I was trying lately to balance my fiber intake and got constipated.
I was taking Metamucil 1 table spoon in the morning and 1 tea spoon with dinner, eat only vegetables/fruits and drink about 10 glasses of water plus stool softener. My bm was not consistent, most of time easy to pass, soft, but once in a while it would be too thick. So thicker bms caused me retearing. So I wrote in a forum and read few posts and decided on reducing Metamucil to half and half tea spoon. For about 3 weeks it was good improvement , bm became thin , yet a bit harder. till 3 days ago where I got really constipated, and had bad retear with more bleeding and increased pain. I have added 5ml lactulose at night hoping it will give immediate result, but so far no. this dosage was prescribed by my GP earlier on.

What would be the solution to immediately change your bowels to soft ones?

I do not want to overuse laxatives, but right now really desperate to get a relief. Today I am feeling like not eating:( I heard from people using Miralax, yet the nurse at work never heard about it. I live in Canada.
The nurse suggested trying to change Metamucil to grounded flex seeds, since I told that Metamucil gives thicker bms.

Do people take probiotics to prevent constipation?
Thank you for any comments

Hi there, Miralax/Movicol was a god send for me. I cured my fissure thanks to Miralax and of curse diet and water. Miralax is not habit forming and is not absorbed by the body. What Miralax does is pull enough water into your stool so your BMs are always soft. You should avoid like the plague hard and running stools they are very, very bad for a fissure. Some times too much fiber bulk up your stools so they are very hard to pass. You should eat fiber but not over do it. What you should do is drink a lot of water and take a stool softener like Miralax. The commercial name is Miralax and the generic name in North America is Polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350. Here in Europe The commercial name is Movicol and the generic name is Macrogol 3350. I am very sure if you do some research you will find the commercial or generic name in Canada.
You should be aware that if you decide to use Miralax, it will not act immediately, it will take 48 to 72 hours to work.
Also you can read some post about people who have used Miralax successfully here in this forum.
I look like an sponsor for Miralax
I hope you will be able to heal. Many blessings and good luck.

Thank you Bettyblue, yes I have heard about PEG from my collegue -nurse. She said that it is golden standard, the best here. How long did you use it?

Just wanted to pop in and give another recommendation to try Miralax. I originally tried what my CRS recommended - psyllium-based fiber supplement - and it felt horrible. Just too much scratchy fiber. Replaced that with Miralax and it makes passing stool easier without adding a scratchy texture to it. Drinking lots of water will also help.

There are a few threads around here that suggest putting oil into the anus if you can feel stool stuck in there, but I haven't tried it myself so I can't speak to that method. Dried apples are the only thing that has ever produced an "instant poo" situation for me, but I was also taking stool softeners at the time and eating nothing but mashed squash and oatmeal :)

I'll put in my vote for kondremul mineral oil. It's not popular here - I think people worry about taking mineral oil, and probably you don't want to take it long term, but it does reliably give lovely soft stools and the oil lubricates too.

When I'm worried about constipation, I take a tablespoon at night and a tablespoon in the morning. Kondremul is an emulsion, not pure oil. It tastes good and is easy to take, because it hasn't got an oily feel. I think it mixes well with the stool (being an emulsion). So it is probably better for you than pure mineral oil, and it certainly is easier to drink.

You can order it online, or order it at your local pharmacy. I've done it both ways, and getting it through the pharmacy was quicker.