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My sister has vascular dementia. She has been hospitalized two years ago for ischemic colitis. She occasionally has constipation. The AL/MC facility is giving her polyethylene glycol daily. Is this normal? The website says it shouldn’t be given longer than seven days.

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Brand name of this Mira Lax
I gave this to my Husband daily as well as Lactulose to help with constipation.
I would adjust as needed.
I also had to be careful as the fluids he was having needed to be thickened and the Mira Lax would thin out any liquids that had the Thickener added to it.
Most products like this will say not to give for more than 7 days without consulting your doctor
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It's basically powered plastic. It has no drugs in it, but it takes a while to work. Once it does, though -- hoo boy -- it's a mess. It creates "mud," that doesn't stop for days.
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My PCP and my GI doctor recommended it for me due to a side effect of another drug. My GI doc said it was a rather benign drug to use long term. I can adjust the dose to half or every other day
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The "AL/MC" is not giving her anything...its her doctor writing the order! Speak with him or her to get this question answered. It's SOP to prescribe such things for elders so constipation doesn't cause more problems than the laxative or stool softener itself!
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This did a number on my Mom so it was stopped. I would question the Nurse and ask her who OKd it and why.
Some facilities think people need to go daily. My Mom was one that didn't. And everytime she was hospitalized she was started on some form of laxatives. Her doctor said if she had not gone by day 3 give her something.
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Speak with your doctor. I am assuming you mean miralax or a like generic laxative. All laxatives, including MOM (milk of magnesia) has warnings about not using for more than yea many days without MD supervision. Best thing to do then is for POA to get the MD supervision. I am not certain how this would affect ischemic colitis. Again, expert advice is needed for medical/medication/legal/financial advise. We are lay persons who don't know the patient.

Sure wish you the best.
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It's definitely better than a lot of the other options like senna or bisacodyl. My mom took a small amount daily for years, she had colon dysfunction and needed to keep her stool very soft.
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