Is it safe to give my 85 year old elder a generic Correctol every night?

The NH gives mom a laxative every night before bed. My doctor said I could take miralax everyday with no harmful effects.

Thank you, Patrice! That says a lot and helps a lot. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter. That is the route I am going to take and see what happens. Will keep you posted.

I swear by the stool softeners , give 2 a day and works wonders for dad. Cwillie was right on. Unless person is a big drinker you have just compounded the whole issue with Miralax . Prune juice didn't work well for us, it was more like an explosion. Now is the time to keep the stool soft cause you know mom is empty. Good luck.

Thank you much, cwillie.

Ah the never ending problem of constipation/diarrhea! Seem to a pretty common problem judging by the number of threads about it! Be careful with metamucil type products, if they are not drinking enough they can cause a blockage. I've never tried benefiber but it dissolves completely and works somewhat differently, so it may work for you. Dietary changes like drinking lots, prunes/dried fruits and prune juice, whole grain beads and cereals are always the first line of defence. If that works for you hallelujah! PEG (Miralax) is safe to use every day if needed. Alternatively colace is a stool softener and can be added twice a day. Senokot is the laxative most often recommended by doctors if you need more than that. And it can be a struggle to get the balance right between constipation and OMG its everywhere! LOL Hope the prune juice is all you need ;-)

Sunsweet prune juice it is. Thank you Pam and all for the answers. The stuff is Metamucil! lol I am giving her Ensure because she weighs just over 90 lbs.

Musinex is for colds, do you mean Miralax? I've never had any trouble with Miralax dissolving, I put it in mom's orange juice and it dissolves just fine. Maybe you are using too much for the amount of liquid you are using.

If she's a vegetarian by nature, maybe you could increase the amount of vegetables she's eating. Meat is constipating. Vegetarians are not typically unhealthy and do tend to weigh less than meat-eaters. Does her doctor think that her weight is unhealthy? Does he think she needs to put on weight? The reason I ask is because joints such as the hips and knees benefit by not having to support excess weight.

If she drinks a lot of fluids, you can increase the fiber in her diet.

I agree with Pam above... give her natural remedies instead of drugs... my Dad swears by Sunsweet prune juice.

Wait a minute... Ensure will not make a good BM, nor will yogurt unless you top it with some nice granola. My MIL loves prunes, soaks two overnight in water or juice and eats them with breakfast. Applesauce provides soft bulk for the stool. So do dried apricots. Any of those would be preferable to drugs.