Hi everyone- so glad I found the forum.

About 3 years ago my husband started having issues with fissures.

His stool is soft and he has to sit and strain for 15-20 minutes because it just keeps coming in small bits. He can never get it all out, so then the next morning, what was left in him had hardened and that's what's causing the fissures. So the first bit of stool every morning is hard, and all that follows is soft.

What could be going on here?

Doctor after doctor has simply prescribed laxatives, and he actually took dulcolax and metamucil for about 4 months straight at one point (and that only helped minimally). He had a colonoscopy and a bunch of bloodwork done (all normal).

We're seeing a gastro now, who has told him to knock off the laxatives before he becomes dependent, but to take benefiber 6 times a day. This has helped to bulk up the stools, but he is still having to sit on the toilet for 15 minutes, and still breaking open his fissures.

The doctor wants him to get another colonoscopy and endoscopy. He suspects Crohns, but I don't see any symptoms resembling that disease. Would that procedure be worth the stress/money?

We eat a healthy diet (lots of veggies and whole grains), drink plenty of water & exercise. My husband did drink heavily for a time and does still binge on the weekends, and it seems worse during those times.

Please tell me some of you can relate to this, or have an idea what it could be or what can help. Thanks for reading!

If nobody can relate, could you at least tell me what might help? Or whether Crohns could be a possibility? Feeling lost here after another 2 hours of Google searches, with nothing coming up sounding like it fits..

Hi, and to the forum. Sorry the reply took a little time, but things get quiet on weekends sometimes.

I would suggest that he give up the binge drinking, and stay with drinking enough water for his age and size. Also, for a man under 50, he needs about 38g of fibre a day, over 50 he needs about 30. More than that, in my opinion, makes things worse.

If he has not seen a Colon and Rectal Surgeon (CRS), this is the person to see for this. General doctors/gastros know nothing really about anal fissures. A CRS will not necessarily operate, but he will diagnose with what is wrong, including Crohn's if there.

Also, I would suggest using Miralax (look it up here, on our extremely good search engine. Use the search above between FAQ and Portal, not the one on the right. You can search by Topic on the one under the picture). And did I say drink water. He needs to drink lots of water. Again, look it up on our forum. All the symptoms your husband has, someone else on here has had them - pain, extra time in the loo, straining (not good, get a Sitz Bath), and so on. Also, on each of the sub-forums, you will find stickies with information. Do read those too Hope this has been of some help to you and do come back and ask any questions you might have. I know it might feel lonely out there, but we have all been there on here - the full gambit - at one time or another.

How are things going sfv? Not much to add that Savaici hasn't said. I also emphasize the Miralax as nothing seems to be quite as effective. It is also safe for long-term use.

Hi guys. The fissures are still as bad as ever. For the last week, we've made sure he's had enough water, a 30 minute walk in the morning, his probiotic supplement, 4 servings of benefiber, and 2 sitz baths a day. Also tried applying coconut oil but that made things worse. Bag balm did the same. Petroleum jelly seems to be helping.

Nonetheless, the fissures aren't healing. We got some blood work back today and he does have the ASCA antibodies present indicating it could be Crohn's disease. So he will go through with the endoscopy/colonoscopy procedure in October.

You know, when he switched from miralax to benefiber, for a couple days he said everything felt great- finally felt emptied out for once. But the benefiber hasn't been helping much since then. So maybe it was a combination of the two that was working? We'll add that back into the regimen.

For the next 2 weeks as well, we're going to go gluten and lactose free and see what happens.

Thanks for your support.

One thing I have discovered....

The body adjusts or gets used to things, foods, pills, potions, etc

Need to find 3 or 4 things that work, and rotate their usage.

Sorry to hear things aren't getting better. I use psyllium fiber (bulk) with my magnesium (relaxation and peristalsis) and miralax (water retention in the stool). I think each has something unique to offer.

Also sorry to hear about the blood test results. I really don't know much about IBD, so sorry I can't be of help there. I hope you will at least soon get a diagnosis and then at least know how to treat this beast.

Need advice. Husband has been doing a gluten/lactose elimination diet for the past 2 weeks and believes it is working- no new fissures, no pain and no bleeding since starting it. He has also lost near 10lbs.

Now he thinks he doesn't need to get the colonoscopy/endoscopy done since we've found the answer.

But I'm not convinced he shouldn't still have it done. What other information could it give us?

He's obviously not completely cured, as he is still spending 15-20 minutes going to the bathroom, taking the benefiber 3 times a day and has had to take miralax a couple times.