Hi Johnny91 - Thank you for all the advice. : ) I will give the mineral oil a try, although I might start with a little Miralax first and see how it goes. I agree, all of this requires so much experimenting. It's really quite stressful. : ( But I'm trying to hang in there and not give up hope. Some days are really tough. : (
My issue is that my stools are loose in my second movement, which sometimes irritates and stings the fissure even more than harder stools and I don't want to make those loose stools even worse with supplements or medication. So, I don't really want really loose/near-diarrhea stools, either, since those also can cause me pain afterward. It's so difficult trying to get the "perfect stool." Sometimes it just happens for me (no clue why, since I eat the same food basically every day), then it just goes away and I continue to have the hard stools first thing in the morning and looser stools after that. Ugh, it's so frustrating!
My fissure being internal doesn't help, either, like with yours. I can't really put ointment on it, since it's deeper inside. Every CRS I've been to can't see it without a scope (which I refuse to have in me without any kind of sedation), which is incredibly frustrating. I know it's there and I can feel it. It stings and burns and throbs sometimes after BMs and then those awful spasms happen for hours afterward that make everything worse. : ( It's awful.
Anyway, thank you for hearing me out. Just venting a bit here. Part of me just really wants to get the LIS surgery done to heal the fissure since my original CRS said that (along with exam under general anesthesia) was the next step. I just don't have the money or insurance for it right now. : ( If I did, I think I would just get the surgery done as soon as possible. So tired of all this.