My mom doesn't eat much. But she thinks she has to have a bowel movement every day. She is OBSESSED by this and has been abusing laxatives. I finally found her stash today and removed them from the house. This started when her sister suffered a blockage a couple months ago. SO I understand the reasoning.....but she's committing suicide by laxative! She is making herself so weak! Have others had this problem? I bought Miralax and thought she understood the concept....we go over the reasoning constantly. But I couldn't find the laxatives. She wanted me to mix up several bottles of water with the Miralax, but I know if she had them, she would drink them all trying to make herself 'go'. So I told her that they won't work if mixed ahead of time. Then today I found out she used those pretty pink pills again. Lucky for me, she forgot to stash them back in their hiding place and I grabbed them. When she misses them, I know I'll be in trouble but oh well. Just wondering if others have dealt with this issue.

Char

If your Mom has been abusing laxatives for awhile, she may have some serious constipation issues without them if she's going "cold turkey."

Mother was the same way. She never ate but became obsessed with her bowels the last couple of months before we placed her. Not laxatives so much as with enemas and glycerin suppositories. Once she was in the NH they stopped all that.

I had a coworker once who took a lot of laxatives and oh Lord, the bathroom breaks she took, several a day, were killers!!!!

Laxatives are very hard on the system. If you take them long enough, the system gets used to them and relys on them continually. When you stop them, you'll see the opposite affects -- plugged up....yuck! Almost like you have to ween her off them.

Did you consult her doctor for suggestions?

Hang in there~

My Mother, for many years,,took some laxatives,,but she was very big on "fleet enema's",,,and even before she showed any signs of AD,,,it was a problem.

I tried to talk to her about getting some excercise and a better diet with higher fiber,,but it fell on deaf ears!

So,,when I knew in my heart that the day had come that she had AD,,and was using an enema way too often,,,I had to put my foot down,,as best as I could.

The bowel becomes "dependant" on laxatives and enema's,,,they're alright now and then when you are really constipated,,,but once they are used as often as daily,,,the bowel can't "eliminate on its own" without the use of some type of stimulant,,aka: laxatives or enema's.

It sounds to me as if your Mother really should'nt be living alone anymore,,and you need to go there daily and do a thorough seek and search and remove all and every laxative you can find.

Please either hire a live in caregiver for your Mother,,or consider moving your Mother in with you,,or place your Mother into a good facility where she can be kept safe from causing herself some actual physical harm,,which could cause a host of other physical problems.

If you could get your Mother involved into a nice adult day care,,where she would have a social life and activities geared around her level of dementia,,that would be great too.

But to be honest,,when my Mom started having massive physical dysfunctions do to her abuse of enema's,,,I stepped in. I moved her in with my hubby and I ,,and she lived her for almost 4 years. She now ,for the past 2 years,,is living in a very nice small ALF close to my home.

I wish you the very best of things,,I know its going to be a real battle about trying to help your Mom kick the laxative habit.

Please do keep us posted. Peace

Thanks for the replies. My mom does live alone and I do see that needing to come to an end soon. Luckily, she lives next door to me and I've been able to be in and out every day to feed her and do her meds, etc. She won't leave the house, though I do understand the wandering issue can pop up at any time.

I took the laxatives away and when she realized it yesterday, I got a call from her, crying, telling me I don't love her, I don't understand, I don't trust her. I sat her down and we talked and though she's quick to agree she understands things, it's obvious it doesn't 'stick' for more than a short while. I have added fiber and miralax to her water. She wasn't drinking much, so this will help with two issues. She will drink if she thinks there's something in it to make her 'go'. It was awful yesterday. She was like an addict begging for a hit. She NEEDED those pills, she wouldn't take them, she just needed to see them and know they were there. ARGHHHHHHHH.

My sibs and I have agreed we will take care of her at home as long as possible. That was a while ago. She's definitely progressed since then, quite a bit. I don't see how it's going to work, with everyone working except myself.....and I have a very ill daughter as well as my mom that I am pulled back and forth between. My husband couldn't live with my mom, it just wouldn't work. He's been out of work nearly a year and his nerves are frayed already. Heck, I'm not sure I could live with her, she's so negative. And an ALF is out, as there are no funds for that. I guess it's time for a family meeting with the sibs to plan out the next step.

Again, thanks for listening to me and for your suggestions. I'll let you know how things work out.

I knew early on that I would not be able to live with my parents. Don't feel bad.

I think I would look for a candy pill that looks similar to her favorities, and give her something like metamucil daily, it should over a couple of days help her be "regular" without a lot of risk for side effects.

I know what you mean about how easy it is for someone with memory loss to get obsessed about bowel movements and ask for laxatives. I've been holding out, saying we can use a suppository or enema if better options don't work. The better options are drinking more water plus eating prunes, bran cereal, lots of fruit and high-fiber vegetables and EZ Fiber in applesauce, tea or whatever. (I prefer EZ Fiber to Metamucil because the EZ Fiber costs a lot less, but dissolves in just about anything -- with no taste or texture.)

That said -- I don't know how to wean someone off laxatives or enemas once their body has gotten dependent on them. So it seems important to ask your doctor for advice.