I noticed several posts of people talking about having to take pain meds. I understand how bad the pain is, but just wanted to point out that opiate pain meds (as in Vicodin, Loritabs, etc.) cause constipation, creating larger and harder bm's. You may be helping the pain short term, but you are preventing the healing of the wound that is causing the pain. So you'll have your fissure and be on pain killers for life. (I am sure there are a few exceptions, as there are to every rule, but this is how it is for most people)

Thats what I figured, when regular painkillers and ibubrufen didn't help one bit. I was prescribed morfine based painkillers but never took them. I learned how to deal with the pain instead.

Yes we must figure out ways to handle the pain, heat helps for me I use a magic bag and lay down with it under me - helps the pain a lot. My doc refused to give me opiate pain meds (well he gave me 3 pills only when I had really really bad pain) but that was it. He said it would just make the problem worse.

You might be able to say this about YOU, but you can't say this about ME. My body is my own.
I've never suffered from constipation, so that's not the core issue for me. I also take measures to make sure that the opiates don't slow my digestion too much. For me, making sure that I have adequate pain management is essential to my healing after surgery. I didn't take them before surgery.

How do you deal with the pain? Day after day, hour after hour? Besides the creams and hot baths and small poops and lidocaine. Is there other ways?

Everyone has to develop their own ways of dealing with the pain. In general, people who heal from fissure have developed a ritual of self-care, bathing, diet, etc... which helps them cope and heal.
In general, diet is important to healing fissures. Some of the diets you will hear about on these boards are very healthy and some will inevitably lead to nutritional deficiencies. I've also seen people on these boards recommending diets which are likely to encourage the further narrowing of the rectum and will likely produce short-term success and long-term pain. If you feel like you don't know which is which, you can ask the advice of a nutritionist. Most of us have enough nutritional knowledge to look at what people suggest and decide for ourselves if it is a good idea for us.
From his other posts, I can tell you that Bill has decided to adapt for himself a severely restricted diet long term. That's his choice. He says it works for him. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is anyone going around the boards and proclaiming that their way is the only way. That somehow, those of us who have made different decisions for ourselves are somehow wrong. And especially, I have a problem with anyone who pre-judges people who are still having pain - that if we are still having pain, the problem must be because we are not making the "correct" choices about our diets.
I've been on every diet out there. I've done a macro-biotic diet. I've done raw. I've done low carb/high protein. I am currently vegan and sugar free because that works for me. I can tell you this much - diet alone is not the cure for all of us. I can also tell you this - without a healthy diet you aren't going to improve.
Put it another way:
Diet is crazy important, but its not a cure for everyone. And those of us who still have pain don't necessarily have problems with our current diet. You've got to take a honest look at your own way of eating and decide if you need to make some changes.

Coconut- why suger free?

delasama wrote:Coconut- why suger free?

When I eat sugar, it flips a switch in my head and I tend to binge eat. So, I avoid sugar all together. I have some problems with low blood sugar, that crash that happens a few hours after you've eaten too much sugar. I also tend to use sugar instead of taking care of my real needs, like taking a nap or alleviating pain.
I keep my diet entirely of foods that are nourishing. Sugar is only nourishing if you need empty calories, which is true for some of the world, but not for me.
As far as I know, sugar doesn't constipate people directly. It can raise your blood sugar levels and make them crash, which is hard on your body's ability to repair itself. It also messes with your immune system and endocrine system in subtle ways.

When my fissure flares up I take painkillers. As I start to heal I stop taking them. I never get constipated from them, and when things were really bad there was no way I could have been a busy mum and hold down a job.
I do admit I never fully heal... But saying that... Even when I come off the pain killers for months at a time.. I don't heal then either!
Each to their own... Everybody's body reacts differently to medication.
OMB x

Hi, I think if you need pain meds to help you they can be taken safely if you increase your stool softener and water intake. That's pretty much what people do after surgery. If you need to take opiate based pain meds a lot you really need to see a doctor to come up with a better solution to your pain. These medication may be constipating but what would concern me more is that they are very addictive.