Do glycerin suppositories really work

"Do glycerine suppositories really work" ?...Well yes they can, though I do not think the current products are anywhere near as potent as they once were, but correct placement has a direct bearing as to their ability to provide results...As the subject question relates to glycerine suppositories, I have generally found them fairly easy to manage & retained them as long as an hour even with solid matter present.

Some would undoubtedly remember the product brand "Squibs" sold in blue glass jars with screw top lids...Squibs ! ...yeah right !..what a contradiction in terms as they were several inches long, though somewhat slender & if they didn't produce the "goods" then it was all to obvious that a soapsuds enema would be forthcoming.

Current generation glycerine suppositories usually contain approximately 2.8 to 5.0g glycerol & I can distinctly recall a time when they incorporated 10.0g...there was no escape from those ones !....Somewhere around the latter part of the 1980's a medical article about their glycerol concentration led to it's reduction based on research findings...Apparently reports of the time sighted rectal "issues" as being the main reason behind lowering content....well DUH !.. of course ya gonna have rectal issues

When I first starting have anal sex I used them. They do work, I typically would use several of them at a time. That was years ago, Now my ass is so loose I no longer need them.

Glycerin certainly does work whether suppositories or liquid. For a hard-to-hold enema that gives a thorough clean-out, there is nothing like a couple of ounces of glycerin added to a soap and water enema. One of those and you get a completely cleaned out sensation which is like no other.

All I can say is that the glycerin suppositories that were used on me when I was a toddler definitely worked. They were my mom's favorite weapon in her war on my so called "constipation" which, on looking back, was really just Irregularity I think. As far as she was concerned, missing more than a day was never going to happen thanks to a glycerin suppository!

I was given glycerin suppositories as a kid if I felt "plugged up" (like you feel you have to go but can't because it's stuck). I was made to wait until the suppository was "truly melted" and had begun doing its job (I think at least 15 minutes), preferably until I felt a "big urge". They definitely worked (except I recall once getting one in the morning because the evening one had yielded nothing).

A decade ago I stayed in hospital following a biking accident. Due to laying in bed, painkillers etc I developed constipation on which the glycerin suppositories had no effect. It was solved by an enema.

So I guess glycerin suppositories work if you have "low constipation" (stools staying in the rectum or nearby) but not if things are slow further up.

My wife was advised to use a glycerin suppository before each childbirth (to be able to have a bowel movement at home instead of in the birth room).

I notice a similar thing to Pecan Nutjob: When the stool is in the rectum a glycerin suppository will help to ease its passage and give the urge, but if it hangs higher it doesn't do much. Mixing glycerin and bisacodyl sometimes works better for that, but I usually go for an enema.

I think I had a different childhood experience with suppositories than most of the people here: it wasn't traumatic at all. I don't really remember my earliest suppository experiences, but for as long as I remember there was a jar of glycerin suppositories in the bathroom my sister and I shared. The jar was rather flat and round, and all the suppositories - all adult shape - were lined up standing straight. My sister and I put one in whenever a bowel movement was 'stuck' and hard to get out. In that application they didn't take very long and were not very bothersome, though they did sort of tickle. There was no more trauma about this than brushing our teeth. We really didn't need them very often; I think the jar was 50 or 100, and it was there about forever.

On the other hand, if we were actually plugged up or had a tummy ache we asked mom for an enema. She never forced them, never made them too large, put in just what additives she thought we needed, and was very gentle. I wouldn't say that we liked getting them, but we preferred them to being plugged up. Sis and I were very athletic, and I recall occasionally asking mom for one before an athletic event. I found the cleanout very refreshing and left me feeling light and clean. (I still do!!)

I remember one afternoon a boy from school was over at our place and asked about the jar on the toilet. He said that he fought tooth and nail if anyone tried to put in a suppository, and thought we were weird for accepting them. We thought he was weird for preferring tummy aches to taking care of them in a few minutes.

