Hi there! Thank you for your question. Laxatives in small and infrequent amounts may help regulate your bowel movements and should not damage your kidneys or other organs. But if it is taken frequently or in high doses, you could damage parts of your body and in extreme cases even die. If you take too much laxatives, your kidneys will pass much more water, electrolytes and minerals than usual.

Ultimately, you can suffer from kidney stones or kidney failure. The main cause of kidney stones is dehydration. This can lead to severe pain, blood in your urine or abnormal-colored urine due to the kidney stones and failure. Laxative abuse can cause hypokalemia (low potassium in the blood).

Hypokalemia, in turn, can lead to rhabdomyolysis (muscle injury or breakdown). Laxative-induced hypokalemia have been previously reported to cause renal insufficiency which eventually lead to kidney injury. Excessive laxative use can cause a physical dependence.

As laxative abuse continues, the colon requires larger and more frequent doses to create normal bowel movements. Some people become so dependent on laxatives that they cannot have bowel movements without taking laxatives, which is a potentially serious medical problem.

Another major concern associated with laxative abuse is electrolyte imbalance, which not only affects the kidneys but other organs such as the heart. You may also suffer from malnutrition after misusing laxatives. Other potential health problems include weakness, seizures and confusion.

If you take other medications, you risk minimizing the effect of them when you use laxatives. So I suggest you do that colonoscopy at a public hospital. The laxative is harming your body and is masking a symptoms of what potentially could be a serious illness.

Please click on this link (DoctorOnCall) to talk to us privately online and discuss further about your inquiries. Thank you.