Hey G
I am sorry you are battling away there with your thoughts…
The what ifs are bad for the soul, I know… don’t let those thoughts in !
Did you look into the psyllium I suggested on your welcome thread ?
This may just give you a little safety net - http://www.answers.com/topic/psyllium
Research and see :)
Beautiful girl Kim !

hey gahgah......
for me, diarrhea was a Godsend when i could get it when i had my fissure. i preferred having diarrhea while having fissure pain rather than a regular or constipated hard held over in the bowels crap!
you would have to have like days of diarrhea to have irritation on your fissure. if your fissure is 70% healed, then i doubt very much your diarrhea would do a lot to set you back to 100% unhealed.
you need to understand that healing a fissure - once you have your diet, emotions, anxiety and stress, and probably other things under control - will take a good year to heal. even after LIS surgery, i would expect a year to really feel healed.
also, with a fissure, you have to get use to the fact that you will have to do the fissure tango....a few steps forward feeling great, a step or two back to some discomfort, then another few steps forward feeling even better, and maybe a step back and this is a cycle that goes on for a good six to eight months prior to completing your full year of healing.
**
i became like you in a way. but my fixation wasn't on diarrhea - it was fear of going to have my next BM. i dreaded it. i would cry. either before or during and then after, feeling so helpless and just wondering if my life would be like this forever. i couldn't imagine or should i say, i didn't want to imagine my life staying that way after about four years, that i gave up and ASKED for the LIS!!!!
**
if you are fixating on this diarrhea, you are going to build up too much fear and unneeded anxiety. if you feel that you need help, you may consider taking a "chill" pill to help you reduce it down.
i know sometimes we can't avoid diarrhea, but a lot of the time we can take steps to avoid the situation. i think if you took back control of this situation, you will find that 99% of the time, you can control whether on not you are going to cross the path of diarrhea. realize that.
i don't want to discount your fear, as we all fear something, but i also want you to see that you have a lot of control over it.
good luck.

thanks happyass, your reply was great ! I am coping pretty well with my phobia of diarrhea but the fact the diarrhea is so common is what gets me scared sometimes. Not too mention diarrhea probably caused my fissure so I have more fear because of that fact ! I just keep thinking that diarrhea will cause me to return to step one or worse as I mentioned earlier. I guess I have to accept the fact that if I do get diarrhea, I will just have to deal with it and hope for the best !
With a fissure, you focus more on your BM's then most people !
thanks to all that replied.

exactly! it's amazing what having a fissure will make you do, think, act, etc.
just take comfort in knowing that if you have a bout of diarrhea, then just be prepared by having some vaseline handy and apply a coating on to your anus so that the next visit to the toilet, you have taken a step in avoiding further irritation.
also, if you are taking medication that may cause diarrhea, then apply your vaseline...that way, if you do have a liquidy movement, you are covered and you will be less tense about it coming out.
other than that, you should be able to stay away from diarrhea, unless if you eat something that was not cooked properly or washed well.

does the vaseline or zinc oxide cream work that well ? if they do then that will ease my fears so much !
If I knew that before, maybe the diarrhea that caused my fissure wouldn't have had the chance to 3 years ago !

Very good point Happy! Dreading the next formed/hard BM is so

happyass wrote:for me, diarrhea was a Godsend when i could get it when i had my fissure. i preferred having diarrhea while having fissure pain rather than a regular or constipated hard held over in the bowels crap!
also, with a fissure, you have to get use to the fact that you will have to do the fissure tango....a few steps forward feeling great, a step or two back to some discomfort, then another few steps forward feeling even better, and maybe a step back and this is a cycle that goes on for a good six to eight months prior to completing your full year of healing.

You do describe things so well!
gahgah :)
I do understand your fear of diarrhea since that was what gave you a fissure, but I hope you are calmer now that you have had some advice her on the board. Try to think positive, even if it isn't always easy. Enjoy the good things and think that what happens....happens.
Take care
Corsica

For those still suffering from fissure--would a coating of vaseline be a good idea even when there is no diarhea? Should it be put inside with a gloved finger??

cheryl,
i would use the vaseline or palmer's cocoa butter prior to getting ready for a BM. i think what may help better rather than a finger is to get a plastic syringe (without needle of course) and then put the vaseline in there. all you would do then is insert the tip into your ass (since the tip wouldn't be too long it should aim right where it is needed, to coat the distance between the bowels/rectum and the oustide world) and apply. i would also apply outside the anus and let it work its way in.
i think putting it on with a glove, you would have to lube the finger first but ultimately also lube the outside part of the anus first before taking baby steps of inserting your finger.
i would be very cautious if you had an active fissure in doing this since all i think it would do, by using the finger, is irritate it more and possibly making it a bit bigger.

Happy,
I tried inserting my gloved pinky finger today with no success, but did put some vaseline on the outside. I'll inquire at my pharmacy. I just couldn't get the finger in logistically. When I was using my ointment, I put the applicator on top of the ointment (screwed it on), and it worked quite well, but, of course, I cannot put the applicator on top of the vaseline! Good luck with your marathon and thanks for the tip. I have put on some weight and am happy about that. Going to tap today.
Cheryl

Corsica wrote:Very good point Happy! Dreading the next formed/hard BM is so

happyass wrote:for me, diarrhea was a Godsend when i could get it when i had my fissure. i preferred having diarrhea while having fissure pain rather than a regular or constipated hard held over in the bowels crap!
also, with a fissure, you have to get use to the fact that you will have to do the fissure tango....a few steps forward feeling great, a step or two back to some discomfort, then another few steps forward feeling even better, and maybe a step back and this is a cycle that goes on for a good six to eight months prior to completing your full year of healing.

You do describe things so well!
gahgah :)
I do understand your fear of diarrhea since that was what gave you a fissure, but I hope you are calmer now that you have had some advice her on the board. Try to think positive, even if it isn't always easy. Enjoy the good things and think that what happens....happens.
Take care
Corsica

thanks for the kind words, I just am terrified of diarrhea, I just really hope the coating of vaseline will protect my semi healed fissure ! I wonder if anyone has tried this with any success when they had diarrhea.