Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and thought that I would introduce myself and my situation. I haven't been to the doctor yet (mainly out of fear of the examination) and I'm not sure if my issue is a fissure, a hemorrhoid, or both. Thanks in advance for listening!
My issue began a few weeks ago. I was taking a codeine-based cough syrup for bronchitis. The pharmacist told me to take a stool softener along with it, but I still struggled a bit with constipation. Strangely enough, I had spicy wings one night and my issue quickly turned to diarrhea. I noticed stinging, burning, and general discomfort after that episode. For the next several days, every BM was followed by a stinging, burning sensation for a couple of hours. If I had any difficulty going, then it felt like little cuts were being irritated back there and it was pretty painful. After a few days of this, I mainly only felt itching for a few minutes after a BM, but nothing else. I began reading about the possible causes, and trying the suggested remedies. I have increased the fiber in my diet (raisin bran in the am, plenty of fruits and salads, a fiber one bar as a snack, and just yesterday added activia yogurt), drink plenty of water, cut out all caffeine, fatty, fried foods, chips, spicy stuff, etc. I use prep h wipes after every bm and I take 200 mg of generic colace daily. Except for the occasional itchiness, as long as the stools are soft, I don't have any problems. The important phrase there was "as long as the stools are soft" - lol.
I've had a couple of setbacks during this period...both were when I attempted to stop taking the softeners. I guess I'm just not ready for that, yet. During those setbacks, my body would tell me that it's time to go, but I would try and could tell that it wasn't going to happen without straining - a huge no-no. I would start back on the stool softeners, and wait for the miracle. I've avoided the fiber supplements because I don't want to overdo my intake, but I don't want to be on softeners forever. I keep hearing conflicting reports about dependency on them, but a painless BM is a bigger priority right now. I also want to mention that I really don't have issues with bleeding. I saw blood twice at the very beginning (both when having painful BM's), but none in the weeks since then.
It feels good to be able to talk about this! I've told my partner, but that's pretty much it. I've never given so much thought and consideration to the movement of my bowels! Thank you all for reading this. Any advice, opinions, thoughts, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!