Relistor for Constipation, Drug Induced User Reviews

• Thomas
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 20, 2019

"I was given Relistor in an ER environment. I had been on strong meds for a back issue for a few weeks but hadn’t taken any in 8 days. Based on the severity of my pain, I believed I had a bowel blockage. ER did not rule that out and gave me a Relistor injection. Within an hour, I was in even worse pain, and began to vomit every 5-10 minutes. In less than 24 hours I was back in the ER with a sigmoid colon perforation and very nearly died. This is not a drug that should be prescribed for acute or emergent issues and medical professionals must be educated on potential side effects. It has been two months and I am still dealing with complications from near total systems failures during the perforation. I may never fully recover from this."

• michael...
• November 18, 2014

"Prior to this product I was in a constant stage of constipation. I can recall a few times that I was so dry that it felt like I had a bad case of hemorrhoids blocking the exit. I literally believed that until I tried using Prep H on it and determined that was not a hemorrhoid. A life changer, the first time I used it I had bad stomach cramps for about 20 minutes. I raced to the bathroom and literally clogged up our system I had such a huge Bowell movement. MY first few uses were free samples from my pain management doctor. My prescription insurance company refused to fill my prescriptions but luckily the manufacturer sales rep coordinated an appeal for me. It changed my life, I lost 40 pounds the first 3 months I started taking them"

• DivaV...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 24, 2013

"I've been on high dose pain medicines since 2001 and knew I had constipation as a side effect, but it wasn't until I was able to lose a large amount of weight that I realized just how backed up and bloated I was. I heard of this medication online and asked my pain management Dr for it. He had no issues giving it to me. It took me a couple weeks to get the nerve to try it because of the side effects I've read, but I've not had any. This medication has been a Godsend! It was recommended to use a laxative prior to help clean things out some, which decreases cramping from your body trying so hard to defecate. I now look forward to my injection every other day! I only need to go every other day because it works so well."

• MRSDJ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 28, 2013

"Follow up to my previous review 4/12 I recently began taking the 8 mg. injections and have used 1 every other day for the past 10 days. The pain, nausea and distension had destroyed my quality of life. I was unable to eat more than a few bites of food at a time. I have had FANTASTIC results with this medicine. It works within 10 minutes or less following injection,causes almost NO side effects except a slight cramping sometimes so effective I can feel the movement starting right away. I am continuing to use this every other day, to me this is truly a miracle."

• Silve...
• April 9, 2015

"Current Pain Meds: Fentanyl 50mcg x 72 hrs & Percocet 10/325 x 4hrs PRN. Condition: DDD L4-L5 S1 & Muscle Damage of Lft. Shoulder. Past Overcounter Meds: Polyethylene Glycol, Lactulose, & Amitiza. Relistor Experience: Started 2 days ago and was able to have bowel motion within 30 min with mild cramping & no other side effects. Conclusion: Excellent relief from OIC...5 star!!"

• Niern...
• March 8, 2016

"I have been on opioids for 29 years now. About 10 years ago, my doses were so high and the constant pushing because of impact ion unless I was taking 10 laxatives at night to wake up with unbearable cramps to have diarrhea, then taking more laxatives throughout day cured the fecal impaction....but I ended up with a external prolapsed bowel that would come out even going tinkle. The doctors had never seen one completely outside, which I would have to manually push back in every time. Surgery was 10 nights in the hospital on one of those automatic beds that move position so you don't get bed sores. 1000+ stitches and staples and now Relistor....doesnt always work, but when it does....OMG! It feels like heaven...Yeah!!!!"

• verdeva
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 19, 2016

"Opioids since 2000, Chronic Pain from Post-Polio Syndrome. I've been fighting this big problem since 2001 & I've tried everything. For the last two years I used "irrigation", a slow and messy solution. Recently I tried Movantik, but found it to be significantly harsher on the GI tract. As soon as I got over the "Yikes! I'm about to stick a needle in my stomach!", everything went swimmingly. Yes, moderate gas cramping, but far gentler than what I'd suffered in the past. It was incredibly fast in my case. First "urge" in under 15 minutes and major evac in just a few minutes. I figured I was done for the day 1, so I headed back to bed. Fifteen minutes later my 2nd evac was twice as big as the first. 5 Stars"

• tubaguy
• April 9, 2017

"I take Dilaudid because I am living with Multiple Sclerosis and have severe muscle spasms. Unfortunately, the Dilaudid has started making me constipated - so my doctor prescribed me Relistor Injections - 12mg (the higher dose - it depends on your weight). I took this medication for the first time this morning because I had not had a bowel movement in five days. I did the injection (beware, it burns when injecting!) and went on with my day. Within ten minutes (I'm not kidding) I had to use the restroom. Success! That's the good part. After my successful bowel movement came terrible abdominal pain. I mean, it wasn't like, "I have to go to the ER" terrible, but it was significant enough that I am mentioning it. Overall, a good drug."

