Stool softeners stopped working

Discuss changes in diet that have helped you manage your fissure, or any supplements or medications/creams that have been effective.

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Stool softeners stopped working

Postby SteveR » 08 Feb 2013, 00:06

Hoping you can help. I have my LIS op this month. I have been working with my fissure for a year now. Throughout I was advised to take stool softeners. However now these have stopped working, which mean every BM is more painful. Both my doctor and consultant haven't got any advice.
Now I take (and I'm embarrassed to say):
15ml lactulose am and pm
1 packet of movocol am and pm (same as miralax)
3 spoons of olive oil 3 times a day
5 ducoease
Tea spoon of psyllium am and pm.
I also started trying molasses with apple vinegar twice a day.
I'm struggling through at the moment, but I do need to find something to help for 5 weeks after the op to help with healing
Really I want to be off this stuff - it's so bad in the long term.
Any advice?
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby Mamalucia » 08 Feb 2013, 07:26

Have u tried a lot of prunes or prune juice? Does coffee work for you?
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby Jessjess » 08 Feb 2013, 08:13

Ditto on the prunes. Try them cut up on toasted Raisin Cinnamon bread with butter. Also brocolli, apples, green leaf lettuce, Mini-wheats, pears, yogurt, strawberries, carrots, celery and lots of water (no cooking, except for steaming brocolli). I have coffee in the morning to get things going, and apple juice at night to get things going. The prunes are the best natural source for healthy bowel movements.
Hope this helps! Image
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby delasama » 08 Feb 2013, 13:56

Stever- does it just hurt or are you getting bulky poop?
Stop taking the psyllium if its not soft
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby Savaici » 08 Feb 2013, 14:11

Hi SteveR,
Sorry things aren't going well.
I take psyllium every day, in a biscuit form from Metamucil. I take one and a half of those. Two of them contain five grams of dietary fibre. I drink two glasses of water with what I take, about 8 ozs each glass. I am very careful of what I eat, very seldom straying from my diet. I take a small amount of Milk of Magnesia in the evening. You need to drink enough water to the extent that your urine is clear. I drink a lot during the day, but not too much for the amount of food that I am taking in. I used to weigh about 145 pounds but now weigh 115 and it does not stray from that.
...and I have coffee in the morning, mixed with milk. Could not get through this without it! Image
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby jr2 » 08 Feb 2013, 14:14

Steve,
Can you give a picture of what a typical day looks like for you with your diet?
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby JoeyRI » 21 Aug 2021, 19:13

Magnesium has helped me the most, a tip I picked up on the boards here.
250mg twice a day.
I've also added vitamin C and that seems to be helping additionally.
I hope you find something that works.
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby davminos » 24 Jan 2022, 16:04

I've been taking one daily dose of Miralax for the past year and want to stop. Not sure, but it takes me a long time to clean up after a BM and once cleaned up it's about a half hour later and it feels mushy down there and have to clean up again and on some days it goes on several more times throughout the day, which just irritates everything. We all have a messy poop once in a while but it has become all the time and at my wits end. I'm thinking maybe it's the Miralax.

I have plenty of fiber in the diet, sometimes too much perhaps. I start the day with a pear and avocado on whole grain toast with a boiled egg and coffee. No lunch, then for dinner usually have a sweet potato, sometimes a sweet potato/butternut squash soup with a protein (chicken or fish) and broccoli and will have another pear and orange after dinner. And I drink about 100 ounces of water per day. Just don't know what to do anymore to have soft yet not messy BMs needing constant cleaning. I had a colonoscopy last March and all was well and the gastro dr had nothing else to say except eat plenty of fiber and drink lots of fluids, which I do. He also said to stay on the daily miralax to prevent the fissure from opening up again. I'd like to stop the miralax and maybe try drinking a glass of prune juice each morning and see how that works. But after a year, thinking I should wean off the miralax before drinking the prune juice.

Anyone else having or had this set of problems and/or what did your or are you doing to have soft yet easy to clean poops? Thanks in advance for any help offered.
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Re: Stool softeners stopped working

Postby davminos » 01 Feb 2022, 00:56

Apparently this is a unique problem but if anyone has had any of these symptoms and can offer any advice I'd appreciate it. I'm going to start to wean myself off the miralax and perhaps replace it with a glass of prune juice in the morning and see what happens.
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