Unpredictable laxatives

I have to use laxatives on a regular basis so I know how unpredictable they can be.

Does anyone take laxatives they dont need and get padded up, just because you dont know when the urge is going to hit?

Sometimes laxatives on purpose and padded most definitely afterwards, sometimes natural unpredictable this padded.

I always find in general that with enema and laxative use if I don't wait in my diaper after the first movement for at least an hour I'll get an unpredictable wave of movement again, just never know when.

I used to seldom use laxatives because of their unpredictability, but now that I'm retired I use them occasionally when I know I'll be home for a while. And I always wear a diaper when using one. That being said, a nice warm enema is always my preference.

They are not really unpredictable to me, as i‘m on the regular side of life, when it comes to bowel habits. A hour here and there, but dulcolax works usually in 4 - 6 hours, epsom salt and other osmotic laxatives even earlier (1 - 2 hours).

I don't take laxatives that I don't need but I do have to take them regularly. I have had chronic slow transit constipation for most of my life and have not been able to go on my own for years. I have used large volume enemas for decades to deal with the constipation, but I prefer an oral laxative for routine use. And my gastroenterologist has always expressed concerns about routine enema use.

About the only laxative that still works is Dulcolax, but it has become increasingly unpredictable. When I first started using it in my early 20s, it would kick in rather suddenly and violently 12 to 14 hours after taking it. I could usually time the effects pretty well. Now, my body's response is all over the place and I never know from one experience to the next what is going to happen. Often, nothing happens at all, and I have to repeat the dose for another day or two. Occasionally, I will still get the sudden, violent response after 12 hours. Sometimes, it takes 24 to 30 hours, and I still have to strain for an hour to get anything out.

The unpredictability creates so much anxiety. I don't want to leave the house during the window it might produce results for fear that the onset will be too sudden for me to find a bathroom. In the past month, I have had it start working while I was at the gym, the grocery store, Home Depot and at dinner with friends. On one of those occasions, I had an accident before I could get situated in a bathroom. Increasingly, I am adjusting to the reality that I need some extra protection if I am going to leave the house after taking a laxative. I have started wearing adult pullups when I leave the house during a window of time when Dulcolax might be working. I know the pullups would not successfully contain a full-blown accident, but they do a good job of containing any leaks that might happen while I am trying to find a bathroom. I am also starting to wear at night after having an accident in my sleep. The humiliation surrounding this new reality is real. I can't believe it has come to this. Yet here I am.