Hi IT,

I've been honestly holding off posting in the hopes that I can start a success story post :P

I would say at worst my pain has been 3/10 for the past 5 days. I still do get spasms after a bm, but not bad. My issue now is that I get a burning feeling that builds the longer I stand or sit in one position. It is nothing near the pain I had before, but still preventing me from resuming normal life, especially exercise. I am seeing a physio to help me with my pelvic floor tightness, and she wants me to hold off on exercise besides walking or very light stretching at least until she sees me again.

I am managing the leftover pain with naproxen, an anti inflammatory, only taken as needed. I'm continuing with sitz baths after every bm, and I'm still taking fiber and miralax/restoralax. I've just tried a different fiber than Metamucil - the Metamucil works great but my sensitive stomach can't handle the gas/bloating/indigestion that remains after 2 weeks or more. The new one is called jamieson's digestive care, it is supposed to be a more gut friendly type of fiber...we'll see!

I would love to get off taking both the digestive aids but I think it's still too early since I'm still having spasms (yet fissures are healed, no pain during bm?!).

I have a physio appointment again next Wednesday and will be asking tons of questions, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Thanks for checking in!

Hope you get better soon. Nice to hear your pain is low.

Thanks IT!

Spasms continue to stay at bay, just burning when sitting or standing too long that doesn't seem to be going away.

Today was an awful day of ibs - severe cramping, incredible gas, indigestion, you name it. I'm sure it is the miralax and fibre supplements, I had no more trouble than usual before I started taking them, and since I started it has been getting worse daily. BUT it is easy to go...

So i'm stuck. I've taken just a very small amount of miralax - about half of what I normally take. I am drinking lots of water, and eating a little more fibre (chia seed bread, oat flour, bananas, some berries in small amounts). I've added in some prunes a few times a day too. I'm hoping i'll be ok, I can't go through the holidays trading one pain for another...

As usual, a bad day gets me really down. 4 months of hell and i'm just so done with it, I miss my old life so so so much and it feels like I will never have it back. Those of you who've dealt with this for longer, I don't even know how you cope.

Any advice on the miralax/fibre situation for someone with bad ibs?? I was taking metamucil, but due to the gas and pain I switched to Jamieson's Digestive Care Daily Fibre - supposed to be good for sensitive digestive systems but nopppeee. Thinking on trying ground flax mixed in a smoothie?

So frustrated, as usual.

Rosco9 thank you so much. There's light at the end of the tunnel! The vaseline tip works like a charm although I'm using coconut oil in it's place.
Two questions
1. I can't go to the doctors and I understand the important of Diltiazem cream or the like. Do you know how I could obtain that cream OTC somewhere. Couldn't find it on Amazon.
2. I am using Magnesium Citrate and only used Docusate Stool softener for a day. Do you think they're important or should i just get Miralax?

I am hoping this thing will heal in a few weeks but I know it won't because of the fresh blood This is such a scary situation. Thank you again for your reply.

I dont think I have any experience with IBS but what I can tell you is if you need softer stool steer from bananas for now. Make sure you balance out Soluble and Insoluble fibres too keep things soft and smooth down there. Steer from "sharp" foods like hard seeds and nuts.

What I did to keep things regular (daily at about 10am like clockwork):

Meal Plan - Example

07:00 - Fibre shake
1 Cup of bran flakes, 1 tbsp of honey, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 1 1/12 cups of skim milk or substitute, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, 20ml of Dulcosoft. (tastes delicious and gets things moving)
Shot of expresso at 9am to speed things up

11:00 - 4 or 5 prunes and some bran crackers or biscuits.

14:00 - Wholewheat pasta or rice with boiled or grilled fish (chicken breast every 3rd day to change things up a bit) - by 14:00 Ive already consumed 1.5l of water and refilled the bottle to last me the rest of the day

17:00 - Fruit - kiwi/red apples/pears(preferrably)

20:00 - Vegetable soup(usually add some beans)
Same as lunch for the main course

22:00 - Raisins or other dried fruit as a snack- finish off the rest of the water.

Over the weekend I would choose one meal to cheat a bit on but not go overboard.

Keep meals small, fibre rich and nutritious. Think of what you would eat on "cutting" season.

Rosco9, thanks for these tips. After lurking and reading for a month here while dealing with unbearable pain of reinjuring my fissure daily, I finally was able to have 3 consecutive days of very soft bms. You are so right about the bulking part of the fiber. I had been tearing my hair out trying to figure out why I couldn't soften with everything I was doing including the Dulcolax the doc prescribed and all the other supplements. The Miralax & MOM worked!

Regularity has never been an issue for me, I am like clockwork every morning. But I've always been bulky.

On another note, I'm still in pain from what I presume are the spasms. Those tend to stick around for the first half of my day which really sucks.

How long does it generally take you for those to subside?

For me, as long as I apply GTN right after a BM I can almost avoid pain completely.

That's great to hear IT - are you back in the gym?

Not yet. Waiting for LIS on the 28th. Im hoping to get back in April. I do occassionally visit though just to keep them informed.

It's great that your pain is under control and I bet LIS will be the last step for you then you will be done with this mess!