Bisacodyl for Bowel Preparation User Reviews (Page 5)
Brand names: Dulcolax, Dulcolax Laxative, Correctol, Gentle Laxative, Ducodyl, Alophen, Laxative Gentle Suppositories, Doxidan Tablet, Bisa-Lax, Bisacodyl Uniserts, Bisolax, Colax, Veracolate, Fleet Bisacodyl, Bisco-Lax, Evac-U-Gen, Magic Bullet, Feen-A-Mint, Gentlax Tablet, Ex-lax Ultra, Fematrol, Dulcogen, Bisa-Plex, Bisac-Evac, Gen Lax Carter's Little Pills …show all brand names
Bisacodyl has an average rating of 5.6 out of 10 from a total of 132 reviews for the treatment of Bowel Preparation. 45% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 42% reported a negative experience.
Reviews for Bisacodyl
- Canad...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- August 15, 2021
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "Ok so this is my third attempt at getting a colonoscopy. Had bowel issues all my life.. first 2 times were with a liquid, first in was I giant jug of chalky white stuff.. had such a bad reaction after one glass. Second one was a powder to put into juice, pop, or Gatorade. Again a terrible reaction, made it to the second of three packs before my husband called an ambulance. That was 10 and 5 years ago respectively. The fear of the prep kept me from trying for a long time. But this time I got the dulcolax. 2 every 2 hours from 8am the day before, I was terrified.. but I didn't become sick!! I had very mild nausea, and frequent watery bm's. But no terrible cramps, no vomiting, no need for medical attention! Sorry to everyone who had bad experiences but this is the prep I will recommend to anyone I know."
- Oregon...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- October 8, 2021
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "I see there is way too much variation in dosage here, from 2 pills X 2 a day before colonoscopy prep to 5X3 Times! My instructions were 4 the day before plus 4 more on day of procedure, even though is was only 3-4 hours before. The morning prep did nothing but continue my diarrhea for 12 hours AFTER The procedure, a big waste, pun intended. These high dose instructions seem to be for the most constipated denominator of patients, and serve the docs and nurses only. They wouldn't let me change the dosage when I asked. I want to give this a 1, but gave a 3 because, well, it works!"
Frequently asked questions
- Which drugs cause opioid-induced constipation?
- Dulcolax - How long does it take for bisacodyl to clear your system?
- thoug...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- May 11, 2017
"Worked 2 hours after taking it and removed all of the formed stool before I did the miralax gatorade prep. I felt totally fine from the time I took it until 17 hrs later, Woke at 7:30am, before I opened my eyes my body felt like it was on FIRE/felt REALLY funny. I remembered the reviews, so I had Emetrol on standby, took some. Then took myself to the toilet, had no poop to evacuate so laid on the bathroom floor with ice, felt like I was literally going to die. I was burning up, numb tingly sweats all over my head/entire body, dizzy, sick, dry heaved twice, so pale I looked like a corpse. After 10 min/pooped some water, it passed. I was so bad I knew I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time before potential death from whatever it was. It had to be Dulcolax"
- Anony...
- September 9, 2021
"I was prescribed bisacodyl, as part of my colonoscopy prep. It came as part of a colonoscopy prep kit. I am not someone who normally has constipation and had never had this drug before. At 2:00 pm I took the first dose of 2 pills. By 3:30 I was vomiting so hard, I could barely breathe. I looked on the package and online and did not find any cautions about this drug causing vomiting, so I thought maybe my hunger (had already been fasting at that point) coupled with a Tylenol I had taken and the bisacodyl together had been too much for my stomach. Fast forward to 9:00 pm, time for the second dose of 2 pills. By 10:30 I was once again vomiting extremely hard. I began to be worried that the colonoscopy prep was too much for my system and that maybe I was on the verge of having a medical emergency. I was sweating and had chills. It was traumatizing. I will never, Never, NEVER take this medicine again."
Are you taking this medicine?
- jruss...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- September 15, 2021
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "I have IBS-D so when I did my colonoscopy prep I was very nervous about taking 4 dulcolax and then the 64 oz of miralax solution. I wasn't going to take the 4 pills after reading all these reviews, but I decided to listen to my doctor. I did not experience any of the symptoms everyone is putting on this forum. No cramps or pain, just that feeling of having to go to the bathroom, quickly. I ate lightly 2 days before the prep and made sure I had bowel movements on those days. So when it came time for the the prep day, I felt that I didn't have a "load" in my intestines and colon. After 4 pills and 32 oz of gatorade/miralax I was cleaned out. I started taking the second half of gatorade at 2:30 am, but could only get 1 glass down due to feeling bloated and full, plus I was still going to the bathroom after taking the first half and had to travel 20 miles to get to the hospital. Didn't want to have an accident on the way. Colon was clean."
