# Info about the dangers of Miralax, esp. for gut-damaged kids



## Ex Libris (Jan 31, 2004)

I thought I should share my story with all of you and tell you about the potential dangers of Miralax (and related laxative meds), especially for gut-damaged kids. Miralax is polyethylene glycol, which is a cousin of ethylene glycol (antifreeze).

My son has Sensory Processing Disorder (maybe Aspergers). He had been doing really well for the first time in his life since we had discovered brushing/joint compressions (a SID therapy). Then a few weeks ago he started complaining of stomach pains and was having constipation. The doc prescribed Miralax. He took it for 5 days before I noticed that he was regressing (all of his autistic behaviors came back). I immediately stopped the Miralax.

I've since been trying to figure out how to get it out of his system. He's still having problems. This stuff can cause major problems, including the following: autism in previous ND kids, seizures, kidney failure, and even death. It was not approved for kids, and many are being permanently damaged by the stuff since it appears to cross the blood/brain barrier for some.

Check out this yahoo group discussion for more info:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/miralax/

I cross posted this in the Special Needs forum.


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## female18- (Jun 8, 2007)

I used lactulose on ds when he had constipation.


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

My dd is allergic to many foods (most foods) and Miralax is one thing she can take safely. She has been to the ER twice for severe impaction and I don't want a repeat of that. I wish I could use prune juice like I did on my other dd but with her allergies it's not going to happen. I'm sorry you had a negative experience. I was told that Miralax has the same chemical that pears have in them that works for constipation. I will have to watch her and make sure she's okay next time she needs it . . however I know a large group of kids who take it on a GI forum and I have never heard of bad things. Is it possible that your son had the issues because the constipation was so uncomfortable?


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## Rachel J. (Oct 30, 2005)

Thanks for sharing. My ds was also on it for about 6.5 months. I just had a gut feeling that it wasn't the safest thing for him. After checking out the miralax yahoo group (that same one you posted the link for) I felt sufficiently reassured that my instincts were correct. The hazardous materials information on it lists it as a skin irritant and recommends using gloves and other protective measures to avoid skin contact or breathing it in. It has not been tested on children and some more recent studies show that absorbtion into the body is highly variable (some don't absorb any while other absorb a lot). That's not something I want to mess with. There are numerous parents of autistic or SIDs children on that site who have seen their children regress/become worse on miralax/glycolax and many have improved since going off (usually after a detox period). One mom has recently taken her 7 year old autistic son off and within a week he started babbling. He apparently hasn't done that since babyhood.

I found plenty of information and ideas there for getting my constipated son to go without Miralax. The first day I took him off and started the supplements (my dh calls it my voodoo medicine) he went four times and has kept going since







I give him mag citrate, prune juice, BeneFiber, and sometimes aloe vera, vit. C, and spirulina. He was constipated from infancy (4-5 months?) so I consider this a vast improvement.

My ds doesn't have any autistic or SID tendencies. His behavior was pretty extreme before we started the miralax because he'd been chronically constipated and was literally full of poop. After he was cleaned out (enema at the ER) and started on the miralax his behavior improved dramatically. However, after I took him off the miralax his behavior improved even more and he went through a pretty dramatic developmental leap. I don't know if it's coincidence or not but to me it's worth noting.


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## Ex Libris (Jan 31, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rachel J.* 
It has not been tested on children and some more recent studies show that absorbtion into the body is highly variable (some don't absorb any while other absorb a lot). That's not something I want to mess with. There are numerous parents of autistic or SIDs children on that site who have seen their children regress/become worse on miralax/glycolax and many have improved since going off (usually after a detox period).

It shocked me when I heard that it hasn't been tested on children and that docs are sometimes prescribing double the adult doses for kids. As you said, some may not absorb it, but then other kids like my ds do. He's been in a fog since he took it. He was only constipated for a couple of days, but his problems are still here weeks later. Another mom on the group says her dd has been permanently brain damaged from it; and someone else's ds took it for only 10 days and years later he still isn't right (and she's working like crazy to get the FDA to recognize the hazards). I plan to help her with this.


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## Rachel J. (Oct 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *USAmma* 
I was told that Miralax has the same chemical that pears have in them that works for constipation.

That sounds a lot more like Lactulose which is sugar-based. If you look up polyethylene glycol in Wikipedia it doesn't mention anything about sugars or pears but it does mention anti-freeze and other nasty chemicals.


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

Yikes!


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