It seems like my symptoms are similar to that of a chronic fissure, but I've had many, many appts with more than one CRS and I've only been told on 3 occasions that I have a superficial fissure and those 3 healed within a month, so it seems that if I had a really bad chronic fissure it would have been detected. Maybe I just have frequently recurrent fissures. I don't know. I definitely want to try botox, but it seems like an expensive trip out of state for botox. I really need to find someone closer who can do it. Maybe Mayo in Phoenix.

Yes, surely you could find someone to give you Botox without flying from NM to Minnesota, but people from all over the world go to MN Mayo as you probably know, especially "hard to crack" cases. We're fortunate in that we are only a 6 hour car drive away from Rochester!!

Has everyone who uses or has tried miralax had to adjust the dosage to get it to work? I tried miralax last week. On the second day I had a normal BM but then a couple hours later had another one which was very loose. That's not normal for me and it kind of scared me. My whole problem started with a bout of diarrhea from some antibiotics I was taking. I want to avoid diarrhea at all costs if I can.
Maybe I should try it with half the dose. Also, has anyone ever asked the doc about using miralax long term?
thanks

Hey small,
I take the recommended dose of 13.8g (one sachet of powder) 13.8g is the UK dose, I know it's higher across the pond but the recommended dose seems to be just fine for me, I only take one sachet per day but could take two if necessary infact 8 sachets per day can be taken but only if you have fecal impaction which I don't thankfully, you probably had a loose BM because the Miralax is just getting into your system but it couldn't do any harm to tinker with the dosage until you achieve a stool consistency that suits you.
GL

Small,
All of my docs have told me it is OK to use Miralax long term. I would try half of the dose. I measure my daily Miralax by teaspoons and adjust as necessary. Currently trying a "food supplement," which has allowed me to take less Miralax. After a few more weeks of experimenting, I'll post the recipe. Hint--oat bran and applesauce mixed plus some prune juice.

Thanks all.
I'll try to adjust the miralax and see what happens. I have been using ducosate sodium and somedays I wonder if I even took it the day before, which I always do, but things are sometimes firmer than I want them to be. I was hoping the miralax would be more consistent but then I swung too far the other way.
Cheryl - I eat oat bran every day, and have for years even before the AF. I started eating it on my cereal every morning when my cholesterol went over the "high" mark. I had read that it would help bring it down. I'm not sure how much it helped because I still eat it every day and my cholesterol still yo-yos. The main thing I see that helps my cholesterol is cutting out fats and exercise. I dropped 90 points one time by doing that but then it went back up after I slacked.
The AF though has sure been a boom for my cholesterol. The diet I've gone on has allowed me to drop 60 points and about 18 pounds. One good thing has come out of this I guess.
I've seen some others have lost weight because of the AF too. Pretty common? It sort of scares me sometimes since I'm not really trying but I have cut out a ton of foods from my diet. Plus all of the laxatives and water. It's a wonder that I haven't lost more!
Take care.

SC,
I have had two colorectal surgeons, a GI and a primary care doctor tell me that miralax is not for long term use?!
They all have said they would like to see me take fiber alone, but I don't know... My crs told me it is a laxative...
I told the first crs that I seen I was taking colace and he said he would like to see me only taking fiber. I didn't mention it to the one I'm seeing now but I did ask her about miralax.
I have lost 45 pounds since the anal fissure Never thought that would bother me before, but it does...

Miralax/Movicol, are perfectly safe to use long term, my CRS and my GP have told me that it's ok, it's a "gentle" osmotic laxative that works by retaining water in the colon, and is safe for long-term use.

I'd much prefer to use Miralax than have butt probs. Going to increase the amount of my oat bran/applesauce mixture today. Prune juice goes in the recipe also.

My CRS also said Miralax was fine long term. Miralax is not intended to be used long term, but that recommendation is assuming that the majority of people who will use Miralax are not chronic fissure sufferers. The typical Miralax user is someone who suffers occasional constipation, but not chronic butt issues. This does not mean that long term use will damage your system in any way, it's just always better to use meds short term and that's why its not recommended to be taken indefinitely.