People – especially young people – might be heading to the toilet more than usual lately.
In fact, an increased use of laxatives has contributed to a shortage of polyethylene glycol 3350 according to The Wall Street Journal. It’s a substance that increases the amount of water in the digestive tract and stimulates bowel movements.
Polyethylene glycol 3350 is found in over-the-counter laxatives such as Miralax and Glycolax.
“It’s crazy to think that our collective bowel dysfunction problems have gotten so bad that we’re literally running out of stool softeners,” said Dr. George Pavlou of Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey, per the WSJ.
Dr. Jenna DiLossi, an eating disorder specialist cited by the outlet, said that she’s noticed a sharp rise in teen patients abusing laxatives for around two years. She said teens often tell her they’ve decided to reach for laxatives after watching videos on the social media app TikTok. There, the #GutTok hashtag has over 1 billion views.
This spike could be related to another trend: the use of Ozempic, and other drugs developed for people with diabetes, by people without diabetes to help with weight loss. However, laxatives don’t actually help those who take them lose weight. Instead, they are intended for use by people who struggle with constipation.
“By the time laxatives act on the large intestine, most foods and calories have already been absorbed by the small intestine,” according to the National Eating Disorders Association. “Although laxatives artificially stimulate the large intestine to empty, the ‘weight loss’ caused by a laxative-induced bowel movement contains little actual food, fat, or calories.”
This “weight loss” is reversed once the person who took laxatives drinks water or rehydrates. If they fail to rehydrate after laxative use, organ damage and death are possible side effects.
Sophie Spiers, a 30-year-old fashion copywriter in Los Angeles cited by the WSJ, said she takes Miralax every morning and has done so since her 20s.
“I had periods in my early 20s where I really struggled with disordered eating, and it became tied to a mental thing of having to take my Miralax or I’m going to feel fat today,” she admitted.
While she takes the medication under consultation with her doctor today, Spiers also said she offered it to friends suffering from constipation recently. She also said she’s having a harder time finding it at drug stores.
In addition to more young people using laxatives, gastrological and behavioral experts believe the increase in laxative use in the U.S. could be linked to the nation’s aging population, said the WSJ. Experts said that Americans might also not be getting enough fiber, and that the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to an increase reliance on medications.
“Searches for laxative pills on Amazon have more than tripled in the past year, according to analytics company Pattern. Manufacturers of fiber supplements Metamucil and Benefiber, meanwhile, report double-digit sales growth in recent years,” said the WSJ. “Bayer, which owns Miralax, declined to comment.”
Dr. Brian Lacy, a gastroenterology professor with the Mayo Clinic, said that some people may think they are having bowel issues when they are actually healthy. He explained that many people believe a myth that they need to have one bowel movement per day when it is perfectly fine to have as little as three per week or as many as three per day.
Instead of reaching for laxatives right away, Lacy also recommends that people struggling with constipation increase their intake of fresh fruits and vegetables first.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, adults should get 22 to 34 grams of fiber daily, and drink plenty of water along with their fiber intake. Physical activity can also help improve bowel movements.
Laxatives can be helpful, but should be taken with advice and consultation from a health care professional.