fill up the back of their throat with some kind of liquid first, then toss the pill into the liquid so it never touches their tongue. When they swallow, it goes right down with the liquid and you avoid the gagging that usually occurs when you put a pill on the back of your tongue and then take a drink.
I wish you the best of luck in overcoming this painful experience with your child and hope you will find some relief like we did!
What has worked for you in finding soft stool constipation relief for severe constipation in children and adults?