About this medication
- This medicine is a stool softener used to treat and prevent constipation caused by hard, dry stools.
- It is often used when straining during a bowel movement should be avoided, such as after certain surgeries, with painful hemorrhoids, or after a heart attack.
Softens hard stool when straining should be avoided.
How to use it
- Swallow the capsule or tablet whole with a full glass of water.
- You can take this medicine with or without food.
- Drink plenty of fluids each day while using this medicine to help it work well and to avoid dehydration.
- Do not take this medicine within two hours of other medicines, since it may make them work less well.
- It usually takes one to three days to notice an effect on your stool.
If you miss a dose
- If you miss a dose, take it when you remember unless it is almost time for your next dose. In that case, skip the missed dose and continue your regular schedule. Do not double up.
Follow the product label or prescribed dose with fluid. Benefit may take one to three days; reassess prolonged use.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Talk to your doctor or another healthcare professional before using this medicine if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, since it should only be used under their direction in these situations.
Ask for advice during pregnancy, breastfeeding or before giving to children.
Before you use it
- Do not use this medicine if you have stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting that has not been checked by a doctor, since these can be signs of a more serious problem.
- Do not use this medicine if you have appendicitis, a bowel blockage, rectal bleeding, or a hard blockage of stool that has not passed.
- Tell your healthcare professional if you are pregnant or breastfeeding before using this medicine.
- Tell the Care365 care team if you take water pills or potassium supplements.
Important warnings
- Do not use this medicine for longer than about a week unless your doctor tells you to. Using it for a long time can make your bowel depend on it to work normally.
- Long-term or excessive use can lower the potassium level in your blood.
Do not self-treat obstruction symptoms, unexplained rectal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.
Possible side effects
- Mild stomach cramping may occur.
- A sore or irritated throat may occur if you use a liquid form of this medicine.
Abdominal cramping and diarrhoea can occur.
When to get help
When to get emergency help
- Get emergency help for signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as widespread rash, swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing.
When to contact a healthcare professional
- Contact your doctor or another healthcare professional if you develop a rash.
- Contact your doctor if stomach pain is severe or does not go away.
- Contact your doctor if you notice muscle weakness or an irregular heartbeat, which can be signs of low blood potassium.
- Contact your doctor if constipation does not improve after using this medicine for about a week.
Seek care for significant pain, bleeding or persistent constipation.
Other medicines and products
- Tell the Care365 care team if you take water pills or potassium supplements, since long-term use of this medicine together with these can lower your blood potassium too much.
- Tell the Care365 care team if you use mineral oil or other laxatives, since combining them with this medicine can increase side effects.
Avoid combining with mineral oil; review other laxatives.
Missed doses, storage and accidental exposure
- Store at room temperature, away from light and moisture.
- Keep out of reach of children.
Follow your own product’s missed-dose instructions. If you are unsure, ask the Care365 clinical team before taking an extra dose. Contraceptives, injections and modified-release medicines may need a specific plan.
Keep the original packaging and follow its storage, expiry and disposal instructions. Keep medicines away from children and pets. Ask about refrigeration, after-opening limits and safe sharps disposal when relevant.
For suspected overdose or accidental swallowing, contact poison control or urgent medical care promptly. Call emergency services for breathing difficulty, collapse or a seizure.
Key points to remember
- This medicine works by softening the stool, not by stimulating the bowel, so it may take a day or more to notice an effect.
- Do not rely on this medicine for more than about a week without checking with your doctor, since ongoing constipation can have other causes that need to be looked into.
These practical points come from the Pharmasist patient handout for the same product monograph cited by this guide.