So long story short, I developed what I assume is an anal fissure about 2 weeks ago now. The first few days, I felt like I was forcing glass through the back end, and it was a bloody, painful, horrible experience each time. For hours afterwards, I was in pain and literally did not want to exist. About one week ago, I finally cut all crap food from my diet, switched to a mostly fiber-only diet (only eating soft foods though, IE: brown rice, veggies, fruits, occasional whole-grain pasta, etc.), began applying coconut oil to the outside of my bum roughly 3-4 times daily, taking 20-minute baths with coconut oil mixed in once to twice daily, taking 3 stool softeners a day (1 with each main meal - if you can even call anything in my current diet a "meal", and drinking an ungodly amount of water throughout the day.
Now that you have the history, here is the current dilemma. The nightmarish pain of sitting on the loo and everything after seems to have minimized after these changes. I still get a slight sting/irritation when I go in the morning (I've been going every day at pretty much the exact same time. Anywhere between 8 and 9 am) and I think the primary reason for this is that the first part of my BM is harder than the rest. It seems when I first get going, the initial...log is somewhat harder, and causing irritation. The other 3/4 of my BM is completely smooth and falls out with no effort or discomfort.
My question is this: Is this normal? And are there ways to avoid this happening (minus using the loo twice a day)? I feel like I'm on a good track towards healing and overcoming this, but that initial stage of BMing is creating a standstill for me. I haven't noticed any blood in probably 5-6 days, and the pain is not ungodly, but I still experience irritation when and after I go. The irritation after seems to be more of an internal "ache" than anything else, and it's better the more I move around. If I'm sitting doing nothing, it can be quite irritating.
Also, in regards to the coconut oil. I have thought about rolling some of the stuff into an suppository-shaped object and putting them in the freezer so that they harden somewhat and don't melt right when I touch it. Would there be any benefit to this? I've just been applying it externally and putting it in my bath water, but I'm not sure how much this is actually helping.
Thank you for all your help! This damn thing is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever been through, but it's comforting to know that I am not completely alone in this.