Lactulose

Hi there, so glad you posted this as I think lactulose is marvellous! Have had diverticulosis for 11 years and am on a low residue diet, (look up Mayo Clinic low residue diet) I can't take fibre of any kind as it causes wind which inflames my pockets. Took me a long time to find this out and many flares along the way but now I generally only have 1 or maybe 2 flares a year and as soon as I feel the signs I go straight on the 2 antibiotics which my doc lets me keep at home (he calls it 'pill in the pocket). I have taken lactulose 10 ml twice a day for 6 years and it really helps, just softens stools so they go through easily but it isn't a laxative. My doc and consultant say it is completely safe to take for years as it doesn't stay in the body. I get mine on prescription and it's the one thing which really does work. Hope this helps and all the best.

Hi.  I have had diverticular disease since 2006.  Had never had a problem with constipation as my diet had always been high in fibre from fruit and veg and wholemeal breads etc.  So I found it hard to go onto low residue when my gut was painful because of inflammation.  Once the bout (treated with in-hand anitibiotics) has past; then I can have more veg and fruit and wholemeal...no seeds; nuts; pips; skins etc - not even bananas as they are full of tiny seeds.  If I need to "keep regular" then I have fybogel sachets (from doc) - but these are high in fibre so may not agree with all.  My doc says one sachet is like a pack of sprouts and if one is too windy then have half a sachet night and morning.  No idea about the sugar but maybe you could try a sweetner?  Have you tried Truvia? Expensive but totally natural.  With all that sugar in every cup of tea I would be worried about diabetis etc and we are all being advised to cut the refined sugar in out diets for health reasons as well as weight.  If you think the sugar is causing a problem try reducing it.  By the way; Lactulose is FULL of sugar.  I once left a bottle in the fridge and forgot it was there.  All the sugar solidified after a few weeks; and almost half the bottle was solid sugar! But yes; you can take it for years and years; just be aware sometimes you can think you are going regularly and loosly but you are actually still constipated and the lactulose is just sending what is at the edges out; but very loosly.  This happened to someone I used to look after.  She was getting gut cramps and only an examination showed that she was in fact constipated even though she seemed to have been going every day!!  There was just this one blockage that the medicine didn't touch.......so if you get pain in one area; sometimes it can be linked to constipation.  Sounds like you are having lots of natural fibre in your veg soups (IF they are home made) If they are shop bought tins; they are also full of sugar; tomato tinned soup can have 8 teaspoons of sugar in one can.  Homemade soups are better as you know what you are putting in them.  And when you have a flare up - no homemade soups as there would be too much fibre.  Low fibre when inflamed; high fibre when not inflamed seems to be the general rule with this horrid condition.  Nice to hear from you on the site Irene.....it is a B*** of a thing to live with isn't it?!?!?!

Bread I found bad for me plus go carful on veg if I have to much that can start flaire ups also fruit as for sugur not sure as I dont use it . The hospital told me No pips, seeds , skins ,beans and windy vegs raw carrots is a no no . Hope this helps a little. I do take lactulose but it don't do a lot but I found taken Acidophilus 20 billion helps from Holland and barett .

Hi again!  The difficulty with this horrible disease is that every single person who has it responds differently to food!  Some are able to eat root vegetables, lamb, pork, beef etc. but others like me have to avoid these (my consultant said meat is too fibrous but chicken is ok!) - by now you will know what suits you and what may bring on a flare as you have had it for many years. I can only say from my own personal experience that Lactulose works for me! Don't put it in the fridge however!  I have had overflow diarrhea (encopresis) as liquid stool passes around the obstruction which Christine mentioned and it is truly bad but this generally only happens when you are in the later stages of  a flare and it only happened to me because I had had my flare for over a week, trying to avoid antibiotics. (and losing a stone in the process!)  I now know that there is no point in hoping it will go away on its own!  You know by now that it really is trial and error with this. I stil say to try lactulose regularly, dont worry about the sugar content as lactulose is a synthetic sugar that is broken down in the colon into products that pull water out from the body and into the colon thus softening our stools for ease of passing through the colon.  I had a colonography CT scan 2 weeks ago as had been having blood in stools etc. and turns out my colon has a lot more pockets than it did 11 years ago and also my colon is extremely narrow, but I can say that on the whole I can manage this disease avoiding what I know will cause trouble and taking lactulose!!!  Take care and best wishes.

Can anyone help? i had 3 months of pain to finally be diagnosed with diverticulitis after colonoscopy. After colonoscopy I was ok for a week and then it flared up again. I can go to the toilet with lactulose now but have constant pelvic pain and discomfort. Does that mean it's inflamed?