Had a fistulectomy last Tuesday and I wished I stumbled upon this site before that. No one advised me that it's better to start a stool softening regimen before the surgery. It is now Sunday and the only bowel movement I had was Friday and it was as painful as hell, sorry. Tried to be brave and again release some this morning but the pain was too unbearable. I was shaking and nauseous.
It feels like there is a rock blocking the anus. Is there a way for me to soften this blockage at this point? Been taking pain medication every 4 hours, eating some normal solid foods and Benefiber with my water. I guess that regimen was insufficient to say the least. My fault for not paying enough attention and pain has now forced me to. I'll be grateful for any help you can extend.
Some said Milk of Magnesia might help. Can this soften or somewhat liquefy the already hard stool in that area?

Hey there,
I'm not sure if the milk of magnesia will soften what's already hard, but I would definitely give it a try. I was advised Magnesium Citrate after surgery if the MOM didn't work. I've read where some have done an enema I know that would be something I would definitely save for last resort.
I would definitely get on some Miralax as soon as you can and take it daily while recovering. Ugh, I wish you would have found us sooner too!!
Drink plenty of water also... There's some really great tips on diet in the diet and supplements threads. Be sure and avoid any constipating foods or foods that would make harder bm's like dairy, red meat, etc... Hopefully others will add!
I believe Summergirl had some constipation issues after surgery. You may want to take a look at her threads...

Thank you so much. I regret not finding this site earlier. Would have prepared and saved me terrible pain. Just bought Miralax, Metamucil and Milk of Magnesia. Trying to prepare for the next painful bout. Hope those who are just about to get the surgery find out about this pre-surgery soft stool requirement. Don't know why medical pros here in the US hardly care about this.

Aww your welcome! I know you would think they would give better advice on softeners and diet, but it's like we all have to figure it out on our own. Most of us here had to do that before surgery with our fissures just to deal with the pain. :roll: Have you taken Metamucil before BLVG? The reason I'm asking is it causes larger BM's for some of us and that may be something you want to avoid while recovering! It does work for some though... Also you will need to drink plenty of water while taking any stool softeners(they have better results with plenty of water) and especially fiber supplements such as Metamucil( which can cause hard,large bm's without enough water!). The Miralax is really good at preventing constipation. You may need something a little harsher to get this first bm going, but I would definitely take the Miralax everyday while recovering!
If you are able to take pain meds about a half hour before this bm, that would probably help you out some.
Good luck and keep us posted.

If u need to, try using fleet enema to soften the alr hard stools impacted down there. Take miralax ASAP n skip metumucil completely. This works just like fybogel I reckon Which will only bulk up the stools and that's what u do not want. U wan soft regular stools not bulky long stools.
Drink plenty of warm water, I read somewhere that can help soften too, though with my prune juice and magnesium supplement daily, I don't have to.

Thanks so much Dawn and dwarfs8! Yes, I'm gonna make sure I drink lots of water and as of this time I haven't taken Metamucil yet. I did take 1 dose of Miralax and would stick with it for now and figure out which foods do not make hard stools. It's really tricky since it seems it differs from one person to another. My post surgery instructions did not specify any diet except avoid dairy, spicy and oily foods. So I'm a bit confused as to what to eat. The last thing I want is big and hard stools but really...I want it to be almost liquid if I can get it! Lol. The pain was just insane!
What do you think of oatmeal or bread? Fruits? Again, thanks and I'm sure it could not be repeated enough, you guys are great!

the docs won't tell us what to eat, what not to eat. My CRS didn't even mention sitz bath from the very beginning, only gave medicated creams and lidocaine jelly and also stool softeners. For them, that's their job only to give medication, anything more, u gonna find out urself.
So, don't ever trust the doc's advice 100%, always do ur due diligence in researching more in forums like this and articles on the internet. Also, different diet works for different ppl. Try to skip meats like beef and pork for now, eat chicken / fish such as tuna (contains magnesium which soften). Take wholemeal pasta instead, skip rice. Take more soupy stuffs, so ur stomach contains mainly liquids. Veg is essential in every meals, but do moderate ur fiber intake, else it will be bulky. Remember this rule, the more fiber u take, the more water u need to drink, else can harden and dries up too. The doctor never tell us this too! Kept asking us to fiber up, but too bulky stool can only overstretch us and tear!

Hey BLVG,
Oatmeal should be fine and any well cooked veggies or fruit would be fine. I have read where some had a little trouble with pasta and rice making harder BM's (even whole grain) so you may want to avoid that until you are later in recovery. I would avoid any bread while you're constipated but once things start moving- you should be fine with whole wheat bread and pasta with the Miralax, but could work them in slowly to see if they change your bm consistency.
I ate a lot of pea soup, beans,squash, oatmeal, soggy frosted mini wheats,peaches and pears- while recovering from LIS .I used almond milk on my cereal for a few weeks and later moved on to regular milk... I tried to stay around 20 grams of fiber a day just from food. I didn't take any fiber supplements. Once you get your bm's figured out and get some healing , you can add some things a little at a time and see how they work for you. As Dwarfs said you'll probably want to avoid any meats besides chicken, seafood, and avoid cheese or any dairy if it typically causes you harder BM's. Most don't have trouble with yogurt.
It can be a little tricky since we are all different, but you really can't go wrong with a good variety of fruits and vegetables IMO.