Hi I had LIS on Thursday and my stools are hard gutted. On Friday I ate yogurt plum prunes dates beans on toast whole meal bread, prawn curry with brown rice and peas, drink 2.5 - 3 liters of water and took 10ml lactulose and 1x sachet movicol so plenty of fiber and water but still hard stools. What am I doing wrong? I might up the movicol. I am doing the right things but still it seems not to be working. Is there any escape from this hell? I am 5ft 5" and weigh 6.8 stone. I'm in a bad place physically and mentally like so many fellow sufferers. I think the LIS was a waste if time, it is if I can't get these stools soft. Aaarghh

It is still early Caroline. Most important right now to get stools soft as you know. I have to be very careful about having too much fiber. It bulks up the stools too much and can easily turn to constipation. Also after being put out the GI system can slow down for a few days and also if you are taking pain medication. I have taken Miralax twice a day at times until stools have become soft. You could check with your Dr.'s office see if they think it is okay. So sorry you are in a bad place right now. Hang in there and as soon as those stools pass more easily you will feel better.

Thank you for your support. Yes I am impatient. I need to remember even though it's a short surgery my body has been put through trauma with anaesthesia and then the actual surgery itself but I thought it would be the cure, early days. Day 4 post LIS BM painful, stool large but formed, solid and smooth. I had a second BM an hour later which I wasn't pleased about but stool passed without pain, I had some stinging after but dabbed the area and emersed my butt into son warm water. I took 1x movicol last night and another this morning. My diet yesterday was porridge, 2x prune, date, tiny piece of cake, small tuna salad with olive oil, crisps, pasta (white) with a bit of chilli out of a tin (I didnt eat the kidney beans) and yogurt. I drank abt 3liters of water. So my diet is a bit mixed. Perhaps high fiber just doesn't agree with me.

Hi Caroline,
I'm 5 days post LIS.... Hang on in there, things will improve slowly. How long have you been suffering? I think it will take a while For things to settle.

Can you avoid white products? White pasta, Rice, Bread etc is more binding.... Go for brown, and I find a big help for me is flaxseed in my porridge each morning it is a start with soluble fibre which will soften the stool(recommended by my dietician). There is a link in the diet section on Fibre in foods, I'm sure posted by another forum member, have a look there.
Soluble softens and Insoluble fibre helps everything pass through.

Things that help me.

Water 2l inc Herbal Tea and Decaff Tea (Caffeine can constipate)
Flaxseed (in porridge or smoothies)
Snacks -Naked Bars (made of fruits, all natural) Satsumas, Strawberries, Kiwi. Quinoa crisps (Easily Digested)
Meals- Fish and Meat(White meats) No Red! Vegetables, especially Carrot, Courgette, Green Beans and Butternut Squash. potatoes, Jacket, Sweet, Mash and New. Everything cooked from scratch. I also eat Wheat and Gluten free.
Medication- 2Vit C 2Magnesium Am Night time 2 Movicol, 2 Magnesium. Recently added Zinc for healing.
You may need to experiment to get the right consistency. Keep me posted.xxxx

Hi Rachael, thank you for taking time out to post and offer advice whilst you are in recovery. How are you feeling? I do usually eat whole grain bread and rice but I think I overload on it, or its just too much for my gut to take. I just bought a book called Fiber Menace, I got the link off this forum and it says the opposite to what the CRS says. It's very confusing to get polar opinions. I guess everybody's gut is different and you have to find the right foods for soft stools along with medication. For instance sausage and chips from the chippy I am fine on! Everything in moderation. Is it magnesium citrate you take? Where do you get it from? I have suffered for at least 9 years but it gas become worse the past couple of years and worse again this year. I hope your recovery goes well. Best wishes xxx

Hi CA,
Yes, Fibre can be a menace too.... If I have too much I need to have more BM, which causes issues..... It's so hard to find the right balance. Everyone is different and I have IBS too.
Chippy! Chippy! Again Chippy! How weird, I couldn't eat that, I'd be in hell.... Lol. I'm sure you'll find the right diet for you.

I use Doctors Best 100% Chelated magnesium. It's brilliant. Body kind.com sell it. Amazon UK used to, but can't find it in there anymore..... I recommend it. Xxx Good Luck in healing. Keep me posted.

Hi I am afraid of taking supplements. Four weeks ago I took a fiber supplement from.Holland and Barrett called Fiber Force OMG it was the worst thing, my stools were huge and solid, they ripped me apart.