• Ewilldo
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 3, 2015

"I have been on opiates for chronic back pain and DJD for more than 15 years. I have always had bowel issues, even before being on pain meds. So adding more meds made it nearly impossible to evacuate completely. For years I have been taking 6 or so prescription and otc laxative meds per day with very poor results. A year ago, I was so backed up that I was vomiting repeatedly. Long story short, after the ER doc checked for obstructions, he gave me a shot of Relistor and sent me home. 15 minutes later, when I got home I had to rush to the bathroom. First complete 'normal' evacuation in years. Too bad my pc won't prescribe it for me to take when needed."

• Pokeyj
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 9, 2012

"I am 64 yrs old I've suffered from constipation my entire life and have been on opiates for many years due to colo-rectal cancer treatments/surgeries. I've been using Relistor for 2 weeks and I have a bowel movement within 5 minutes. For me, I have 3-4 more within the following couple of hours. It has been a miracle for me. Life changing."

• happywi
• December 26, 2010

"I help my 83 yo mother-in-law with her medical care. She has been on opiates for over 25 years due to broken hips after a fall. After several trips to the hospital a couple years ago for fecal dis-impaction, I began a desperate search for something that could help. This medicine had just come out about 8 months earlier. I only wish someone had told me about it sooner. It has been a life-saver for her. Within about 15 minutes of her first shot, she had a huge bowel movement. She's been taking it every other day for almost 2 years, and in that time, has had less than a handful of times when it didn't work. This has truly been a blessing for us."

• Wound...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 19, 2012

"It WORKS! But and there is a but, the side effects can be pretty intense. Mostly the abdominal cramps and slight headache. It did not work with my 1st doss but did my 2nd approx 2 hrs after injection. For me it's definitely worth it because for 1st time in months I went #2 all by myself (meaning no enemas no suppository!). Amazing, I do stress that if you do use it make sure you have time to rest and wait. The cramps will stop, you'll have a lot of gas and then you'll go potty like a normal person. "

• SodaM...
• February 18, 2011

"I just used Relistor for the first time. I have chronic abdominal pain that provides the wonderful need for strong narcotics. They are terrible on my system and possibly from the constipation or maybe a result of the many many surgeries I have been through I have very painful bowel movements. Its like I can feel the stool winding through my bowels and it feels like sharp rocks! After the injection I had almost instant cramps and only a moderate amount of gas. I felt the "winding rocks" moving with a vengeance. That's why I'm not giving this a 10 because of the cramps (which could possibly be issues with my system). Like another reviewer said..I had a massive movement 30mins later. NICE!"

• mom2k...
• September 18, 2015

"I have used relistor 3 times. Overall I think it's working. But I wanted to note here that as most of us have been using alternatives, including strong stimulant laxatives, for this issue prior to trying relistor, and have become dependent on them. So although I've had success with this medication,I thought it worth mentioning that I will need to work on becoming free of laxative use for best results. For those of you that are experiencing this, I highly recommend doing some online reading about laxative dependency and using some of those techniques along with relistor. Good luck!"

• Pucksau
• February 21, 2013

"I started the Relistor injections about 3 weeks ago. I was to inject 8 mg but was given the 12 mg syringe on the doctor's order. Very difficult to discard the extra mg because the syringe is not clearly marked. I now have the 8 mg syringes which I should have gotten to start with. I take the Relistor every other day and it works in 5 minutes. I set aside 2 hours to deal with the results. 5 to 6 bowel movements, including some diarrhea. I go from bed to bathroom and back again until done. My main problem is the nausea that accompanies the process. I did experience vomiting after the first injection but now it only nausea. I take Zofran a half-hour before the injection for nausea and it helps but doesn't completely take care of it. Even with the unpleasant side effects, I am glad to have this medicine to treat the slow GI movement I have due to scleroderma, diabetes and the opiates I take for chronic back pain."

• Anne...
• October 23, 2009

"Doctor gave me this shot to see if it would work for me. I suffer from chronic constipation, and painful bowel movements often causing rectal and anal tearing. It took over 24 hours for it to work for me but it was well worth the wait. I never had such a massive NORMAL bowel movement in my life and I went two times! It was wonderful. Sorry for details but I can't have bowel motion unless I overdose on a tonne of laxatives. I am now getting a prescription for it and I can't wait."

