Is it safe to take Senacot once a fortnight?

Senna is a good laxative to get your bowel moving, but should not be made a habit of if you can avoid it. See your doc about the symptoms!

My DM took a senacot daily for years. So much better than constipation.
She lived until she was 93 but her diet lacked fibre.
Senna is a natural remedy.

In your case I would definitely get a medical check.

INSIST on seeing a doctor. We have no such online communication with our (even though it's a large practice), but we do have a nightly/weekend out-of-hours clinic 3 miles away which is a godsend. Otherwise it's 111 and I've found it varies as to where they send you if needed, but even here they can insist on a local GP urgent appointment.

My MIL took Senokot intermittently for some years and ended up incontinent, which was very unpleasant. Mind you she didn't eat much fruit/veg and never drank water. My DH is similar, especially with water, so he might face the same issues in the future.

If you are finding it difficult to get a GP appt, you can always use the NHS app to write a question for the doctor. I have done that a couple of times and got replies straight away, if I have needed some advice. If they feel they need to speak to you in more detail, they will ask you to book an appt for a consultation, but sometimes a quick answer can do the trick.

Talk to your doctor as so many people have said but in case it is helpful to anyone, I find that eating a kiwi fruit (or two very occasionally) helps keep the system working well.

You can take it much more often than that, unless you have certain medical conditions. I have bad IBS and constipation and my doctor told me I could take senna every night, it's perfectly safe for me. And I do. It helps. But do speak to a doctor first, about your abdominal pain etc.

There are other gentler options- Fybogel, as someone mentioned, Metamucil which is like Fybogel or Fruits and Fibres cubes from H and B.

Thank you everyone. MissInterpreted thanks for alerting me to that

If you do have diverticular disease, for example, then taking laxatives can lead to a perforation, so you definitely need to seek medical advice first.

Please, if you are really worried about your condition and can't get an appointment with your GP, ring 111. They can instigate an urgent appointment with a doctor, if they consider it necessary. Hope you get help with your condition as quickly as possible.

Tell them it's urgent.
Have you tried taking something less strong, such as fybogel (not sure how it's spelt)

It's a softener, rather than a laxative, so more gentle.

Either way, you still need medical advice, so insist, if you have to. 1

Thank you. I am still trying to get an appointment. It's near impossible with my local GP practice

Definitely get medical advice but I’ve seen recent research showing that regular use isn’t harmful.

Get. Medical. Advice.

At one point in my life I had to take large doses of Senakot regulalry, but I had a bowel condition and had been seen by doctors who what I was doing and why.

This shows that you can take large doeses quite regulalry without harm, but you are self medicating for an unknown medical condition - and that could quite literally be fatal.

Go and see your doctor.

Dazy
Did you bother to read the instructions?
You can take up to 4 a day.

Self medication is not a good route to go down. See a doctor, please.

My BIL self medicated, nearly lost his life, when his bowel strangulated. Surgeon said he was minutes from death.

Definitely go and discuss your symptoms with your doctor. There could be any number of causes for those symptoms, and trying to treat it yourself could do more harm than good.

` I think I may have`

you need to see a doctor

Maybe ask your doctor.