Update day 5 post LIS. Awake early and I could feel things brewing. I was still in bed and hoped by not thinking about it it would die down. Then my muscle contracted and ouch. I've been trying not to let that happen as I've gotten a fissure that way even before making it to the toilet. BM passed with little pain. Soak straight after then back to bed. Feeling a little sore, kept getting twinges, it's saying "hello, yes I'm Still here, just to let you know!" I think I might start charging it rent it's been living in my butt for so long LOL. Anyway up 1.5 hrs later and 2nd BM. Passed with little pain. I felt sore straight after so soaked it again. I feel no different to before the procedure, in fact I feel like nothing was done. To me the long and short of it is stools soft whether or not you have had the LIS. I look at people in the street and I think do you have a fissure? Most people are a normal size, some obese and then there is me, emaciated. I want to be normal. About seven years ago I went down to 6.12 this is pre bad fissure stage. Anyway I decided I wanted to put on weight and never wanted to get this low again. This time I am lower. So I started stuffin it. Pizza, crisps, kebabs and I got up to 9.12. It was a full time job but I put on weight. Then you lose a bit, you get upset or get a fissure and lose a bit more. Until you are gripped by what not to eat. What to eat, chew chew chew your food, creams, baths, routine and so on. Like anything else if you have never suffered people don't understand how it effects your life 24/7. A bit off topic there, but it's good to write things down. My therapy for today. How are you doing today? X

Hi Caroilne,
I love your Avatar! It's amazing... That's how I need to think.
I've struggled with the weight issue too, all the way through this ordeal..... Ive lost a few pounds since the LIS. Before the fissure hell started I was 9 stone, was 7 at my lowest ebb last year, now I go between 7 stone 12 and 8 stone.
I can totally relate to what you're saying. This is just the worse thing to torture us mentally and physically. I think we need a way to deal with this day by day.... I thought about massage or meditating? I need something, I'm getting anxious again...

Is the throbbing intense? I had it yesterday after my 2 nd BM and it really got me.... Today is better. We can do this together and I'll help you through, seen as we had LIS pretty much the same time we can help each other out. Xxxxxxx

Oh honey you're so sweet your making me cry but it's not from pain (that's a good thing isn't it)!!

I think we are a slave to this nasty piece of work and EVERY DAY we need to be good to ourselves. Do something for you, not food or fissure related. Read a book, sometimes if the pain is intense, it's hard to concentrate, but don't give in. That's the thing about AF sufferers we are triers, we try to battle through and persevere. Even though sometimes I feel like a slave to it. I did a one day course on mindfulness, it's about how you concentrate on the here and now, so look at an object, what's it's shape, it's colour, see how the light is reflected off it. It gets your mind focused. You can also do the same with your breathing. Try and do a full body scan. So from your toes how do they feel and then work your way up feeling each part of your body in your head. It may help you. The course also included meditation which I really enjoyed. That really focused the mind.

I am sorry your pain was intense. Tell it to bugger off! My pain was ok. No need for medication. I am glad yours has eased today. I don't know about you but I have a desk bound job and my pain gets worse during the day. Sometimes I am in agony, but carry on as if nothing is wrong. I don't understand the muscle spasm, I don't think I have that. I think it's just the fissure being sore.

My CRS at the NHS said I didn't need the LIS, even though I have suffered for years, so I went to a private hospital. It's cost me a bit but nothing is guaranteed in life.

Yes we'll make a pact to get through this. Did your surgeon sign you off work? I got two weeks, although I feel like a fraud. Ridiculously isn't it. I worry about being old and being in a home sitting down all day with an AF. I know it's a minor common complaint but it don't half take over your life.

I hope you have a good bottom day my dear! Xxxxxxx

Update day 6 post LIS. Not so good today First BM pain free, loose stool, bottom felt tender when mopping up. Second BM pain free, loose stool bottom didn't feel tender when mopping up. However I feel a bit sore. I had a good day yesterday, no pain and I went out for a couple of short walks and felt no pain. Yesterday evening I had a sitz bath but after a whole I felt a bit sore and had twinges. I am not sure why. I did clean out the bath (it's a portable one, kinda like a baby bath but oval which fits inside the toilet, I shouldn't think most people would be able to fit in it) with boiling water and anticeptic and I only usually use boiling water, perhaps there was some residue left which caused irritation? Although I am sure I cleaned it thoroughly. So I feel a little sore which is annoying and perplexing considering pain free BMs. It feels like my bottom is falling out. It feels like my bottom has been stuck on my body and isn't a part of me. I have no leakage no skid marks (my CRS said I might and he said it with a straight face - I laughed!!!) I don't feel like he cut enough. He said it would be a nick anyway.

Things to look forward to today: no work, at home with my dog, I can read my book, Corrie, Great British Bake Off and Grand Designs on TV tonight.