Dawn,
Congrats on taking such a very SMALL amount of Miralax. I'm down to about 4 1/2 teaspoons now and feeling great about it (less than one capful). At my highest I was taking about 13 teaspoons, so I feel that I have made great progress (not boasting). We should buy stock in the company, but now there are so many generics available, which is great! (and much cheaper alternatives now with the generics)

Thanks Cheryl. Same to you:) So far I can't really see a difference in things. It has always taken a few days and it seems to work out.
You have the right to boast,Lol. That is a great accomplishment for us and I agree we should buy stock! The generics have saved me tons of money this year though!

NG,
I have not noticed one bit of difference in the leakage since cutting the miralax. I will give it more time and update, but so far it's not proving to be the problem

Hey Dawn, I actually had a pretty bad leakage episode last night. I went to the Britney Spears concert (I'm a huge fan ... don't laugh :)) and had "golden circle" tickets 5 rows from the stage. I didn't want to miss a single moment, so my IBS was in full-on "paranoid about needing to poop" mode. I made the mistake of eating a bunch of salsa, cheese, and bean covered nachos while at the concert. That resulted in a lot of *cough* gaseous emissions *ahem* which caused my ass to feel really irritated and sort of raw the whole time. When I got home, lo and behold, I noticed that I had some very mild staining of the ol' undergarments. Then when I dabbed my ass with toilet paper, I got nice brown gunk on it as if I hadn't wiped my ass very clean following a dump.
In my case I think it was the nacho-driven farting that resulted in "sharts." Do you notice any difference if you change your diet? I'm kind of wondering if my obsession with cramming myself full of veggies every day is somehow contributing to this. Granted, I rarely get days like that any more, but it's still weird that it happens here and there and under less than consistent circumstances.

Hey NG,
Are you sure it wasn't the exposure to Britany Spears? She has that effect on me sometimes! :D
Seriously though, I have found that this problem gets worse for me if I eat too much fruit, especially if it's pureed. At one point I was eating heaps of the stuff. It certainly does seem to help soften the stool, but too much of it and it can make the stool too soft and very difficult to pass. This in turn leads to difficultly having a complete BM, which leads to multiple daily BMs ... And that always seems to lead to leakage and irritation.
So ... What I'm trying to say is ... I think that diet definately plays a part ... Or it could just be Britany's fault! :)

NG,
I'm with Sphinct on this. I believe this could be a side effect of the Britney Spears concert
I'm sure diet could make it worse. I'm just convinced it's a side effect of the surgery at this point and I'm hoping it gets better as time passes. I have been researching trying to figure this out. I don't eat tons of vegetables or fruit. I think I eat a pretty balanced diet with nothing really in excess?! I did notice when I ate a bowl of chili from chili's that my butt got more irritation,Lol
I added a couple of more websites to the other thread. I wish I knew?!!

Hey paul, you're right, I had to quit Movicol because of leakage problems, even off the smallest dose I would still leak hours after, in the UK, Movicol is only prescribed for severe constipation or faecal impaction, I.E. it's not for everyday use, I believe this to be true since I didn't suffer with either and it simply made me poop far too much and it was too soft and runny causing pain and irritation

So I have been trying Balneol the past few days, even though I have mostly been home because of my husband. That is just as well- one of my biggest fears is needing to clean up in a public toilet, but it can be done. Big purses and many supplies help. The Balneol does seem to help- I have to confess because of my own high anxiety, I usually rinse off afterwards anyway because I don't want something new on there causing itching. But for away from home, it certainly does seem to get at debris that wipes and even rinsing off didn't seem to get.
I was feeling so great this morning because I had such a normal feeling poop, a good shower and did not have the leaking an hour later. Then this afternoon, I had the second poop, which was fine coming out- pretty formed and all, but not hard. And I used wipes, washed off, soaked in salt water while doing a crossword for probably 20 minutes, dried off with the hair dryer and then after about 20 minutes had the tell-tale burny, itchy feeling and used the balneol and sure enough, stuff down there. So I rinsed off, dried off again, and then it itched for a while. Sometimes I am afraid to really enjoy the times when things are going so well (like this morning) because I torture myself with the fear and also knowledge that later it will not be like that. But I am also beginning to think- well ok , maybe this is just my new "normal" for now. I'm gone through other things before that were troublesome and required a lot of extra effort before I finally got through them( sorry guys, but I am mostly referring to extremely heavy periods earlier in my life that almost kept me chained to the bathroom for a 5-6 hour period and always made me think 9-1-1 might be a logical step). Anyway- maybe this is my acceptance phase?
Bambi

Dawn, Bambi, NG, various others: I guffawed at the contents of some of your posts.
"My husband, the retired band director, says my farts have dropped more than an octave (he's right- they sound really low in pitch now compared to my screech trumpet days!)"
That's some funny stuff right there, and I can attest to having the same experience.
Anyhow, I'm 3 months post LIS, and I have some leakage issues, but since I had leakage issues for several years before I even got my fissure, it's just sort of another-day-at-the-office for me. It's not too bad -- I may have to go and clean up once or twice over several hours time between dumpers, and it's not very much. I do get the irritation on occasion, and I have found that Bag Balm works really well for me. I don't slather it on so much that my ass looks like it has rabies -- just a dob on the tip of my finger, and I cover the area that is irritated (usually just above the hole and just below the hole). Bag Balm is an incredibly effective, and soothing, barrier.
I'm hoping that the leakage will decrease over time, but to tell you the truth, I am so damned happy to not be shatting shards of glass, the leakage is an opportunity cost I am very willing to pay.
NG, those nachos would have made me crap my drawers, too. I try to keep things in moderation (though I do go a little crazy now and then, like when my wife came home from a meeting yesterday with three left-over pizzas. I am a weak man). For instance, my breakfast this morning consisted of an apple, 2 TBSP of whey protein powder mixed in skim milk with a small handful of blueberries, and a corn tortilla with 1 oz. of shaved lean ham, 1/2 oz. of mozzarella, and 1 TBS of light cream cheese. Drank a couple of glasses of water with everything.
I also lifted weights this morning for 40 minutes, and then ran on my treadmill at 4 mph for 15 minutes, and then walked for 5 minutes at 3 mph. My weight training is not too strenuous -- I do it more for weight loss and cardio, so I don't go heavier then 35 lb. dumbbells for upper body. I also work my core and lower body. I do this workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and on Tuesday and Thursday, I only use the treadmill (no weight lifting) and run for about 40 minutes. On Saturday, I run for an hour (again, no weight lifting). On Sundays, I don't do jack.
What I guess I'm trying to say is that a balanced diet, along with daily exercise, really seems to help even out my bowel movements (so I'm not shatting all day, or not shatting at all), and improves my leakage, too, since the shat consistency is more normalized because of diet and exercise.
Keep your chin up and your butt puckered -- I am confident that things will improve for us.

I forgot to mention -- I take my time while I'm eating. You have to budget time so that you are not scarfing down your food in a big hurry -- that results in poor digestion and less-than-optimal shats. For instance, that breakfast I mentioned in my post above? I tried to take a good 20 minutes to eat it all, and I ate it at the dining table in a relaxed, no-rush, no-stress atmosphere. I know it sounds like a lot to be made over what sounds like a trivial thing, but I'm serious. Take time to eat your food, and eat the right kinds of food. And don't gorge -- you should eat about every four hours so that you aren't starving when you get to your next meal, because then you will stuff your face and have either unbelievably huge, possibly hard, fissure-causing shats, or get the runs. Just be cool. Now tell me, "Mother, stop nagging. I get it."