- Anonymous
- Taken for less than 1 month
- August 21, 2021
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "I took 2 tablets at 9am as instructed for colonoscopy prep. By 11:30am I was in extreme agony with excruciatingly painful abdominal cramps. I sat on the toilet thinking that I had to have a bowel movement, only a tiny amount came out. Cramps continued with a vengeance as well as nausea and extreme sweating. Finally after an hour, an explosion of very liquid diarrhea which has continued every 15 minutes since. It's now been 1 -1/2 hrs since the cramps began and they seem to be easing slightly. I have to do this again tomorrow according to the instructions on the bowel prep sheet. Can't wait!"
- Kkano
- September 23, 2020
"Yesterday I took only one bisacodyl , I thought I will have to wait few more hours , Nooo in 15 minutes it start a horrible pain , deep pain cramps , felt I was dying , nauseas I couldn’t even talk or focus, the pain was intense I couldn’t even sit on the toilet I tried to be strong before calling 911, I don’t recommend it at all, this product should be out of the market , I still have the pain from yesterday, I threw the package in a trash I will never take this."
- Jano
- February 13, 2020
"Don't let the bad reviews scare you for me It isn't that bad!!! Before taking them I wanted to see how quick they would take to work and once I read the reviews I was absolutely terrified to take them expecting the worst pain in my life. I took 2 tablets at 8.00pm Tuesday night, I had a mild pain in my stomach along with belching and rumbling noises. I woke up at 7am on Wednesday expecting to be in pain and be running to the toilet... nothing. I went to work and carried on my day. All day I was expecting it to kick in, but still nothing. I got really fed up that nothing was working so I took two more at 5pm and 1 more at 9:30pm. Before I fell asleep I had stomach pain however it was manageable, I drank lots of water and used a hot water bottle on my stomach. Thursday morning (today) I woke up and FINALLY they worked, small BM around 3-4 times within an hour, no pain whatsoever. I am not sure if theres more to come as everyone else on the reviews said that it lasts for a while."
- Kopykat
- Taken for less than 1 month
- November 11, 2019
"I used my drug stores off brand of bisacodyl since it’s the same but cheaper for my sigmoidoscopy prep. I took one tablet the evening before as directed and woke up in the middle of the night, and still nothing. So I took another tablet and by morning still nothing! There was also an enema involved and still nothing! After that test my doctor said they will set up my colonoscopy and send me different instructions! Take two Ducolax tablets two days before and they definitely worked! Woke up at 7am with extreme pain and spent the day in the bathroom following a few other laxitives. Most uncomfortable I have ever been."
- Solut...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- May 6, 2017
"Oh boy! So I took two 5mg pills at about 9pm, then waited. (I wanted to clear out my system due to an uncomfortable abdominal hernia which is made worse when 'full') Sadly, I'm around 200lbs; that's why I took 2 instead of 1. I wasn't sure if I'd need 3, but found out that 2 was extremely sufficient! In the morning nothing happened until around 11:30, when it finally worked and without cramps. (Make sure you take this with no plans or place to go the next day, just in case it hits hard) BUT...I have things to do & places to go today and what I'm stuck here in my bed with is debilitating NAUSEA. I've had it all morning before the drugs worked, but even after now, I have rotten waves of it. I can stand diarrhea, or cramps but NOT nausea."
- tomo
- July 10, 2017
"In my prep for colon camera I had 2 before bed last night and 2 this morning. Its 7pm now. Needed toilet immediately this morning only once or twice, diarrhea city, but the morning pills kicked in at 4pm today and it was far harder to ignore this time. More action than this morning. Overall a few cramps here and there but I've been working in an office all day and not suffered much at all."
- Dblscps
- April 8, 2016
"So I'm prepping for this hydro colon cleanse which is the prep for a colonoscopy. I'm usually constipated and bloated which is extremely uncomfortable so getting it out is not the worst. The recommended dosage from my GI doctor is 1 pill a day for 4 days and I start Reglan 2 days before the procedure (along w the dulcolax...that will be hell). I took the single pill at about 4:30 pm and went a few hours later. 1st time wasn't so bad but this diarrhea...ugh. It is almost 2 am!!! I could not imagine taking more than one pill. I'm guessing they should change the dosage information. I mean 3 pills??? That is insane!!! One pill does the trick but I was just wondering how long the effects of 1 pill last "
- John...
