Our Miralax horror story

[Guest guest]

When my son was four years old, he began having occasional episodes of

encopresis (stool leakage that he is unaware of and cannot control). He also

sometimes had a drop of blood on the wipe after he had pooped. When I told our

pediatrician I was concerned about this, he said it was due to constipation and

that we should give a small daily dose of Miralax and have him sit on the potty

for five minutes three times a day. We used Miralax off and on for two years.

Sometimes it didn't work and the doctor just kept telling us to give him more.

This didn't feel right to me so I stopped using it and attempted to get help

from alternative medicine. A chiropractor suggested removing dairy from his

diet but my son was unwilling to give up his favorite cheesy foods and milk.

With Christmas and his birthday coming up, I didn't want him to miss out on all

the treats his family and classmates would be having. We tried lots of

different vitamins and supplements. I also had my son start a daily exercise

program and drink lots of water. This seemed to help temporarily but then it

got worse and he was having poop accidents several times a week. I went to a GI

specialist and told her that I didn't think it was appropriate for the

pediatrician to prescribe Miralax without first doing a full exam and ruling out

food allergies and other disorders. She did a full exam including many blood

tests and found nothing wrong. She recommended a " clean out " using Ex-Lax and

four capfuls of Miralax three days in a row. A clean out was something I had

not tried before and it seemed to make good sense that trying anything new with

the diet might not show any positive effects if there was a backup of stool.

So, I agreed to use Miralax again. I felt this was our last resort and we were

desperate to try something that would work. After the clean out he was on a

daily dose of Miralax and over the next two months he became very irritable and

was aggressive toward his brother. He was having severe tantrums, which is

unusual at age 7, and had a couple episodes of rage. He also compulsively

cleared his throat and licked the palms of his hands. A family member came to

me in tears saying this is not the same child they once knew and that something

was terribly wrong with him. I went back to my journal and realized the

tantrums had begun to happen regularly at the time we did the clean out with

Miralax. It was then that I remembered all the terrible things I'd read about

Miralax side effects. I went to this Yahoo group and quickly found a reference

to the FDA notice at

http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CDER/ucm171059.htm warning that

Miralax is known to cause all of these side effects in children. I immediately

stopped giving him Miralax and within a couple of days all of the psychological

issues, hand-licking and throat clearing stopped. I am so angry that my

pediatrician and GI specialist did not inform me of these possible side effects.

It was then that I remembered that the chiropractor suggested removing dairy

from his diet. I tried it and within a week his constipation and encopresis

disappeared. They come back whenever I try to reintroduce any form of dairy

(including Lactaid milk). I asked the GI doctor why the blood tests did not

show a milk allergy and she explained that he has an intolerance, not an

allergy. My son is currently taking magnesium, Benefiber chewable tablets,

drinking lots of water and sitting on the potty 2-4 times a day for five

minutes. He never needed any medication and I'm horrified to think I

unnecessarily exposed him to that horrible drug for all that time.

Kim