• Chronic...
• November 28, 2008

"I suffer from chronic pain and have been on and off opioid therapy for much of my adult life. Because I suffer from chronic pelvic pain, constipation is extremely painful for me. Unfortunately natural and/or gentle laxatives were not strong enough for me, and strong laxatives were too hard on my system, so nothing was working for me until now. I have just started the treatments so I am just taking a little less than the 4 ml dose, twice a week. So far, each time I have had my shot, I have had a %u2018normal%u2019 bowel movement within one hour. Overall if you are struggling with constipation as a result of pain medications, this very well could be the solution for you. It has been for me."

• jcurt...
• December 7, 2015

"I've been on hydromorphone 2 mg (Q 4 H), oxycodone/APAP 10/325 mg (Q 4-6 H), and OxyContin 40 mg daily for an accidental amputation. After landing myself in the hospital for diabetes related illnesses, my doctors became concerned about me not having a bowel movement. They used Relistor as a last resort, and although it didn't work immediately, it worked the next day. I've been going nonstop since!"

• Tooth...
• July 14, 2017

"Before Relistor/or Movantik., anyone in this world experience trying to pass a friggin baseball?? Literally true.. I was on a miracle drug called Movantik for 1 month $435.00!!! And they are pills,1 pill on empty stomach with a bottle of water say 8 am, on pot within 30 minutes, oh what a relief it is!! My insurance wouldn't cover it :( because its not on their formulary list, but will cover Relistor for $2000.00.. but if this works like Movantik it's my miracle drug..I'm just scared of the side effects from Relistor, I had slight side effects with Movantik. Such as withdraw symptoms, not everyday , so wish me luck, my 1st dose is tomorrow morning. 7/14/17"

• stew
• July 8, 2009

"My father is 89 and has suffered from dug induced constipation for years as a result of his pain management drugs. His first injection of Relistor yielded a substantial bowel movement in less than ten minutes. Since this initial treatment he has experienced increased normal movements on a regular basis. There have been no adverse reactions to this medication."

• ElleL...
• June 11, 2016

"The first time I took this..it worked within 5 minutes. I continued to take as directed for the next month. Absolutely nothing. Other than severe cramps, sweating, flushed, sick. I have been on and off of this for over 6 months. It has only worked 1 more time in 6 months."

• Ander...
• February 2, 2010

"This is the best medicine available for drug induced constipation, there is no doubt in my experience. My one concern is that it does involve some urinary retention, certainly when I was given the maximum dose of 12mg. The lower dose of 8mg caused less urinary retention but I am only using Relistor once a week until we assess how much retention it is causing, by ultrasound. The manufacturer is still saying urinary retention is not a side effect. I note the comment of urinary retention here. This could be a serious problem for those of us with underlying disease that involves urinary retention, such as ALD or some forms of MS, for example. Relistor is a great help otherwise."

• leade...
• April 22, 2015

"I've been on a variety of pain meds since 2006 from a 92# treelimb falling on me and had become quite impact constipated because of them. After yrs of trying many many different kinds of laxatives & eating plenty of fruits my Dr finally asked me today(while refilling my medtronics morphine pump) if I had ever tried this injection. He gave me a sample & told me to be close to a toilet so I just now gave myself the injection, now that I'm home. So far the only thing I'm feeling is activity in my stomach as if things will be happening soon...no bad cramps, headache, sweats...just motion in my stomach. It started almost immediately & now 1/2 an hour has passed and I am still waiting.. Will keep you posted..."

• Jalynn...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 2, 2015

"Constipation due to opiates has been extremely bad for me. Along with Relistor I'm still taking laxatives and suppositories. I'm on my second month with one shot every other day and only twice did I not have to use a suppository. Wondering if I have something else going on."

• Pain...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 20, 2015

"I've had mixed results with this. Been on 180mg of Oxy IR and 75mcg Fentanyl for YEARS. When my doc increased my Fentanyl to every 48 hours, all my plumbing STOPPED. I NEVER had any problems, ever! I fought with the constipation, not going for 6 weeks+ sometimes. I don't know what hurts worse...? Anyway, the Relistor works here and there. I don't have insurance and at $75 a 12mg injection, I can't afford not to go!!! I just gave myself a 12mg shot yesterday, and another today. 24 hrs apart. Nothing. I haven't gone in 3 weeks now. This is not good. The laxative route does nothing as well. I'm frustrated... Any suggestions?"