- Taken for less than 1 month
- June 25, 2022
"Highly effective for bowel prep for my colonoscopy - popped one pill and it started taking effect within one hour. It cleared out my bowels thoroughly with zero pain but mild discomfort from emptying my bowels."
- poppatm
- Taken for less than 1 month
- September 18, 2020
"Needed to do a bowel prep for LDR Brachytherapy to treat prostate cancer. Directions said to take 2 Ducolax tablets at noon, followed by a Dulcolax suppository at 8:00 and a Fleet Enema the following morning 3 hrs prior to check in. Since checkin was at 6:30 AM started prep at 09:30. Nine hours later, still no BM, used the suppository, waited 45 min, and could have easily waited an hour or more, but had to pee so bad did manage to have a so so mostly solid bowel movement. Nothing dramatic like I had 15 years earlier when I used Fleet Phosphosoda for a colonoscopy. The oral Fleet solution had me dashing to the bathroom in an hour and continued for several hours with a very cleansing liquid movement I did not experience any discomfort such as cramps or nausea as is so prevalent with others who have commented. I did follow many of the recommendations of others and drank plenty of water before and during the prep."
- Strudel
- August 1, 2017
"Taken 2 bisacodyl one night next morning and again that night. Wow second night was awake from 4am till 12pm clearing my bowels. Severe cramping pain. Slight sick feeling and dizzy . Had procedure and bowel prep was perfect . Just wish the cramping n popping would now stop"
- Prem
- Taken for 1 to 2 years
- March 22, 2018
"Surgery of abscess led to use of any laxative, I chose bisacodyl to be highly effective way to loosen bowel wand I doubled my water. I felt no side effects. Taking no medicine for heart, BP, cholesterol, weight. Lot of salad intake. Age 75."
- Ruzz
- August 12, 2009
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "It's the best thing for me. It works few hours after taking the pill. I did not experience any of the side effects. It is a great way for someone who is really constipated to get relief fast."
- Tom
- April 10, 2017
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "Have been feeling backed up. I'm a big guy so I took 4 pills about 7:45 this evening. After reading these testimonials, I now realize I have made a mistake."
- Arie
- March 25, 2015
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "I took it and I just feel awful pain and like my back is in pain and I just wanted to throw up but the pain was so intense I couldn't breathe."
- Anonymous
- Taken for less than 1 month
- April 23, 2023
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "This medicine is great. Perfect to use before a Colonoscopy. you get some cramps off and on for like maybe a few hours, but it's no big deal. It was not that bad at all."
- Kathy
- April 12, 2021
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "Severe vomiting within 4 hours of starting prep. Cancelled procedure. Never again."
- Mchala
- Taken for less than 1 month
- July 12, 2014
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "Yes it works but I wake up with my stomach in PAIN and I feel nauseous! I've only taken this 2 times and each time it has happened."
- Sus
- Taken for less than 1 month
- July 22, 2019
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "Very bad experience too much pain. Ended up in ER"
- painful
- September 23, 2009
"I was going in for a colonoscopy and this drug worked its wonders!"
Reviews may be edited to correct grammar/spelling or to remove inappropriate language and content. Reviews that appear to be created by parties with a vested interest are not published. This information is not intended to endorse any particular medication. While these reviews may be helpful, they are not a substitute for the expertise, knowledge, and judgement of healthcare professionals.
More about bisacodyl
- Check interactions
- Compare alternatives
- Pricing & coupons
- Reviews (1,588)
- Drug images
- Side effects
- Dosage information
- During pregnancy
- Support group
- Drug class: laxatives
- Breastfeeding
Patient resources
- Bisacodyl oral and rectal drug information
- Bisacodyl Tablets
- Bisacodyl Enema
- Bisacodyl Suppositories
Other brands
Dulcolax, Correctol, Bisa-Lax, Fleet Bisacodyl
Dulcolax (bisacodyl) "I was perscribed two pills 36 hours before my colonoscopy and two pills 24 hours before. I took the first pair at 9pm and by 4am I was woken up by EXTREME abdominal pain, I couldn’t stand up, sit down, I was lying down on the bathroom floor in excruciating pain unable to even call for help. This lasted for THREE HOURS before the pain DECREASED, it didn’t go away it just decreased and was still EXTREMELY PAINFUL. I don’t care what the Dr said I’m never taking two again, one would have been more than enough. For context I weigh 64Kg. it was simply too much and the pain was so bad I wasn’t even able to go to the bathroom. Felt like I was dying with my insides being ripped apart from the inside out, living hell. Horrible Experience. Not worth it."