At some point things changed: the doctor convinced mom that Dulcolax was easier and more modern than enemas. After that, if we asked mom for an enema we were as likely to get a Dulcolax put in as an enema. It was faster and easier for mom, and she said that she thought they were better because the glycerin suppositories didn't really work well in a reasonable amount of time unless we just needed a little nudge, and sometimes we accidentally retained them too long trying to get a good urge so they passed their peak and didn't help, or we released them too soon; sometimes we would find them whole in our panties, slipped out by accident. Mom said that once she put in the Dulcolax properly she knew and we knew that we would absolutely have a thorough and reasonably comfortable movement; we didn't have to worry about holding them in too long or trying to go too soon. Proper administration was for her to administer them really, really way up high, and then to rub the quickly melting suppository around the rectum for a minute or two. The Dulcolax felt a bit like a menthol tingle - not really bad (and I kind of like it now) - but the main complaint that I had about them was that the oily melting goo ended up in my panties. We stuffed toilet paper in our panties, or later sanitary pads, while our suppositories were working. But these weren't at all traumatic or forced either, not very frequent, and administered when we felt that we really did need them.

The suppositories and enemas were mostly for when we thought we needed them, but there were two exceptions. One was when mom thought that we were acting 'like we needed an enema.' The connection with mood is in recent disfavor, but I find it absolutely sound, both anecdotally and supportable through putative mechanisms. Even then, though, there was no forcing or trauma: she might just stop in when we headed to bed and ask whether we would take an enema or Dulcolax then.

The other time was when we went on long road trips for summer vacation. Everybody was expected to get a cleanout before we set off, and mom was more vigilant about bowels then because the driving often got most of us all plugged up, and the close quarters suggested that we should all be in our best moods.

Neither sis nor I liked the disposable squeezie enemas - Fleets - because they usually gave us cramps. The baggies were always adjusted to be just right. And as kids we never had liquid glycerin; that came in my experiments much later.

In one of my stories I mentioned a summer houseguest who needed bowel help and got it in the form of Dulcolax suppositories from my older sister. That was generally based on reality - for another posting.

jillie

Most of the time they work for me. I took one last night and after two hours--nothing. I did not feel like I had to go, but knew I should as it had been a couple of days since I did. So I got out the trusty red 2 qt bag and had a nice fill.

Other times when I really have to go and can't, a glycerin suppository will work in about 10-15 minutes. I do have to say it has worked more often than not. But the circumstances have to be just right, in that I really have to go, but no matter how much I sit down and get nothing the suppository does the trick.

My mom also moved from enemas to Dulcolax suppositories as I grew up. I don't know how much was the doctor suggesting it and how much was just that it was easier to slip one into a not-too-happy kid and be done with it rather than giving an enema. Unlike you I must have had some sort of delusion that somehow the backed up poop would just magically disappear if I waited long enough, so I didn't happily accept treatment until much further on. My mom had me sit or lie down and wait, so the leaking then didn't happen, though I did find that I didn't like the Dulcolax much, as they cramped and the movement when it came was usually still hard and painful. In retrospect I probably should have been better behaved for the enemas. In either case as you noticed and I now admit doing something was much better than trying to pretend nothing was going on, being uncomfortable for days, and finally having a very painful movement that often made me bleed some.

I also remember glycerin suppositories from when I was very young (5 or less), though I don't remember getting many of them so they must not have worked very well. I remember what must have been an old jar because my impressions were of "straws in liquid".

I wanted to add about my husband's suppository experience, because it was very different from my own. I got to thinking it over and it got to be rather long for a post, so I submitted it as a story - Bobby's Story - just now. Or at least I think I did; the library has become rather complicated, and besides, all the tags looked downright frightening. Anyway, maybe it is there now.

- jillie

No they do not work at all, At least for me. They simply never ever melt. May as well be just made of candle wax.

Can be fun just for the insertion factor if you want to use a bunch and a jar of 50 or 100 is cheap enough so there is no reason not to have one on hand but to the point no. They have no effectiveness, you want to play with glycerine you have to buy the liquid.

If I hold them at least 20 - 30 minutes its mostly working. But I am on the same - Dulcolax suppos are more effective and working always.

If I hold them at least 20 - 30 minutes its mostly working. But I am on the same - Dulcolax suppos are more effective and working always.

