Talk:Docusate

Toxicity information
This article is notorius for NOT citing ANY toxicity information. Since the chemical is used both in stool softeners and laxatives, and also in the polemical "Corexit" oil dispersant dumped by thousands of gallons into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon accident in april 2010, it is very important to cite the toxicological aspects of this chemical. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.100.180.19 (talk) 17:47, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
 * ✅, what I could find. --ἀνυπόδητος (talk) 21:04, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Proposed changes to article

 * Moved here from Talk:Docusate. --ἀνυπόδητος (talk) 20:11, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

The presentations section could probably be streamlined. The descriptions are almost fancruft! The distinction between the sodium, calcium, and potassium salts is not generally clinically relevant.

In addition, the "contraindication" to use with aspirin does not appear to be clinically significant as well, or at least is not adopted in clinical practice. Andrew73 11:42, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

The entire first paragraph is unintelligible to anyone but chemists and medical personel. I believe the guidelines of Wikipedia is to have the first paragraph readable by the general public before going into more esoteric speech.deepsack (talk) 20:25, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

how to add informal information
I just weighed out 200 mg aliquot of AOT (sigma), and dissolved it in 20mL absolute EtOH The AOT rapidly dissolved to form a clear, foam free solution I conclude that the solubility in EtOH is >1% wt/vol at room temperature — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.7.241.10 (talk) 18:43, 29 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The article (section Physical and chemical properties) says the solubility is 1:30 in EtOH, i.e. 3%, which fits your result. I'm afraid the info box can only hold two "solubilities", so the solubility in EtOH will have to stay in the text. --ἀνυπόδητος (talk) 18:01, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

Essential medicines
Docusate sodium is one of the 300 or so essential medicines. IMO as such it should have a drugbox not a chembox and should be at the INN name. Peoples thoughts? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 11:32, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Tricky one this. Information on its medical uses does dominate, but in terms of tonnage the compound is most widely used as a surfactant. --Project Osprey (talk) 12:21, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that the overall volume of use makes the most sense for determining the type of infobox in this case. Being one of the WHO essential medicines is really significant. The number of individuals searching for information on the use as a drug will be significant--patients/consumers, students, health care professionals. I'm unclear whether people will be regularly searching for information about it's use as a surfactant. Sydney Poore/FloNight&#9829;&#9829;&#9829;&#9829; 12:47, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I agree with James and Flo, you can't base usage on volume. Industrial use can be minor, but still use the largest volumes. Even when looking at production there are completely different standards on purity, indication etc. Drugbox seems more sensible, it's not like the article shouldn't mention surfactant use. -- CFCF  🍌 (email) 13:02, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
 * yes it should have a drugbox--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 14:25, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Also agree with the above - I think most users would be searching for docusate as a medication, not a surfactant -- Xeldarith (talk) 05:41, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Questions on Efficacy
I am wondering if people think there should be a section/comment on concerns about lack of efficacy of docusate (and possibly other laxatives). There have been several papers over the past decade that have shown no benefit or inconclusive results in various populations (CADTH Review, Drug Class Review, Cochrane Review). I have several other individual articles if anyone would like to see those. I am happy to draft up said information, but welcome feedback before diving in. -- Xeldarith (talk) 05:41, 22 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks yes these are great sources. We should definitely include them to support that their is little evidence. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 15:31, 22 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The efficacy, or lack thereof, seems to be in regards to its laxative properties. I see this stuff typically labeled as a "stool softener", which is a related mechanism, but hardly co-extensive in its physiological effects. Confusingly, a carton of Colace I've just examined calls itself a stool-softener on the front, but indicates in the instructions "for occasional constipation", something most people would associate automatically with a laxative proper. JohndanR (talk) 01:07, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Contraindications
In the "Contraindications" section, we find this statement: It is not suitable for the treatment of chronic constipation, since its mode of action is as a symptom reliever, not a cure for any specific underlying cause. This makes no sense, since chronic symptoms that have no known cure still need "chronic" – that is, continual – relief. Patients with chronic incurable loss of bowel function who benefit by life-long use of a mere "symptom reliever" are often very grateful for it! And the quoted statement fails to mention any reasonable alternative; nor that physicians do prescribe docusate for chronic constipation.

Also, the given citation would clearly be better replaced by an accessible one in English that covers similar issues. Therefore, I'm marking the section for reference improvement. yoyo (talk) 02:16, 30 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Added a citation to an English journal paper that discusses various types of medicines used to treat constipation and states that docusate is not suitable for chronic use. Can the "[further explanation needed][dubious – discuss]" templates be removed now?
 * Kwiki user (talk) 15:26, 5 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the link! I've removed the templates. --ἀνυπόδητος (talk) 06:53, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

Combination therapy
Under the heading Available forms, it would be useful to also describe how docusate is combined with other drugs in available formulations, and any synergies between the components. For example, in Australia the drug is available as the sole active ingredient under the brand name Coloxyl, but also in combination with sennosides as Coloxyl with senna. There may be other combinations. yoyo (talk) 02:42, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Changing the name to "docusate sodium"
One of the salts rather than the group of salts, will need discussion. I oppose. We do not need seperate articles on each salt. Docusate is also the common name. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:58, 12 November 2018 (UTC)
 * While "docusate" is the material's WP:COMMONNAME it appears that "docusate sodium" is how the stool softener product is labeled. Do a Google image search for "docusate salt".  Most of the images will be of the chemical diagram.  The bottles of product that show up are labeled "docusate sodium".and  I can't find a product labeled "docusate salt".


 * Also, see MOS:LEADSENTENCE and specifically:
 * While a commonly recognisable form of name will be used as the title of biographical articles, fuller forms of name may be used in the introduction to the lead. For instance, in the article Paul McCartney, the text of the lead begins: "Sir James Paul McCartney ...".
 * Thus, while the WP:COMMONNAME is "docusate" that's why I put "docusate sodium" in the MOS:LEADSENTENCE as that seems to be the full name of the product.


 * I agree, we don't need separate articles but also believe that the majority of the people visiting the article will be interested in docusate's use as a stool softener which always seems to be packaged as "docusate sodium". --Marc Kupper&#124;talk 22:15, 12 November 2018 (UTC)


 * (update) - I took a further look to see how docusate is packaged and found:
 * Labeled on the front as containing docusate sodium: Colace, Coloxyl, Drug Mart, Dulcolax, Enemeez, Equate, GeriCare, Kirkland (from Costco stores), Naturade.
 * Labeled on the front as containing docusate calcium: GeriCare (they also make versions containing docusate sodium), Rugby.
 * It appears that docusate sodium and docusate calcium are interchangeable. --Marc Kupper&#124;talk 22:36, 12 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Docusate needs to be combined with a positive ion. This can be sodium, calcium, or potassium. This article is about all three. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 02:15, 13 November 2018 (UTC)