Something funny!
 

Or at least I thought it was. Mrs. D. You will be happy to know you help others not just us on this site.

My husband and I are trying to cut down on our sugar intake. We brought sugar free cookies. Well my husband likes to eat sweets a lot. He ate most of the package. He spent most of the night in the bathroom.

The word sorbitol popped into my head! Mrs D you just talked about its use in supplements I think last week.

So needless to say, I told him to look on the ingredients and there it was.

Thanks for the save Mrs. D. My husband is indebted to you
Haha!!!!:)

Been there done that!!

That is some nasty stuff for sure. I can't hardly eat it at all. Most things that say sugar free are death traps, buyer beware.

Hi hopeful,

Yep, that sugar free stuff sure has a laxative effect. If not eaten very sparingly, one can expect to spend a lot of time "running" to the potty chair. :)

Hopeless

I had to give up that stuff as well; my PN thinks it's sugar, and behaves accordingly. :mad:

Doc

I have endured the same experience! Sorbitol can show up as an ingredient in so many items we buy these days. Label ingredient reading turns into a marathon task. Buyer beware for sure. CeCe

My sympathies to anyone who gets the sugar alcohol laxative effects. Your poor husband!

There are other "sweeteners" also that will do it...

Maltitol
Xylitol
Mannitol
etc

A full list is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol

My husband bought me a new "energy" bar... (I usually use Zone bars for snacks etc) and right on the box... may cause a laxative action! Those went right back to Target's! LOL

I think the warning is rare however... Sorbitol is in many things and no warning appears on most. Even on some Hershey's non-dietetic products. Sorbitol is so popular because it keeps foods soft and chewy... and has no calories (this is called being a humectant). It is even in the fake fish sticks sold in grocery stores.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surimi

Russell Stover and Whitman's have recently added sorbitol into their traditional chocolates-- I save the decorative tins at holidays for my brushes and colored pencils and other art supplies, and had a reaction to that candy one Xmas! I have a friend who usually gives me a tin at Xmas.

Whether a product is labeled low sugar, dietetic, or not, it pays to read the ingredients, as sorbitol may be lurking inside!
Our first encounter with sorbitol was about 29 yrs ago when our son had some sugar free PEZ candies. These are dispensed in a toy gizmo, and we bought one at a farmer's market one day.
He was in the toilet for over an hour!

That Hershey's sorbitol event--- I was upNorth, and ended up in the outhouse one night at 11pm or so in a thunderstorm. (in the DARK and alone as hubby went home to work and return in a week later)... clean up is difficult too, as the sorbitol makes everything sticky...messy... and we don't have running water up there. I was soooooo angry at myself for being fooled and at Hershey's! That first time I used that product--- Cherry Kisses--- they did not have sorbitol in them. The newer package had been reformulated to have a longer shelf life. Sooooooo angry! grrrrr.......

There is enough sugar alcohol sweeteners in chewing gum and sugar free mints to cause diarrhea too. One episode of House had him telling this to a guy in the clinic to cut out the sugar free gum chewing!

Mrs. D
That sounds like a terrible experience. Sorbitol is being banned from my house!!!

Mrs. D,

Thanks for the Sorbitol information. (I had never heard about this problem with Sorbitol.) Especially of interest to me was Russell Stover containing Sorbitol.

My husband and I enjoy Russell Stover; especially when on sale. Often I do not go to bed until 2:30 a.m. Not a good idea; but every now and then just before going to bed take a piece or two of Russell Stover Chocolates. Well, have "potty" issues anyway; but I had often wondered if the Stover was part of additonal issues taking place after going to bed. Now; I am no longer even tempted before going to bed . Thank you. Thank you.

I'm sure the incident up North was not "funny" at the time. Yikes!!!


Gerry

It wasn't funny at all at the time.... I had to wait a whole weekend to call Hershey's up on my cell phone and give them @##$$! They sent us 9.00 dollars in coupons (hubby eats the bars all the time), but I avoid them now completely!

