Instead of an enema.... Milk of Magnesia?

When I was a child and into my teenage years, when my mother felt I was constipated, and she didn't have time to give me an enema, and ran out of glycerin suppositories, she would give me a couple of teaspoons of “Milk of Magnesia” at bedtime, “to help me go” in the morning. I think she made me drink a glass of water with that as well. By the time I got up, I would usually get a kind of watery “result” when I used the bathroom in the morning. When that happened she would say “Ahh, it worked for you, Do you feel better now?" I would say “yes”, but I actually sort of enjoyed the “feelings” I would get when she would give me the enema or suppositories instead….. did any of you get the Milk of Magnesia laxative??

Pay attention in taking Milk of Magnesia:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/milk-of-magnesia

I've taken that before. It works, usually within an hour I have diarrhea like bowel movement with several return trips to the toilet. Epsom salts does the same.

Yes, but after I'd been given a large enema with soap and it was evident that the enema had ‘worked well’ and I'd had a thorough poo. I was then given a spoon full of MoM, while still seated on the toilet ‘to keep me going’.

@KennyT she would give me a couple of teaspoons of “Milk of Magnesia” at bedtime, “to help me go” in the morning.

I like your thread - got me thinking about times I was given M-of-M or Mag. Citrate instead of enemas. It was not often that I was given these things to drink instead of an enema. Kind of a mystery.

It may be that some mom's thought a good dose of MoM or Castoria would give a kid a ‘better cleanout, top to bottom’ than a bag full of warm, soapy water.

I was given these things to drink instead of an enema. Kind of a mystery.

Ha, come to think of it; maybe they were out of Ivory Flakes…

Never got milk of magnesia but did get an occasional Feenamint gum. My mom really didn't like waiting too long to get results and so her preferred remedy was a quart or so of warm soapy enema. She also would occasionally try suppositories but those were sort of hit or miss, but still less effort than making and giving an enema.

After Mom’s new doctor told her to stop giving me bulb enemas, she was directed to start giving me oral laxative… castoria, milk of magnesia, black d something, epsom salt solution, and eventually ex-lax. I hated all of them especially the Castoria and milk of magnesia, which to me had a chalky taste. I begged her to start back giving me bulb enemas. Then, one day, a neighbor girl told me about adult enemas from something she called her Mother’s douche bag. I, then, started begging her to give me one of those. I bugged her for several weeks and then enlisted her Mother to talk to her on my behalf. She even went as far as to get Mom my own enema bag to use on me, a Rexall Victoria Combination syringe. Mama couldn’t believe I had gone to her Mother. Finally, one Saturday when she did not have to work she surprised me with not one but three adult enemas. The rest is history!

I was given either milk of magnesia or Castoria after school as a first line treatment for childhood constipation. The enema bag only came out if the laxative did not work by noon the next day. I probably got a laxative two or three times a month. Enemas were much less frequent until my constipation worsened at 11 to 12 years of age.

After I was past 10 years old, Milk of Magnesia was my mother’s “weapon of choice” to fix my constipation. I absolutely hated it. The chalky white liquid always made me cringe when I saw it coming out of the blue glass bottle into the largest spoon my mother had. She subscribed to the axiom that more was better than less…although I could have done with less! Butt in the end…the MoM worked and I managed to miss an enema.

Have fun and play safe!

Deb

@miker

The stuff you were given was probably Syrup of Black Draught. It was a sweetish, dark brown liquid with Senna as the active ingredient. Except possibly for the dosage and flavorings, it was pretty much the same as Castoria.

Senna is a stimulant laxative and causes widespread bowel contractions that pushes the poo out, and usually works in 6 to 12 hours. With the minimal dosage, the urge can be a gentle hint to poo, very like the natural urge. The recipient may not even realize the laxative working. The maximum dosage can cause widespread camping and extreme urgency, even accidents.

Senna doesn't soften poo, so a strong dose, given to someone who is badly constipated, can result is a pretty uncomfortable poo as the stuff just pushes the big, had poo out. It is often given with a stool softener, like Colace, but Miralax is a better choice.

For kids that haven't had a poo in a few days… perhaps up to three or four… a dose of Senna, given at bedtime, usually makes them poo petty well the next morning.

Be cautious in moving the bowels with Senna:

https://www.leaf.tv/4720346/what-are-the-dangers-of-senna-tea/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269538#summary

https://www.verywellhealth.com/senna-tea-89933

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29429768/

NOT instead of!

