Thanks, the babies will be awesome, having twins for first time parents is going to be like getting hit my a mack truck, though, I kind of have an idea of what to expect but I'm sure those notions will be blown to bits once the time actually comes.
I take it your fissure developed from childbirth? And it's still pestering you even after LIS? I recall you mentioning the fissure rearing its head around Christmas time. If you don't mind my asking, when did you get the surgery done, and how did things improve following surgery?
I'm seriously considering LIS at this point, so anything you can share about your experience with it would be very much appreciated and mulled over.

I got mine last December. No it wasn't from childbirth, but I was very constipated during my pregnancy. Very. I think it started then, I did have some pain, but it went away.
I had LIS late January. I too had bladder issues and had to have a cathetar, but like Kim said, that is rare. I immediately noticed no spasms anymore, but yes had pain with the first BM. BUT they had given me high doses of Miralax too so they were watery.
After that I steadily improved, but retore a bit a time or two. I didn't get any useful information until I found this forum, months after LIS. I was actually eating 50 grams fiber a day and having huge poos...hello a big mistake. Now I am much better. I still have pain, but its not all day, all the time there anymore. I noticed I was getting better when I realized I had gone a few hours without thinking "I hate my butt."

Yeah I'm learning to be wary of too much fiber too. The last few days I've been eating nothing but fish fillets and bran cereal, and I've been having huge poos. Like I used to have pebbles and now I have freakin redwood trees. I'm trying to soften things up with increasing amounts of Miralax in the hopes it'll create big soft silly putty redwoods. Since re-tearing is a possibility, I guess I still need to play with the Miralax doses and see what produces the best stools, regardless of whether I get LIS or not.
Sorry to hear that you've had fissure problems for so long, I guess I can't really whine too much since I'm a relative newbie to the suffering. One final question for ya, I promise: are you using any kind of ointment or anything to control the problem right now, or have you just been doing stool softeners post-surgery and that's sufficient? Thanks again!

I use wheatgrass cream twice a day..but have not had the same luck some others have, but it at least forms a barrier. I feel whether you have surgery or not, the most important thing you can do is make sure you keep those stools soft and manageable. That's what I feel has delayed my healing. Yes it has been a long time but it's nothing like it was when it started and I just stay positive that I am on the right track.
Is your pain constant all day?
Don't worry about asking questions, I don't mind!

Nice, thanks! I need to try to adopt a more positive attitude like you have...
My pain can be constant all day on occasion, but is usually not. It's really bad during a BM of course, but actually seems to be at its worst for the first few minutes following a BM. It feels like there are waves of pain rushing over a very tender area. Like the kind where I have to sit on the toilet for a few minutes afterward before I can move again.
How long the pain lasts after a BM seems to depend on how "challenging" the BM was. In the good cases, it subsides after the BM and I only feel some minor discomfort and tenderness the rest of the day. In the not-so-great cases, the anal area feels way tender and irritated (like it's swollen), and I get a super annoying throbbing pain and pressure-like sensation (feels like the anal muscles keep wanting to push some more) down there just about the entire day. Usually I only feel relief from it when I wake up from the night's sleep. I suppose the pressure sensation is just the famous muscle spasm, but I can never be sure, and it's during those times that I worry whether I have some other problem going on. But since that pressure sensation isn't there all of the time, I figure it's most likely just a sphincter spasm. It's annoying though, makes driving, sitting, even lying down uncomfortable, I usually try to stand a lot when it happens because that seems to be the least uncomfortable.

That sounds so much like I was....before LIS. Since then I can still have a bad day with a hard BM, but no real spasms anymore, just discomfort. And nowadays I only have a very little discomfort while having a BM, even if it is big...it's just a matter of whether or not I tear a little or get irritated that it any discomfort will last. I have a friend who got a fissure about three months ago and she pretty much healed it on her own with diet and baths....having almost no pain now and at one point she had awful spasms. She said she used ducolax softner (not laxative), changed her diet, and took baths with one bottle of hydrogen peroxide a day (literally she would fill the tub with water, then put one bottle in and sit for 30 minutes). Within two weeks she was almost normal and cancelled her surgery......

That's awesome for your friend :) I found out just yesterday that one of my friends had a fissure a while ago as well, but he says he got over it by just eating lots of fiber and laying around a lot. I'm guessing his fissure was just of the typical "acute" variety though.
I'm glad to hear that LIS helped with your spasms. I'm not sure which is worse, the spasms or the pain during BMs, the BM pain is more intense for sure, but the spasms linger for much longer. I hate trying to fall asleep when I've got the spasm going on. Anyhow thanks again, I'm kind of convinced at this point that LIS is the way to go if I don't get any relief from the nitro over the next week here, now it's just a matter of tracking down a suitable surgeon and getting in there with the quickness!

Good! How are you feeling today?

macymae wrote:Good! How are you feeling today?

Hey there, nice avatar! My cat has completely taken over my bed, looks like yours is in a similar enviable position :-)
I actually felt mostly okay on Saturday and Sunday, I started taking full doses of Miralax and that softened things up nicely. Had two BMs each day with pain that was noticeably less severe.
This morning I was starting to let myself get a bit hopeful, but it looks like the Miralax may have over-corrected things a bit again. I had several more BMs this morning, and the last few were plain watery. They didn't feel that bad while making their exit, but they left me with a tender, uncomfortable feeling for hours afterward, which I still have now. Feels like the spasm coming back, or maybe the area is just irritated or swollen (it hurts to touch). So after two days of some hope, I'm now sitting sideways on my chair again! Ironically I'm no longer worried about being constipated and having hard poos, but instead I'm worried about having too many BMs with poos that are too soft/watery. With a ol' big sigh, I guess it's time to try playing with the Miralax dosage again. I guess LIS or not, the dosage is something I'll have to get right one way or the other...
How are things for you? Hopefully blessed with soft friendly poos! :)

Yes I try. I am still taking my benefiber and stool softner (colace) and it seems to be working. I do well with well formed, but soft poos. Like you, it's not always consistent. I am not sure it always can be, but I'd much rather err on the side of a mushy, versus hard poo!

Sorry to hear about the miralax. That is why I had to stop...just never could get the right dose...but I still use it on occasion if I am really feeling stopped up, just not regularly.

I love having cats in the bed!