Oh, gosh. At least 3 years on one of them, and about half-a-year on the other.
I've seen a lot of reviews in which people say that Activia made them extremely ill. Google "activia reviews" or "activia problems" and you'll find some of them.
Oh, and on an unrelated note, I wanted to ask, did anyone else tear their sutures at all during recovery?

I don't want to take Miralax, Citrucel, and probiotics all at the same time, do I?
It is AOK to take the probitoics at the same time , I use them every day to keep IBS bloat at bay, I highly recommended them !
I didn’t have stitches in my incision so cannot be of any help there but 2 weeks post LIS I would have thought the stiches would have been out by now ???? Anyone

Probiotics are safe as safe can be ! Those bacteria are naturally present in your guts and the LACK of them is what can cause the chaos. It could be that Activia product contains some additives and sugars and such that are causing people problems and one can find a ton of crazy info on Google too. People can sip a chamomile tea and get "reaction" - that does not mean that Chamomile is to blame. The best way to take probiotics is to take them in a pill form and one that are kept in the fridge. No yogurt can have all necessary bacteria and not even CLOSE to the needed number.
Probiotics should have no interaction with Citrucel and such - in any shape or form.
I also did not have stitches - was told that it is better to leave the wound open to drain and prevent infection and that they can sometimes "rip" the tissue and do more damage

Fissulyna wrote:I also did not have stitches - was told that it is better to leave the wound open to drain and prevent infection and that they can sometimes "rip" the tissue and do more damage

Whaaaaat?! You're kidding! I would have never thought they WOULDN'T stitch up the incision. Are stitches uncommon in an LIS surgery?

Hi crime of passion,
I had stiches that dissolved on their own and didn't have any issues with it....

I don't even know if I had stitches with my LIS!

Well my CRS said there was only one stitch if I remember correctly!

Well, hopefully the tear doesn't matter that much, like my surgeon said.
The spasms, though, are continuing, and they're quite noticeable even if they're not painful. It took a really long time to find the surgeon who did my LIS, because there aren't many colon and rectal surgeons near us. It'd be hard to get a second opinion...
I might make another thread asking if other people had spasms continue after their surgery that EVENTUALLY went away. I assumed the spasms are meant to stop right after the surgery. Is that how it normally works for the majority of people?

Yes - they should stop after the surgery. They can be here and there in the first couple of weeks but not constantly present ! As long as you have them your healing is hindered and you will be prone to tearing !!! You have to stop spasms either with creams , Botox or another LIS.
Many members here traveled even to another state to have their butt fixed, so maybe you can look into nearby bigger city or teaching hospital. If your CRS has nothing else to offer to help you - you HAVE TO help yourself . Seek and you shell find
Regarding stitching- it is CRS's personal choice and they go by experience. If they had better results without stitching - they do not put any. My outside cut was so tiny , about 5 mm !!! It healed in 2 days pronto, stitch would be really redundant. I had consultations with 5 CRSs and none used stitching in their practice for the LIS or skin-tags .

I don't think my parents would be willing to travel out-of-state for this. My dad wasn't thrilled that I was having the surgery in the first place, and my mom is ignoring me every time I bring up the fact that I'm still having spasms. She doesn't want to hear it.
I do still have some nitro cream left, but I'm hesitant to use it, since I was under the impression that the area should be left dry so it can heal. Plus, I'm not sure if my stitches have dissolved yet. I don't really know how long that usually takes.