That is so cool that you haven't been in pain today. I would say that is downright miraculous!
If you have trouble meeting the goal of 25-30 grams of fiber a day I would recommend a fiber supplement called Fibermucil that I get from www.procapslabs.com. I like it because it has a balance between soluble and insoluble fiber and contains acidophilis which helps to populate intestines with the right kind of floral to support good digestion.
I also recommend flax seed oil and or fish oil supplements to keep the tract lubed so things king of slip out.
I checked out the link you sent-I thought it was interesting that your doctor has published a study on total sphincter replacement. Wonder if he could set us up?

I have no pain now and I feel blotted, haven't gone since yesterday am ( real painfull ) but I am not looking foward to the next BM. I dont have the urge to go now but I know its coming. Sometimes you just don't want to eat.
Well I am off to my private bath room for the sitz and diltiazem. Then a dentist appt. so both ends should hurt by tonight. I will check in later.
once again thanks for the support.

You are welcome. Here's hoping the next BM is painless!

trouble in uranus wrote:First I would like to thank everyone for the good info. Well I finally know what pain is. The broken bones, hernias, tennis elbow, pnuemonia , divorce,etc, nothing compares to this pain. I have had some issues for a while.I can narrow it down to when I started having trouble. I had bought a huge container of dried fruit and nuts and ate it in a couple of days. I wonder if that was the reason. I never went to the doctor because I thought it was hemroids and it always went away. The pain was getting real bad so I went to my family doctor and she said I had a fissure. My sister told me about Diltiazem so I asked my doctor and she never heard of it. She had me use Anusol suppositories. The pain got worse. After two weeks of feeling like there was a sword on fire up my butt I went to see a Colon and Rectal doctor. He said I had a fissure and gave me Diltiazem 3 times a day and Analpram HC that has individual servings with a long applicator that I apply before bedtime.Also warm baths. The Diltiazem is by far the difference from having little pain to driving off of a cliff.Sometimes it doesn't help. I have been taking in a lot of fiber, stool softeners,Metamucil, fruit , vegetables, etc. I had 3 real good days and then yesterday the BM was so painfull. It seems the initial start to the BM is the worse. Does this mean you start at sqaure one with the healing ? Just when you think it is healing you have a bad day. Once again thanks for the advise.

Glad to hear you're feeling a little better this last couple of days, hope you're on the mend permanently.

Thanks for the good wishes. Some pain is back this morning. just when you think you have healed.
My son is coming home from college this weekend. I haven't seen him since labor day so the thought of seeing him is helping me cope.

Yes, it is important to keep in mind that healing is not linear-full of ups and downs and it can really take a year to heal completely. The best advice I can give after going through this myself is to not compare day by day but to look at the overall picture (even week to week or month to month) to see if you are healing. Sometimes feedback from the doctor helps. There were times I thought I wasn't healing at all because I was still in pain and she would check and say yes, you are doing better. The last time you were in you could hardly sit without wincing and this time you sat right down. Because I was to close to the situation I could not see any improvement but she could exam the tissue and note more objective healing.

Hi Dennis,
just wanted to give you a warm welcome to the forum.. i hope you are finding the help you need.
I have been Fissure free for nearly 1 year now, and i owe my recovery to the help mostly from strangers on the net i barely even knew... sometimes it felt they knew even more than the doctors!! :lol!: hence why the forum was started!!
Aside from the support everyone offered, i learnt so many useful tips for my recovery.
I found that routine was THE most important part of my recovery... I used 1 spoon of metamucil in 200mls of water 3 x a day.. i had weetabix for breakfast, fruit for morning and afternoon tea, lunch was always a wholemeal sandwich with salads.. i avoided red meats, eggs, and any other foods that bind you up,then dinner was always, soft boiled vegies and fish or chicken... it got boring and it felt obsessive, but i promise you, it got me through the worst of it.. if only i had of known this 6 years ago!!
Diet and keeping stress free are so important and find some sort of treatment that will work for you.. i tried a couple that never worked for me.. i ended up having surgery... but there are many people here that have tried remedies that have worked! or atleast helped..
I try to think of it as giving your body that chance to have good soft BM's so your butt can heal itself.. and feeding your body all the good nutrients and staying healthy is a great way to help you body to help itself...
stay positive, we are all here for you
keep us updated
Cheryl
oh and most important... DONT hold in your BM's...... that is dangerous.. believe me!!!

i just wanted to add that i was only on that diet for my recovery after surgery!!! dont worry i didnt stay on it forever!!! I just found it the perfect diet to help deal with the pain and healing.. i now am off all medications and back to eating basically anything... but i just have a very small cup of metamucil each night before bed.. and all i have to remember is that fibre is my friend!! lol

Yes, Cheryl....fiber is your best buddy! Now don't you go and get yourself in a fix, again!
I have stayed on my AF diet pretty much all year, but I do have pizza and burgers and steak from time to time.
I'm still skinny as a rail...

Dont worry Kim i still stick to a high fibre good diet, but atleast i can have a few drinks now, and eat a bit of naughty food now and then without living in fear and pain!!