In addition to!!

Yes, like @LisaK says “in addition to”. Sometimes if I feel I need a head start before I take my cleansing enemas, I have started taking some MOM or believe it or not, Maalox liquid. I glug it down a few times and within an hour or so, my stomach will start rumbling. It sets the stage for a very effective cleanout a few hours later. For me, it's easier to expel.

Be cautious in moving the bowels with Senna:

https://www.leaf.tv/4720346/what-are-the-dangers-of-senna-tea/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269538#summary

https://www.verywellhealth.com/senna-tea-89933

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29429768/

@complete_bowel_cleansing,

Are there any conditions under which you recommend any oral med other than Castor Oil?

Eric

@Sean

Look at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4bTk0GOBAc

I've tried that and I was in the bathroom within an hour. The urge came suddenly and there was several return trips to the toilet. Don't take this if you have plans for that day.

How did you take ??? I am going to buy some for next weekend….Thanks

I've tried that and I was in the bathroom within an hour. The urge came suddenly and there was several return trips to the toilet. Don't take this if you have plans for that day.

How did you take ??? I am going to buy some for next weekend….Thanks

@jim31756

I presume you're asking about taking Castor Oil.

If you meant MoM, it's very straight forward…. pour the full dose (2 Oz) into the measuring cup just before bed, drink it down, follow at once with a full glass of cold water (at least 8 Oz). You may not get a strong urge in the morning, but it should, at least, soften the poo and move it along you bowel, so if you try and go after breakfast, the trip is more likely to be ‘productive’. MoM is a mild laxative and poo softener.

Castor Oil is a very different story. It is a powerful laxative, pretty much independent of the dosage, as long as the dose is large enough to be effective. For example, 8 Oz isn't going to make someone poo more strongly than 2 Oz (but you will poo out and maybe continue to leak a lot of undigested oil).

Castor Oil is most effective given on an empty stomach. I've read that as little as 5ml can have laxative effects in adults. The usual dose is 15ml to 60ml.

It is not pleasant stuff to take because of the smell, taste, and texture. Some people just swallow the stuff and try and keep it down. If you throw it up, it won't make you poo. There are other options:

The oil can be taken very cold, either mixed with or followed by orange juice to disguise the taste. This is the usual nurses' trick from the days when Castor Oil then mighty enemas was the standard pre-op prep to clean a patient out. I'm not a fan because cold oil is more viscous and doesn't go down easily and the taste tends to ‘repeat’.

Another option, which I think makes it easier to take, is to give it in a hot, somewhat oily, drink. The Castor Oil is almost undetectable in a cup of hot chocolate (or coffee), sweetened and made with whole or evaporated milk. The mixture should be as hot as comfortable to drink, be briskly stirred, and drunk down quickly on an empty stomach. After it has been consumed, it helps to walk around for a few minutes and not to lie down else you may get some nausea. After it has been consumed, the die has been cast. You will start to poo within a couple of hours… maybe much sooner.

Another option is to mix the oil with a hot soup, like beef broth or French Onion. Either combination is a good way of getting a full dose of the oil into someone without a lot of fuss.

Regardless whether you mix with hot chocolate, coffee, or soup the oil should be equally effective. None of these tricks fully disguise the taste or oiliness, but they do greatly reduce them. And, undeniably, Castor Oil is a powerful, highly effective, rapidly acting way of making someone poo. An added feature is that is is all but impossible to overdose on it, because it's self limiting. The oil has to be digested to be laxative and, once that has happened, the pooing rapidly starts and any remaining undigested oil is simply pood out (and can be seen floating on the toilet water) along with everything else and the laxative effects subsides.

If you are constipated, even badly, and are looking for some ‘help’ to have an easy, gentle, soft, controlled poo, Castor Oil is not the stuff to take. You should not expect a full dose of Castor Oil to produce a soft, well-formed poo. It is not a laxative that can be expected to do that (in contrast with a combination of Senna and Miralax). Castor Oil makes someone poo rapidly so there is not time or fluid to soften poo. The hard poo, if Castor Oil is used for a constipated person, is simply pushed out strongly by a colon full of soft or liquid poo up higher. A dose of Castor Oil almost always starts hard and ends with the passage of lots of soupy to liquid poo and a considerable time sitting on the toilet. It will clean someone out completely and usually quickly, almost always with great urgency, but the result can be pretty uncomfortable for several hours.