by Scientist2516 » 09 Jan 2014, 23:35
Well, both those sites (the scientific paper and fibermenace) were interesting reads.
My husband said something similar about fibre when I was first battling my fissure. He said that eating more fibre and making the stools bigger seemed insane to him. I should eat less and try to have less bulky stools. I read as much as I could to find out what fibre does, and I disagreed with him.
For whatever reason, what I did seemed to work. I ate fibre-rich foods, and still do. I drink a reasonable amount of water - more than I used to. I have one or two bowel movements a day, and they are soft. A bulky stool can come out without straining if it's soft enough.
The fibre part of what Mr Fibermenace says seems to be logical, but when I read the bit about water, and how drinking a lot of water is actually bad, my bullshit detector started to go off.
Truthfully, I would need to do more research and find out how much of what he says is actually true. But some parts of what he says don't ring true at all. He implies that drinking more water doesn't help soften stools because the water you drink doesn't reach the small intestine. But my understanding is that dehydration causes the colon to pull water from the stool to recover it, just as the kidneys also recover water. I also was sceptical of what he says about salts.
It's a bit of a no-win situation, isn't it? If we eat fibre and get constipated, it's because the fibre has made our stools too bulky. And if we cut out fibre and then get constipated it's because we've developed a fibre-dependency. What's a person to do?
Well, it's my bedtime, but if I get a chance I'll try to read more around the subject.
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!