How long do you hold your Dulcolax? I probably don't hold enough. I start wanting to move on after about 10-15 minutes, and try and go when it just starts to kick in. Might be why I don't get as good a result.

I think they work, but with the glycerin suppositories, in my opinion, you need to take more than one. I will take a glycerin suppository, then a ducolax suppository, and then another glycerin one, hold for about 20 minutes, then after expelling, try a plain warm water enema.

@moliere

If I hold them at least 20 - 30 minutes - I was about glycerin suppositories.

Dulcolax for me till it melts, like 10 - 15 minutes, not able to hold longer.

They get the point across….lol

You have to take them at night. Then you get nightro glycerin, a huge explosion!

@Moppys_jalopy remarks

You have to take them at night. Then you get nightro glycerin, a huge explosion!

So that's how they penned the term…"Night Moves"..a real rush fer sure

@Moppys_jalopy remarksSo that's how they penned the term…"Night Moves"..a real rush fer sure

That's a real disservice to Bob Shitter - I mean “Segar”!

Yes, they sort of work, especially if used correctly. One to three must be pushed in well up into the person's rectum into different places and retained. Their effect is enhanced considerably if the recipient exercises, taking a walk or doing vacuuming for example. The motion aid the suppositories in contacting the bowel wall and melt. If you just lie still, not much is going to happen. Also, be careful not to insert the suppository into a lump of poo because, if you do, nothing much will happen.

Glycerin suppositories are most useful if your poo is not really hard and dry, but just need a ‘bit of help’ to get pooing started. Retain as long as you can as premature expulsion and a partial poo, reduced their effectiveness.

For me - never. I use the Magic Bullet Suppository. Works in 20 minutes every time.

If not working, switch to 10ml of liquid glycerine. ( $4bottle at big box store) I can not hold longer then 4 minutes….just another option for those who need help.

I totally agree with charlie oneal's assessment. The very first time ever I used one, I squirted it in and in an instant I though t I was going to lose it and would have had I not been sitting on the side of the bathtub with my bottom hanging over the inside of the tub. I very quickly scooted up to the wide part of the tub's side and clenched my bottom cheeks tightly and just sat there for several minutes as it worked on me. Finally after some five minutes or so I felt safe enough to very quickly transfer to the toilet and expel. The remaining times I have used them, they did not act that fast on me. I guess it was the initial shock of the glycerin on the walls of my rectum and after that first time the rectal walls didn't react the same way.

I was diaper trained with them in rehab . You eventually require something more substantial and prolonged . At the end of supps I was in 8 laxatives and stool softners evert night and 3 suppos every other day for 4 - 5 hours before a small stool or a bunch of butt snot came out . These days I use 1 dose of miralax every morning and 45 ML of lactulose 1 hour before meals , there is no longer a choice towards obsipation, it’s impossible to retain stool, awake or asleep your diaper earns it’s keep, I can’t imagine an aide using a suppo as anything but an accelerant now to fill a diaper sooner.

@SAP

Your Miralax plus Lactulose regimen sounds like a program designed to cause three diapers full of loose poo, each an hour or so after the Lactulose is taken. Is that what happens?

@Sean that about sums it up ,took a week in the hospital eating jello and broth and 4 unforgettable days and nights drinking GoLytely in order for them to figure that out (I still wasn’t empty )but they didn’t wanna make it nightmare out of an already terrible visit , Endoscopy and Colonscopy same trip enabled them to find out “not going” was a major problem , so it’s now “managed” , future doctor mutiny’s won’t have them saying you’ll be fine when I was obviously not..

@SAP

Based on you, and also my own, experiences with doctors, especially those in hospital, I feel justified in the following comment:

Most doctors and nurses don't know shit about poo.

Not being allowed out of bed makes going either pee or poo difficult for many reasons but loading you up with “stool softeners” is just not a good answer, but it seems to be the standard of care.

I make my own that are about 6 gram and some much larger. Retain for about an hour they always work quite well

Sometimes, but you better double up, the active ingredient isn't as high as it issues to be… or just use the liquid glycerin or an enema

Yes it is perfectly alright till you are young