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What Causes Bowel Incontinence During Sleep?

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Posted on Wed, 11 Feb 2015
Question: HI! I'm a 41 yr old female and since XXXXXXX July last year I have had 3 or 4 episodes of having a bowel movement during my sleep. I had one last night. It is always diahrea. Last nights episode was much more than the others. I suffer from irregular bowel movements as is. Have for years. Was constipation and had to use enemas to go. It is normal for me to now go only once a week and it is never much. It is always soft and at lots of times its just diahrea. Taking normal laxatives for me doesn't work. Miralax only made me go twice in one day and again it wasn't very much. I have not been diagnosed with any stomach or bowel illnesses. I am not diabetic but have been told I likely have neuropathy. The neuropathy is only in my feet. No pain just funny feelings in feet. No muscle loss or weakness or numbness. Have muscle twitches from knees down and in feet so sometimes I wonder about the neuropathy diagnosis. MRI of head came back normal and have had tons of blood work and have not been told what the cause of my neuropathy is. They can't find anything as of yet. Thinking I need spine MRI, just my opinion. Anyway, I started taking Gabapentin and a sleeping pill called Temazepan around the same time I had my first accident. Have no problems of this during the day and can hold it till I can get to the bathroom if I have a episode of diahrea. My question is could this be caused by my medications and do I need to see a specialist for this problem. Like I said it has only happened 3 or 4 times and don't suffer from it during the day. Told one doctor and she told me to take Benefiber to regulate myself. Since that I have changed doctors and have not said anything to this one. The first ones happened around July and August of last year and have not had one since until last night. Please help!
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Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (5 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Infrequent bowel movements are likely due to Gabapentin.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic.com

I have carefully read your history and understand your concern.

The infrequent bowel movements you have been experiencing seem to be due to taking Gabapentin.

The other symptom, that is passing stools in sleep may also be due to Gabapentin as well as Tamazepam, (Both can suppress the central nervous system and can limit the reflexes and can decrease the control of brain over the reflexes arising from spinal cord.

So there is a good reason to believe that these medicines might be causing your particular symptoms.

You could discuss with your treating doctor to reduce the dose by a small amount and see if that helps.

I hope my answer will help you. Please do write back if you have any doubts.

Kind regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr. Yogesh D

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2009

Answered : 1130 Questions

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What Causes Bowel Incontinence During Sleep?

Brief Answer: Infrequent bowel movements are likely due to Gabapentin. Detailed Answer: Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic.com I have carefully read your history and understand your concern. The infrequent bowel movements you have been experiencing seem to be due to taking Gabapentin. The other symptom, that is passing stools in sleep may also be due to Gabapentin as well as Tamazepam, (Both can suppress the central nervous system and can limit the reflexes and can decrease the control of brain over the reflexes arising from spinal cord. So there is a good reason to believe that these medicines might be causing your particular symptoms. You could discuss with your treating doctor to reduce the dose by a small amount and see if that helps. I hope my answer will help you. Please do write back if you have any doubts. Kind regards