I wanted to make them eat the cherry kisses in the woods and leave them there like Survivor and let THEM suffer thusly!

But now I can chuckle over it. Some! ;)

Here is a photo from 2006 of the outhouse. We call it Empoli, because hubby's late aunt who shared it with us, was on a trip when a child with her parents in Italy, and on a train, and she asked the conductor for the lavatory, and he said Empoli, Empoli, meaning at the next station in Empoli, Italy. So she always called our outhouse Empoli and the name stuck over the decades!

The severe storm and thunder/lightning was not terrific with the sorbitol event either! I had about 5 kisses after supper as a dessert, and by 11pm I was out there for over an HOUR!Sheeeeesh! Mercy! It was an awful but very memorable event! LOL

I think the sorbitol is mostly in the nougats and cream centers, of the Russell Stover/Whitmans. But I am not positive on that.

Pretty nice outhouse. :) Not like the old, old days. :D

Mrs. D,
the nougats and cream (especially maple) centers are my favorite. Every now and then Walgreens puts Ressell Stover on sale for $3.99. Hubby picks us a few boxes when he picking up prescriptions.

Quite a sense of humor; Empoli....perfect!!


Gerry

Even better dan da Soady two-holer! :p

Doc

Ours is a 2 holer....the only one on our
family island /compound.

I also installed a glow in the dark seat! LOL

I collected some funny signs and jokes too
which are on the walls. Bathroom humor etc. ;)
Some not appropriate for here .

One of the side effects of CMT for me has been life-long constipation. High fiber diets, Metamucil, only made it worse. I stockpile Miralax. My earliest memories are of being dosed with Fletcher's Castoria. This discussion has made me want to run out and buy all the sorbitol laden goodies I can find....

During the day, not too bad; but while sleeping under the influence of Ambien CR, having (also not knowing before this thread, the laxative side effects) taken something with Sorbitol before going to bed .....not nice!!

Since taking all the narcotic meds, constipation is awful. I have been on daily Miralax; sometimes twice a day, and occasionally do take a little Metamucil to add a little bulk. Either way; not a nice situation.

Life sure is challenging.


Gerry

I've often wondered about that for pain patients with opioid constipation.

Doc

Have no troubles with that and never have.

Sorbitol is often used in hospitals and nursing homes where people are on opiates commonly.

I bet the nurses "love" cleaning up those patients....not.

But yes, it is an alternative if you don't mind using a roll of toilet paper each time you go. (and running a risk of clogging up your sewer system). And you can still reach back there well enough to do a complete job. Keep that in mind if you want to try it.

I don't want to give too much information, but sorbitol clean up is not very easy.

Forewarned is forearmed...:eek:

It is, evidently, a occasional* complication of CMT. Explained a lot for me. Lucky you missed it, Kitt!
And yes, the opiates probably make it worse, but it was broken long before I started on those, if I go on I will be giving too much information!

Can you tell from my giddiness that I am off baby duty for a few days?

I know other CMTers as well who must have missed it as you put it. So I can't say it is a frequent complication of CMT. Perhaps it is the type of CMT. It can be connected to the autonomic nervous system. There can also be diarrhea, digestive problems, constipation, drinking enough water, exercising, diet, medications taken, etc. And we find that going once a day, three times a day can be normal or every two or three days or even a week. So who can say what is normal for having a BM. This means the general population as well.

My Mom a CMTer, came from the old school of figuring you had to go once every day. She always took ex-lax. Later on she still wanted to go every day even though she then was in a wheelchair, no exercise (could not), and eating very little. So she took ex-lax and that always didn't work. I believe I read that you can over do on something like that as well. She was on way too much medication and a lot of it was harmful to someone with CMT.

Mrs. D,- Susanne,

Not sure you have heard of a ToTo Toilet Seat. It is similiar to a Bidet. I am fortunate to have a ToTo installed....can choose settings...water, pressure, etc. Never want to be without my "ToTo".



Gerry