when i saw my new doctor last week she expressed a little concern about my age, and the fact that i'm taking so many stool softeners and MOM regularly. She said if i was 70 it wouldn't be a problem for the rest of my life but because i'm so young it might lead to a "lazy colon"....
i just read on one of fissulyna's posts and she said her doctor mentioned something similar - about how our colons adjust to what we eat everyday and our sphincters can become weaker if we're used to small soft poos.
i know there are other people on the board who regularly take stool softeners and use MOM. is this something you're worried about? how long have some of you been using these supplements regularly? i've been on stool softeners for a year now, gradually increasing the amount. And i've started using MOM everyday for the past month or so. it's the only way i have no pain! i'm just really concerned now because i've already had 2 LIS surgeries and i don't want to have a "lazy colon" on top of all that!

I don't think the stool softeners, per se, can create a "lazy" colon as all they do is bring water to the stools. I am not sure about the MOM, but I have read of other AF sufferers who use it every day. But that alone does not preclude that dependency could develop from it, of course.

Here's what I notice about myself:
I get a bit of a tolerance to MOM after using it for a while (say 1-2 mos.), but this also depend on other factors, including what I eat and how much water I drink. If I eat only pea soup I'm fine with no MOM, but eating a solely pea soup diet seem less healthy to me than taking 1-2 TBSP of MOM each night.
When I get up to 2 TBSP of MOM I usually switch to something else and that cures the tolerance. Usually I switch to Mineral Oil. When I start feeling like I have developed a tolerance to Mineral Oil, I switch back to the MOM and it's like I've never taken the MOM before.
My CRS also talked about a lazy colon, but he's also the one who put me on such a heavy dose of flagyl that I didn't have solid poo for 3 1/2 mos. I developed a bit of colitis and had to regrow my normal intestinal bacteria. The drs said that as long as I wasn't losing weight the colitis wasn't a problem (jerks! I'd like to see how they live with intestine and arse pain), so I don't know why they obsess so much about MOM.
I have been on various laxatives over the past year and a half. I sometimes take a day or two off and have no problems pooing (knock on wood) except that my bum gets increasingly irritated at the incision site.
Perhaps you could switch to an emolient laxative if you are worried.

another thing i'm a little concerned about is that if i have no pain and my butt feels like it's healing when my poo is liquidy that it might get too tight and not be able to pass a normal size poo if i ever stop using MOM. i remember reading somewhere that someone's dr told them their butt needs to heal around the size of a normal poo... but the only way i have less pain is by using MOM and having a liquidy poo. any other way and i have pain.
i guess as long as i can minimize the pain, i shoudn't care either way...but i worry cuz i'm only 25 and don't want to stress about everything for another 50 years!

I haven't had this problem. But then again, I am always sticking my finger in my butt to apply the ointments. The size of the opening has remained consistent despite my focus on having soft poos. I tend to think that at this point a stretch is not what I need while pooping. I need poos that do not open the wound and allow stuff to get trapped in there.
Besides, I have always been a tight ass. Frankly and bluntly, I am amazed by people who can have anal sex because my sphincter would never allow it, even when I had a healthy rear. My CRS said that sphincters come in different sizes and that people with toned sphincters are less likely to become incontinent when old--I think he was trying to cheer me up with the prospect of a diaper-free future in exchange for a sore rear now.

I think its a case of weighing up the risks with the benefits. I would take MOM for the rest of my life, in exchange for actually being able to live a normal life.

yah val i guess i have to agree :) i should be glad for every painless day i have using MOM and not worry about any bad effects. at least it's not a stimulant laxative, so i don't think it's habit forming.
and, buttgirl, as for anal sex...NO WAY!!! my most recent dr actually asked me if i "use my butt for sex". i cannot even imagine the pain.

I think there are worse things in life than to have a "lazy colon." I have been on and off various stool softeners for 5 years now and really don't notice that my colon is lazy. I do try to alternate what I use though like BG was saying.

I don't know if you saw the Constipation article I posted but it seems to suggest that dependency is less of a problem than previously thought.

I too wold rather take MOM for life than be in pain. It's such a nice acronym anyway.

Hi Girls !!!! I hope I didn't make you worry to much about what one doctor said. I had another CRS saying " hey , whatever works " !!! So, we have to make decision what is the best venue for each of us. Of course, her theory is probably correct , but at the same time if we have defect ( I like to call it that ; ), we have to learn how to deal with it. I decided to correct the defect by making my muscle relax because EACH of 4 CRS that I saw so far was amazed by the strength of my muscle down there. Last one was like ; " OH MY GOD", so, I will snip little bugger and put it in state of permanent Nirvana ; )))) !
In her opinion mineral oil is the worst culprit, and than all other softeners except fiber. She was not concerned about laziness but about colon becoming thin and sphincter not elastic enough to accommodate big poop. Now, I think that me developing second fiss. was direct result of that happening to me, since I got brand NEW fiss. and my poop was absolutely not hard, not even a tip. It was just not mushy and it was more of it in longitude (haha, sorry for the details). My anus just become conditioned for extra smooth slippery semi-solid stuff.
Now, even I am in excruciating pain, I don't use anything but fiber and am trying to condition it to normal food and no artificial lubrication. It might be that little glands in the anus stopped making natural lubricants and oils - same as lip-balms can do that to our lips !!!! Essentially, during embryonic developemant whole digestive tract starts as one simple tube made of same kind of cells that than differentiate into separate parts. So mucous membranes in our mouth and our buts must be VERY similar as well as such extensive innervation. WHY , OH WHY WE NEED SO MUCH NERVES IN OUR BUTS ?????????????????????????????????????????????????
Compete waste of "material" and makes us humans miserable in so many ways.
XOXO