hello all,

I was wondering if any of you use nitro/nifedipine/etc BEFORE a BM.

My fissure is healed according to the doctors, but the sphincter is still pretty tight. Sometimes the stools come out slow, and it seems like they are being forced through an opening too narrow. I am taking Nitro .5%, but I don't think I have the 'spasms' that many of the folks here have described, so I guess I'm just using it to generally relax the sphincter and keep good blood flow to the area. I'm actually not sure if I should be taking it at all at this point...

BUT one thing I imagine it could be useful for is just widening the cavity pre-BM. Does anyone take it right before having a bm? Does this result in your stool coming out in a relaxed state?

Hello,

You need to talk to your doctor about the long term use of any prescription medication. My CRS before my LIS surgery had me try the over the counter Calmol 4 suppositories as a lubricant before the BM. You may give it a try and see if it works for you. I am like you I do not feel any spasms and I took the Nifedipine for a month and I could not feel any difference on the Sphincter as it was always tight. After the LIS Surgery there is a major differnce as the stools are jumping out as I did have one get away from me.

I think it's OK to take nifedipine/nitro long term. They are also blood pressure medications, and those patients have to take them long term
When I was using nifedipine, I always hoped that using it before a BM would make the BM easier and less painful. I don't think it did, though.

Eventually I switched to using it after the BM, because I felt that the BM just scraped the ointment out again.