Hi Neuro, I just check the active ingred. in Phillips stool softener and it's 100 mg. Docusate sodium. It seems that if I take 3 a day and make sure to eat some yougart throughout the day my BM's are very soft, which I am happy with. I don't want to eat too much yougart at one time because I am scared that it might upset my tummy and give me diaherra.
I have added cooked celery to my diet this past weekend. I think that might help out alot as long as I don't eat too much of it.
I have always had a sensitive stomach, and I pretty much know what foods will upset my stomach. Before the fissure I ate whatever foods even if it gave me diaherra, but after being kicked in the a$$ with this fissure I know better now.
My CRS, to me, seems to be in too much of a hurry for surgery. The last time I went to see him he recommended surgery. I think that the terrified look that I gave him and of course my crying let him know that I am just not ready for that. So he recommended to use the Diltazem for another 6 weeks. I don't have any future appointments with him. He said to call and sched. an appt. if I continue to have problems after the 6 weeks. I feel sorta like he dumped me because I don't want to have surgery, but maybe he just wants to give my body a chance to heal. The CRS was highly recommended to me by my cousin who is a nurse for a GI doc. I am debating on getting a second opinion if things don't improve in the 6 weeks. I dread the thought of dealing with this another 6 weeks.
I just want my life back and to be able to have normal BM's without taking all the fiber, stool softeners and watching my diet. It's amazing how one day you are perfectly fine and in an instant your life has come to a screaching hault.
I don't know about anyone else, but I have no social life at all anymore. All I do is go to work and come home. And believe me I have missed many, many days of work in the past 2 months. Thank goodness I have a wonderful husband who will even do most of the shopping. The moments that I am feeling OK I try to get as much done as possible because I never know when this is going to kick me in the butt again.
Well...heading out the door for work now. Thanks for the replies. Have a great day and painless BM's.

I used to eat whatever I wanted to (mostly junk foods), and basically had diarrhea every day. I actually never had a single day of constipation in my entire life until I took a long course of antibiotics last year. Then I got crazy diarrhea followed by bad constipation, and that's when I got my fissure.
I think it's worth a second opinion if the diltiazem isn't working. There are for sure other options besides LIS and diltiazem. Different docs have different philosophies, so if you don't like what one has to say, you can always see another. From the CRS and GI docs I've seen, all know about and will prescribe diltiazem, nifedipine, and nitroglycerin. About half believe in Botox, so if you want that, you may have to look around a bit, especially if you're in a smaller town. In a big city you can find someone, no problem at all. And all know about LIS. Since you're reluctant to go into surgery, I wouldn't limit yourself to just diltiazem or bust. A lot of GI docs treat fissures too, so I wouldn't limit your search to just colorectal surgeons.
My social life took a hike when I got my fissure too. The constant guzzling of water, stool softeners, and narrow diet (not to mention farting due to all the fiber and not knowing what kind of hell the next poop will bring) really does put a damper on things.
Try not to worry too much about the weight loss. It's a side effect of the high fiber veggie-centric diet. I'm 5'8" and weighed about 135 lbs before I got my fissure. I'm now down to about 119 and was as low as 115 at one point.
If you post your general area someone local might be able to suggest a doc. We have fissure victims from all over the US (and the world actually) here.