Hey there,
So I am looking for something to add to my diet.
Gotta have a fallback for those days when my BMs need to be a bit softer to counteract the water retention.
So I did about a half cup of prune juice last night with 125mg magnesium.
This seemed to help. No blood this morning. Yeah!
Wondered what kind of prune juice other people recommend and how much they take, how often....
I have K. W. Knudsen. I noticed at the grocery store that there is quite a difference in fibre content for the different brands. This one has 4g/cup. I take that as a sign of concentration.
Anyways, Anxiety has been horrible the past couple days, not sleeping well, nightmares, lack of appetite, and I am not even that bad off. It's just the lack of options and the looming possibility that I will never be cured that have me panicked. Like a rat backed into a corner. I need to stop reading about this online and try to focus on my life for a change.
But it would help to have some idea of what works prune-wise for others.
Gonna go for a long walk after I drop my daughter off at school. The walking still helps. I just go slower on the bad days.
Sorry to be such a whiner. :(
-Tanya

Aw, Tanya, believe me I feel your pain.
I had a painful AF for two months, then decided enough is enough. I scheduled an 'LIS' proceedure and it fixed it almost immediately. :)
In the meantime, yes, prune juice worked well for me too. Try docolax and/or Miralax. Miralax creats soft, & slender stools.
Just hang in there....you'll get through this.

Tanya...
I'm right there with you... The anxiety is as bad as the pain.
Prune juice really works so differently with different people and it will just require a lot of experimentation. It isn't merely the fiber content in prune juice that gives it laxative qualities. It also contains sorbitol, a sugar alcohol. All sugar alcohols have laxative effects on the bowel, the dosage for each individual will vary. Prunes seem to really have a strong effect on me so I have to really easy with them
A lot of people really like Miralax. It was terrible for me. It kept me in the bathroom all the time and upset my stomach terribl, giving me burning stools. I know that isn't a common reaction as most people really like it a lot, but if you have any sensitivities with your bowel just go really slowly with it and build the dose over several days.
wishing you a more comfortable day... I keep trying to tell myself I'm going to get through this but most days it's hard for me to keep holding on to that hope. But we just have to keep at it.
sending you a big hug across the miles... I'm so glad your pain doesn't prevent you from walking. I wish I could walk. I think it would help a lot.

jr,
I wonder if there's some why to block the pain down there. Like the way they do for people who get a lot of pain in their backs?
-Tanya

I actually did read about sacral nerve stimulation that not only relieved the pain of fissures, but also led to healing of fissures. Trouble is all of these things in these really small studies aren't widely available. This one only had 5 patients, but geez I'd be willing to try it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21304304/

Wow, That's some study.
Have you asked your CRS?
Looks like it was done in Wisconsin.
You should post it under the websites/references topics.?
-Tanya

I tried all of the above and I have more immediate relief and control with prune juice than any thing else. I take raw psyllium once a day and other than that it seems to have worked. A few things about prune juice. If I heat it up it works faster. Either way it seems to work within about 2 hours. I am brand specific. Sunkist is a dollar or two more expensive but is prunes (not from concentrate) with no fillers or water added. It just taste better to me. Start small. If I have had a rough day I will have just a few swigs before bed but usually I drink 3 to 4 OZ every morning first thing when I get up.I felt the same way too about never feeling normal again. It did pass.

I've tried prune juice (SunSweet) and both dried and "fresh" (bottled) prunes as well. The problem I experienced was on amount. I generally get the runs real bad, and that is as painful as constipation. I sadly, gave up on it after a time. I say sadly because I really like the taste, but it would sure open the floodgates.

workingonit wrote:Anxiety has been horrible the past couple days, not sleeping well, nightmares, lack of appetite, and I am not even that bad off. It's just the lack of options and the looming possibility that I will never be cured that have me panicked. Like a rat backed into a corner. I need to stop reading about this online and try to focus on my life for a change.
But it would help to have some idea of what works prune-wise for others.
Gonna go for a long walk after I drop my daughter off at school. The walking still helps. I just go slower on the bad days.
Sorry to be such a whiner. :(
-Tanya

I can relate to this feeling completely. Not at the moment - I am still pain free and progressing. But when I was at my darkest moments, reading on this forum about people who kept their fissures for months - even years - and knowing that if that was my fate, I'd rather be dead. That's a pretty depressing thought, and rat backed into a corner describes it well.
And as far as I'm concerned, anyone with this condition has earned the right to whine ALL THEY NEED TO and it's perfectly cool with me.