I have soft stools but they don't fall out. I have to do some slight pushing. I am not straining like loosing my breath or anything like that but they never feel like they just have to fall out.

How do you get around to this? I was impacted when I first discovered my fissure so I don't want to keep it in too long either?

I take magnesium citrate (naturally calm) and 2-3 colace. This AM my stool was Bristol 6 and came out easy with very little pushing barely any - no blood.

Just a few minutes ago I felt fullness and felt like I had more - had thing stools and I had to push a bit more and I had a slight blood dot. Nothing too big but def. blood.

HOW on earth do I get around not pushing.

I have that same problem sometimes. I found that if I take a slow deep breath and hold it for 10-15 seconds, and then slowly release my breath (and do this a few times in a row), the stool comes out easier. When I can feel that it's incomplete, I try to read something and give it a little more time. Another BIG help for me, if you have a close wall beside your toilet, just pushing against the wall helps me not have to push down there, and things start moving. A little dab of Diltiazem pre-bowel movement helps relax those muscles as well so they don't start clamping up.

Food-wise, I try to make sure the last thing I eat in the evening is something low residue with more water content, like watermelon or soft french style green beans. IMO, starchy items like mashed potatoes or pasta adds to the problem. I avoid eating late, and make sure I have at least another 16 oz. of water after that last meal (well, I wait about 30 minutes so my stomach enzymes can have some time to break the food down without being flushed with water).

Hope some of that helps!

Just standing up for a few seconds and re-seating - repeated a few times - helps as well. Some of us have found that ground flax seed (I use a tablespoon each morning on my cereal) seems to make the stools slicker and eases the BM.

(Thanks to the forum. Where else are you going to find information like this?)

No kidding. It is like we have expertise on BM now. I am eating very light because I am petrified of large stools or constipation. For example today I ate two eggs cooked in coconut oil and a kiwi - lunch was greek yogurt with manuka honey and chia seeds and a pear - dinner is homemade pea soup that has been made into a cream with a big gush of olive oil. I am chugging water non stop.

Now most times I do not have pain anymore when I have a bm but I def have to do some pushing however it is quick and painless. The second one this AM was a mistake - I had a little in there and I def. strained and well I had pain for hours after that

What I have found out works for me is I wake up take my thyroid medication with a little water - go for a 25 min walk or so - get back drink my magnesium warm - then follow with a cold cup of water with ice. This has worked the last two days. I was not used to going in the AM but I like this because I def. need to have a rhythm to this madness.

I am very very fresh into this journey just a week into it. I am starting to at least feel better in the evenings which was not the case last week where the pain was on 24/7. Still sleeping poorly though.

Here here Now66 on the ground flax; I have it every morning whether on all bran, porridge or weetabix. (less of the weetabix lately). It does help them come out "slicker".

I had a problem with the first part of the BM getting started. I suffered a little with the "plug" effect whereby if the previous BM wasn't completely evacuated (because we don't want to strain!) the small amount left behind sits there, sometimes overnight and dries out, making it harder to get out. So I had nice soft BM each morning but the first part did all the damage. To counter this, I made sure I went in the evening if I had a slight feeling of needing to go. Previously, I only ever wanted to go once a day in the morning (which I have done all my life!). Like you, I have to push a little as I want to make sure I get everything out. I think this is fine so long as you are straining. It's a fine line, but being gentle is fine. I use the same technique as CreativeMuse; I take a very deep breath, then exhale slowly concentrating on release from as low as possible in the stomach and at the same time relaxing the whole body. If it takes a few minutes to get going, so what, relax into it. I also found if it is difficult to get going, get of the loo and squat down gently; this position is natural to get you going - better still, try the squatting method for your BM; I've never mastered it, but loads on this site swear by it!

Oh, and everyone says, water water water!

Keep smilin'

oops, so long as you are NOT straining I meant to type......

I shoul have posted this earlier because sure enough today it practically fell out and I even had the urge twice - so I went twice without pushing !

I mean you know you have a fissure when you are extatic about having a bm that falls out! Lol

Hoping this means and easier day ahead. I'm soaking in bath now an have accupuncture at 8:30.

Rw
This is a really great topic to post because I can't underestimate how important it is not to strain or make any little pushes at all! This is what has set me back time after time and at first, I wasn't even really aware it was an issue since I was never straining to the point of grunting & turning red in the face!!
I must have lived for years in this push-cycle of pooping with no inclination of what it was doing to my bottom and I do believe what I went through, fissure, hems and all has been an accumulation of years of excessive strain + other factors.
I only learned that you don't need to push to poop a few months ago and once you are eating the right things and producing soft but solid regular stools, there is no need. I also learned that in order to do this you do need to be as relaxed as possible and deep breathing and just focusing on that stool passing down work wonders, also as others suggest, just applying a little pressure on your lower back or moving into a slightly different position & of course my faithful friend, the old jar of Vaseline.........I also realised that BMs don't always arrive at the times you expect them to too & for a long time, I was confusing "false" urges with real ones (some of this has not been helped by bouts of IBS, I experience now & again. As one of our admin, Jr2 advised me here, an oversensitive bowel can be very sensitive to the tiniest amount of fecal matter you have stored away, which in turn makes you feel you need to go, but infact, have very little at that time to expel).......This is trickier for me to deal with, but unless I have those very obvious symptoms of needing to go, I allow some of the more minor urges to pass these days because if I do try to go, these are my danger times of potentially straining to generally expel pretty much nothing and half the time, it's actually trapped wind anyway!
If I ever find myself in the position that I'm not pooping after a few minutes, that's it..... I'm off the toilet and generally, I'll then feel a proper urge to go again a short while later anyway. This has really helped me!!
I also can't underestimate the importance of regularly topping up your fluids! This makes such a difference and even if your stool is harder because you've been eating something more difficult to digest, it still helps that stool through! - I know my stools so well now, that it's the ones that really create a splash in the pan that remind me to soften up my diet a bit!!!.....I drink a large glass of water immediately after every meal I eat now and a large glass before you suspect a BM is also great, because in my case, I can feel the water in my stomach physically forcing everything down to come out the other end!
I truly hope this helps someone else, because it was learning these few golden rules above that has made all the difference in the world to my toilet habits!!

Thanks for the extra tips - so helpful. I am still in pain with spams but they are less intense. Hoping they will last less too. I had to go for a car ride which made things worse. Thats aways what seems to bring the most pain. So I am taking it easy in bed with a heating pad for a while til they subside.

I just skimmed all the posts in this thread and didn't see any mention of "incomplete evacuation", (which I have) It is a very common symptom of IBS (I have Crohn's Colitis) and it's SO frustrating. I move my bowels at least 3 times every morning, and my stool is not hard at all. (in fact, the 3rd phase is often quite loose). It seems that my stool just doesn't want to leave my colon all at once. I also have an AF (apparently a minor one), along with hemorrhoids, so I know I shouldn't push. But I'll never finish in the bathroom if I don't push a little! As a result, my AF and hems will probably never go away, and my anus gets very sore after the 2nd & 3rd bowel movements.

Anyway, I wanted to mention "incomplete evacuation" in case it may help someone who hasn't heard of it. Failure to complete a bowel movement in one session isn't always due to hard stools.