Dunno about anyone else but 2 & 3 look scary! I'm always a 4 - 7. Sometimes a 1 which is what caused my fissure, after pigging out on too much chicken!
People with IBS can skip around that chart on a daily basis...

Mostly, I'd say a 5 or 6 on the Bristol scale. If I head into the 3 zone or harder, that spells big trouble for me.

Thanks coconut for bringing this up. I'm sure it's there on everyones mind but too embarassed to speak up. Also many thanks jr2 for sharing the scale.
Coconut - i hv mild IBS, so mine varies. But mostly I am a 4. But there is one more thing not mentioned on this scale. I have really large stool which makes passing hell for AF. What I mean when I say large is the diameter! Sorry if I sound too gross. Can't help it. These are desperate times and I have only you guys to discuss these things!
If its a 4 but thin..it is still not too bad. But a bulky 4, even though smooth can be hell to pass.

sufferer wrote:Thanks coconut for bringing this up. I'm sure it's there on everyones mind but too embarassed to speak up. Also many thanks jr2 for sharing the scale.
Coconut - i hv mild IBS, so mine varies. But mostly I am a 4. But there is one more thing not mentioned on this scale. I have really large stool which makes passing hell for AF. What I mean when I say large is the diameter! Sorry if I sound too gross. Can't help it. These are desperate times and I have only you guys to discuss these things!
If its a 4 but thin..it is still not too bad. But a bulky 4, even though smooth can be hell to pass.

That's how all of this started for me. I had a food binge and I had a really big poop and it created two fissures. One healed on its own, the other went cronic. I think the scar tissue from the healed fissure put more pressure on the remaining fissure and made things much worse. Hard isn't as big of an issue for me as size.

And my doc says we know how to add bulk to the stool, but not the reverse. And that's precisely my problem. How to make it small, not bulky. If anyone on the forum has answers, I wud like to hear.

sufferer wrote:And my doc says we know how to add bulk to the stool, but not the reverse. And that's precisely my problem. How to make it small, not bulky. If anyone on the forum has answers, I wud like to hear.

I've had some luck with greatly reducing the amount of Citrucel I take(if any). Since I get plenty of fiber, the added stuff just made some horrendous sized stools(and AF), but it was what my doctor told me would help with my chronic constipation.
Back to Coconut's poop analysis :) I'd say since I started on Miralax I'm a 3.5 most of the time.
When I was young(1960s, 1970s) and didn't know better, I had very dark, almost black 1s which of course led to Hemorrhoids and a couple operations..which I believe led to an even more difficult time on the pot. I didn't know jack about changing my diet and drinking more water and apparently neither did the Doctors at the time
2/20/13 changed Metamucil to Citrucel, I got them confused

sufferer wrote:And my doc says we know how to add bulk to the stool, but not the reverse. And that's precisely my problem. How to make it small, not bulky. If anyone on the forum has answers, I wud like to hear.

Mine are always small, never watery though. At the moment I drink nothing but 4 litres of water per day, have vegetable soup with wholemeal bread for lunch, then fish and vegetables for tea. I also have a spoon of olive oil before dinner. Then I take 10-15ml Lactolose (a synthetic sugar which keeps water in the BM) before bed, and I haven't once had a large or hard BM since following this routine (3 weeks).
Also my fissure is healing really well, I actually think I'm going to be fully healed in 6 weeks. The second I deviate from this diet (spices, tea, coffee, wine) I get painful spasms.

Thanks crackinup and port. The more I read I think too much fiber is the culprit. When I started reading about AF and diet on this forum, the first suggestion was to increase fiber and so I did. Little did I realize that being vegetarian, to begin with, my diet was a high fiber. (this bring up the question then how the hell did I get the AF ?! I hv no answers!). So while I blindly followed what everyone seemed to be doing, increase fruits and veggies, I ended up with these monstrous BMs! It is such a delicate balance...achieving the perfect stool consistency and I believe that is the key to healing AF.
Crackinup - I too hv started on olive oil for 2 wks now and it does make a difference.

@sufferer try making sure at least one of your meals is liquid (soup). This has been working wonders for me! And eat regular but smaller meals, don't eat loads of vegetables in one sitting.
If you can find or have an equivalent to Lactulose, even if you end up with a lot of mass it'll be so soft it'll just come out a different shape... which is however big your muscle allows!!

Sufferer, too much fiber will increase the bulk of your stools so be careful about how much fiber you eat.
I wish I could give you and answer but I don't have problems with constipation but rather with watery stools so in my case I have to increase bulk and no always works for me because my condition.