I gave birth 6 weeks ago, suffered a bad perineal tear and constipation, resulting in an anal fissure. It is worse than any pain I’ve ever had - worse than my natural birth!

I think a key issue is how hard my poop is. I’m not constipated (BM daily), but my stool is so hard. I take Colace and fiber supplements (Metamucil / Benefiber), drink lots of water 3+ liters daily), and just started magnesium citrate (Natural Calm), plus probiotics.

I’m also doing sitz baths, sitting on a heating pad, taking ibuprofen. Due to my perineum tear I couldn’t exercise for weeks, but am able to go on walks now. I’m breastfeeding and wonder if that could some how be related.

Please help. I’m becoming depressed. It’s so hard to deal with this on top of caring for an infant.

It sounds so hard to be dealing with this on top of taking care of a baby. I would suggest that you reduce the fiber intake of metamucil and benefiber. Without enough water to hydrate the fiber you'll end up with hard BMs. Colace is a pretty mild softener. I would try Miralax instead. Also, probiotics can slow down digestion thus causing harder movements, so try stopping those as well. Many women on here have posted about breastfeeding causing constipation. It seems to be a common occurrence.

Reb111 I thought your post was mine I went through the same thing 5 years ago I feel your pain hun don't feel alone with this it is very hard an depressing please pm me I've been there and would like to support you just pm me anytime I still get hard poop but it's just the first bit the rest is soft I use miralax here they are called lax sachets they are safe for long term use I had Botox for my fissure it's alot better but not completely sorted I'm booked for more Botox this will likely be your first step to try heal it too that is if it doesn't heal trust me it gets better not healed better but it gets easier it's already just a tough job with a new born very unfair to have to focus on something else at a time like this please pm if you'd like to good luck hun try miralax or Google it to find what it's called in your country

Reb, my recommendation is to eliminate completely all the fiber supplements! Stick to Natural calm and/or Miralax and do not overdue tha water intake. Too much and you wash away all the potassium in your body, and this causes your stools to dry out.

Abu how much is just right water wise? I've also read today about being low in bit B6 and or B12 can constipate us

The water intake very much depends on electrolyte balance. If you tend to have a deficiency in electrolytes then the water you ingest only washes out the few minerals present in the blood. Therefore, it's best not to overdue it OR even better, you should supplement that water with some mineral drops. An electrolyte deficiency can be diagnosed by low blood pressure (below 112/74), chronic fatigue, dizziness when standing up, insomnia. If you have an electrolyte excess it's usually a result on insuficcient hydration or impaired excretion of salts. This leads to hypertension so a higher water intake is necessary to help the body get rid of excess minerals.
This is why there is no Golden rule that can fit everybody, you need to check if you have an electrolyte imbalance first - the easiest is to take blood pressure readings over the course of a few consecutive days. If your blood pressure is within normal limits than stick to the ammount of water you ingest regularily, otherwise take measures (either increase water intake if pressure is high or decrease it if pressure is low, and also add some mineral drops in that water).
Hope this helps.

Wow thank you I have all these symptoms my blood pressure is always low I see spot and glitter when I stand up I get light headed an my head spins sometimes I even have my eyes go black like I'm going to pass out I get shaky an weak sometimes, so this means I need to lower my intake? I've been drinking atleast 1.5ltrs a day since getting this fissure 5 years ago do I also need potassium? And or magnesium? Because of me over doing the water?

Missy, I recommend you add mineral drops to the water that you drink in order to replenish the minerals. 1.5ltrs a day is not that much so you shouldn't reduce it any further - just be sure it's mineral water what you drink. Magnesium helps a lot, and from my point of view it should be a staple of our fissure diet for life. Potassium is best to get it from food, I recommend cucumber juice - it is really very effective. And potassium is the most important mineral that helps keeping stools soft!

What kind of magnesium? What about vit6 an vit12

Don't stress too much about all the vitamins out there because you will lose focus. If you eat a variet diet, including meat, you will get the Bs - just don't eat those very unhealthy breakfast cereals, which are "fortified" with vitamins because our bodies are not able to absorb those artificially added vitamins.
Magnesium is a mineral and you can get it from mineral drops and/or the citrate form supplements. I recommend citrate because it acts as an osmotic laxative - example, Natural Calm. I use it for 4 years and never had any side effects.