Hey everyone!
I've been doing some thinking lately about my fissure(s), trying to remember if I was always constipated as a child or if my body became that way. I remembered, about two years ago when I still had some painful BMs but nothing compared to fissurey BMs, I was still regular. I would go twice a day. Then I finally remembered... I think I've discovered the cause of my chronic constipation that took over a year to rid my body of, and I still have strange symptoms.
It's DUKORAL. I went travelling to the East over a year ago, and one of my Aunts suggested taking Dukoral, which is a medicine that is supposed to prevent Traveler's Diarrhea. I thought this sounded fabulous and received a prescription from my doctor (who didn't really know much about it anyhow). I found that during the time I was traveling, I just started feeling sick. I still did get food poisoning at a point and was hospitalized for it (I only took half the dose of dukoral), but I also noticed getting more and more constipated. When I went travelling a second time, it was so bad, that I started pushing a lot during BMs and that's how I got my fissure...
So I think Dukoral is the medicine that gave me my fissure, in a long drawn process. I may have had some constipation in the past, but I think this medicine made it more chronic, because it was never so bad, until after I took it :(. Just wanted to throw that warning out and remind everyone to be careful about which medicines they begin taking... Some of these drugs stay in our systems for a while, I'm assuming, because it took me a LONG time to get back to normal... Even now I'm not fully normal, just better than before.
Well take care, just wanted to throw that out there: be careful with any new medicine

Hi Sunshine,
I remember when you were telling us about that. I think it is good to be careful about meds because they can cause constipation. Of course it made sense for you to take the medicine your grandma gave you because you had diarrhea-you just went the opposite direction. Don't you wish you could just turn back time?

I've gotten constipated taking OTC decongestant for a cold so if anyone takes that be sure to drink tons of water!

Hopefully your constipation will ease soon, Sunshine. Where you taking Dukoral for an extended period?

Hey guys! Yeah Lecia, for sure.. Too bad I can't undo that
Actually Kim, no... With Dukoral, you basically just have to take two doses, and it has a very powerful effect. It's supposed to protect you from traveler's diarrhea for a few months I *think*. I remember it just required two doses. Pretty powerful stuff :| no wonder I was so constipated for so long...

SSH,
In my opinion, chronic constipation is not a way of life and the human body was made to be able to adapt to our eating practices. I look back just five years ago, thinking I was eating healthy because my diet was low in fat, but it had very little fiber, tons of caffeine, and little regular water intake. Back then, I rarely missed a beat in the BM department. I should also add that I was taking all kinds of body building supplements, which again where not "pro-BM." Today, I've had every GI test under the sun, and my GI tract is fine, so I know I didn't damage my tract in any way with my previous diet.
Consitpation is a symptom. An anal fissure is a symptom. Yet doctors typically just treat the symptom and hardly ever try to get to the root cause.
Based on your description above, I would encourage you to read the book "A New IBS Solution" by Dr. Mark Pimentel. One of his theories is that food posioning (which causes small intestine bacterial overgrowth or SIBO) can kick off IBS as a permanent condition in one's life and he has shown some promising results where certain antibiotics greatly reduced ones issues with IBS - C and IBS - D. I found it to be a very sound theory and found the entire book very informative. It's an easy read as well.
That being said, I tried the particular antibiotic in question and for me I had bad results. I have come to the conclusion this is not my issue. Before trying it, I read atleast 50 posts from other people stating this was the cure for their constipation. I also found, after much research, that I fit the profile for this; that is why I attempted treatment.
I am systematically working through a list of things that I feel have a high possiblity of causing my constipation...which is causing my fissure. I also will not stop until I am back to eating normal and having normal BM without the aid of a ton of products everyday to do so. If all the people around me seem to function everyday just fine eating diets that aren't restrictive, then I know I can too....once I figure out what is causing the constipation. I know we all are not the same, but we are more alike then we are different.
In summary, I encourage everyone who has been battling constipation for a lengthy period of time to carefully think about their current health, what other subversive health conditions they have, and then look into the following areas. The only word of caution I would use is to not "make" yourself fit into a category. You could end up doing more harm then good.
SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth)
Candida (Yeast overegrowth in the intestines) - Thousands of people swear by this condition and its correction to their improved health, but after a long trial to treat this issue and seeing many doctors, I'm not entirely sold on this as a legitimate condition in the mainstream population. I do know that I took a probiotic for this that assisted in my BM's somewhat (Threelac)
Adrenal Fatigue - AF can cause secondary hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism - Read on this, especially for women (8 times more likely in women then men.) Drs are just learning that they are not doing enough tests to diagnosis this properly and that the ranges they are using are to wide.
GI Tract issues Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, etc...
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Low Stomach Acid
I apologize for the long post, but the main point is that chronic constipation is not normal. If one had a chronic cold, or a chronic fever, he/she would keep seeking the doctor until they were healed. I for one am not going to live the rest of my life working around a condition that should only be temporary.
Can you tell I hate this fissure and constipation! Just as a quick update, I had one round of botox awhile back and have not had a retear since...even though the antibotic for the SIBO almost caused me to reopen it. Honestly, I think I was allergic to that particular antibiotic because I had many worse symptoms then constipation. Actually, the antibotic (Rifaximin) was causing me to use the bathroom more (that's a plus) but I think it was having a negative effect on my sphincter muscle and blood pressure.
Again, sorry for the "book."

My mother got rid of IBS with single corse of antibiotics after suffering for 2 years !!!!

Thanks Chris... I think you're right! It's not normal.. And it's especially not normal for me: I acquired chronic constipation when I was probably 20 or 21 because of this medicine and possibly something else - still trying to discover it... But I've noticed something else as well: milk is SO constipating for me but most other people in my family think that's ridiculous, because milk has a laxative effect on them. That's what I don't understand. I thought I was over my chronic constipation because now I just eat what my family eats and I usually am able to go twice a day - which is pretty normal!! And that's exciting for me because I don't even take any laxatives or anything at all - I only take Miralax when I'm having bad bum days and don't want to risk a re-tear.
So it's really weird that my entire family is able to drink all the milk they want, but it still clogs me up.
P.S. THANK you for the "book" haha, it's so helpful when people share their knowledge/expertise on this forum. I've learned so so so much from this forum and everyone on it.