Hello,
I am a new member and was hoping for some guidance.
I have had a fissure for 5+ years, it never has really hurt (like some of the horror stories on here), but it has been hurting more lately and bleeding more often. So I decided it would be smart to address the issue.
MY CR doc told me to try miralax for a few weeks and see if it heals that way. It did after about 3 weeks, but shortly after the fissure came back (I don't think it was healed strong enough yet). I then decided to try miralax for a longer time period to see if that would help it heal stronger. So took it for a 1.5 months and everything seemed to be going well. I went to the CR doc for a follow up and he said I could use Colace if I was concerned about Miralax (wanted to go another 1-2 months of healing with softner but was worried about Miralax dependency). So that day I switched from Miralax to Colace....BAD IDEA.....I had the worst hard stools that I have ever experienced in all my life for about a week. Needless to say the fissure is in full swing currently and HURTS. I have been eating more fiber and such, so I am sure that didn't help (stool was big and hard!). My stools are ALOT better now (about 2 weeks after Miralax), but still not the soft soft like on Miralax. Ok enough of the rambling....My questions is the following:
1. Has anyone taken Miralax for a long period of time (> 1+ month) and then just quit cold turkey? Are the hard stools that I experienced from this? What was you experience with it? Do I need to wean off next time?
I truly believe Miralax is the only thing that can heal me, but I probably need to take it for 3+ months to fully heal. Colace is softening things up, but not nearly as well as Miralax...I am only 31 so I don't want to be dependent on something forever. I hear a lot of people in this forum take Miralax and never quit, that is great if that's whats needed. However, I am curious about those who have taken it for a few months or years and then quit...What side effects did you have. Just really worried about getting dependent on something to poop.
Thanks guys for any help that you can give.
-TX