okay, I know this is a silly question when I've had this thing nearly a year, but are softeners/laxatives really necessary when constipation isn't an issue?
I always get the dose SO wrong and it will work perfectly one day and yet the same dose the next day will have me rushing to the bathroom all day!

Where am I going wrong???

couldn't tell ya, Val. i know my movements are often tied to my hormones, so nothing quite works the same twice for me. It's more how do I manipulate the overall consistency. The huge doses of soluble fiber with the 3 mag supplements seem to be my best bet yet. But even then, things can feel scratchy for reasons beyond control, like stress or hormones. It's been more than 2 years for me and I still haven't got it quite right. though I must say the LIS helped wonders.

hey Val! It could be that one day you are more dehydrated than the next, and when you aren't, the stool softeners have you going.
Now, I just know you aren't taking any laxatives....that's a no-no!
But the idea is to keep your stool soft so it doesn't traumatize your fissure on the way out, not so much to avoid constipation...

thanks! So do you still take something every day or just when you need to?

Kim- sorry whats the difference between sofeners and laxatives? I thought even MOM was a laxative?

Me or Kim?
i take the fiber and the 3 mag everyday. If I need a little something extra, which seems to be happening about once a month now, I take the 3T mineral oil.

yes, you Chris!! So what are the magnesium thingys? Are they just from a health shop?

There are different types of laxatives: stimulant, osmotic, and (I forgot the word--it's like bulking or lubricating???)
stimulant can damage nerves if used for too long. This type includes senna.
osmotic works by drawing water into the colon, and here you find the magnesium and sodium laxatives, like MOM and phosophosoda.
The last is _____ . It includes miralax, lactulose and mineral oil and belileve it or not, splenda. the laxatives in this category are undifgestible materials that mix with the stool and prevent it from hardening in the colon.
Stool softeners are very, very mild osmotic laxatives, so mild that they don't have a perceptible effect on many people.

yes, the magnesuim supplements are just vitamins. The recommended daily dosage is two tablets. I take three, one at lunch two at dinner. Be careful that the mag doesn't have calcium in it as well. That negates the effect.

A laxative is harsh and "makes" you poop, usually with runny stools which burn the h#ll out of your arse!
A softener does not make you go, it does not stimulate your bowels to move -- it merely brings water into the stool to soften it.
I don't take anything and haven't for more than a year now, and that include fiber supplementation. But I eat right (most of the time, I actually had a Coke today, fell off the wagon!)