A 35-year-old member asked:

How long should i give milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) to work?

2 doctor answers5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Heidi Fowler
Psychiatry 27 years experience
Milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide): Milk of Magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) usually takes effect (leads to a bowel movement ) in half an hour to six hours – but this is variable.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Dr. Alan Ali
Dr. Alan Alianswered
Psychiatry 34 years experience
MOM: Within average of 6 hours.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

Similar questions

A 48-year-old member asked:

How fast milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) work?

1 doctor answer2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Yash Khanna
Family Medicine 59 years experience
1/2 HOUR TO 6 HOURS: It may work as an antacid within 30 minutes and as a laxative it may take 6 hours to 12 hours.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Dr. Raymond Chow
Pharmacology 10 years experience
Check with the dosing on the product label, since generally lower doses are used for acid reduction (1-3 TEAspoons), and higher to move the bowels (1-3 TABLEspoons).
Nov 26, 2013
MA
A 19-year-old female asked:

How long does milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) stay in your system ?

1 doctor answer1 doctor weighed in
Dr. Gurmukh Singh
Pathology 51 years experience
Depends: The elimination of this laxative depends on the rate of movement of bowel contents. Under usual circumstances most of it should be out of the GI tract in a couple of days, a week at the most. Unrelated to your question: Practice safe sex. Get HPV vaccine.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Casper, WY
A 22-year-old female asked:

How long does it take for milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) to work? I haven't gone in 4 days...

2 doctor answers4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Phillip Goebel
Emergency Medicine 18 years experience
A couple of hours: If it has not worked in a couple of hours you should either take another doe or switch to something like miralax (polyethylene glycol) in combination with enemas.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 30-year-old member asked:

Is milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) habit forming?

1 doctor answer1 doctor weighed in
Dr. Yash Khanna
Family Medicine 59 years experience
No it is not: No it is not habit forming but some people tend to use it over long period of time to help move bowels.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 43-year-old member asked:

How much time does it take for milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) to work?

1 doctor answer3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Heidi Fowler
Psychiatry 27 years experience
Milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide): Milk of Magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) usually takes effect (leads to a bowel movement ) in half an hour to six hours – but this is variable.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Last updated Jun 29, 2019

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