-TMI ALERT- Excruciating BMs

lewispwest
lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
Thought I'd put an alert on this to stop people reading this thread that wouldn't want to see it.

Basically my bowel movements have been horrendously painful lately, as if I'm passing a baseball covered in razor blades, which as you can imagine isn't too pleasant.

I've read about fissures etc since there is a small amount of blood as I wipe (none in the stool however) but I was wondering if it's a simple case of upping my fibre or having stool softeners to get over this? I thought I had been eating plenty of fibre recently as every breakfast I have Weetabix which is generally great for getting you to "go" and I'm eating more fruit and veg than I have previously but it's still pretty awful, thoughts?
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Replies

  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
    Rectal Fissure can sometimes heal on their own, but i had to have mine "helped by a doctor" a few years ago. They even have a nitro glycerin type gel you put back there to help it heal. Take some sits baths after every BM if you can and use some hemorrhoid cream will help relieve some of the pain. Drink plenty of water. Sometimes if it is a bad enough Fissure you will have to get the rectum stretched, which is a day surgery. Good luck it is very painful.
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    I still have some Preparation H from when I had Haemorrhoids during the summer for the first time so I will use that. There isn't a lot of blood which makes me think it is minor but I will do that, thanks for the advice :)
  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
    edited November 2014
    Oh and up your veg intake as much as you can. It will help make it softer.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    By what your saying, a lot of fiber is not good either. Check your macros and balance it out with more fat in your diet. Hard to say without seeing your food diary, though.
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  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Okay will do, more veg it is!
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    By what your saying, a lot of fiber is not good either. Check your macros and balance it out with more fat in your diet. Hard to say without seeing your food diary, though.

    Oh I didn't realise too much fibre was bad, I figured it was a "more the merrier" type deal! Will have to watch it then.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    edited November 2014
    So. Full disclosure. I recently battled an awful, awful anal fissure. I basically at as much fibre as I could - All Bran Original (has something like 3 times the fibre of Weetabix), nuts, raspberries, beans, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, wholewheat seeded bread, porridge with added oat bran, and I drank Fybogel twice a day. In addition, I cut way back on dairy and fatty foods, which can bind you up. Also, everytime I used the toilet, I put coconut oil on and just inside my o-ring. After about a week, it was pretty much healed, but I keep up this regime for another couple weeks to give it a good chance to heal up. Worked like a charm!

  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Velum_cado wrote: »
    So. Full disclosure. I recently battled an awful, awful anal fissure. I basically at as much fibre as I could - All Bran Original (has something like 3 times the fibre of Weetabix), nuts, raspberries, beans, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, wholewheat seeded bread, porridge with added oat bran, and I drank Fybogel twice a day. In addition, I cut way back on dairy and fatty foods, which can bind you up. Also, everytime I used the toilet, I put coconut oil on and just inside my o-ring. After about a week, it was pretty much healed, but I keep up this regime for another couple weeks to give it a good chance to heal up. Worked like a charm!

    I appreciate your honesty, thank you :) Yeah that sounds like a plan!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    The obvious answer to "What should I do when blood is coming out of my butt?" would be, "Call a doctor."
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    What my doctor recommended for me in that situation:

    - more water

    - more fiber (get metamucil or whatever brand you prefer, have a glass in the morning & 1 before bed, PLUS keep up eating lots of veggies)

    - yes a stool softener every day for a week or two would probably help, both to get past the initial problem and to let the area heal a bit by giving it very soft things to deal with (trying to put this delicately)

    - exercise helps too, so more walking/running/swimming

    If all of that doesn't deal with the problem, talk to your doctor.
    In my case, I'd been doing all that & still having trouble, so they sent me to a specialist, who says there's no problem internally, so just do more of the above. :persevere:

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  • I had the same problem. I started taking a magnesium supplement and it has helped tremendously! It says its for the muscles and bones but I read somewhere it helped with this problem and it most certainly did!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Please go to the doctor. It could be minor, but then it could be serious. The best of luck to you.
  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
    uh-uh. You can drink water till you pop and it will not help with constipation. OP you need to change your diet and add a stool softener to your diet, such as psyllium. (Metamucil) Soluble fiber is best as it adds bulk to your digestive tract which wheat fiber will not do. Some food choices include oat bran (not wheat) prunes and legumes. Avoid constipation and you will heal up.

  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    LeonCX wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
    uh-uh. You can drink water till you pop and it will not help with constipation. OP you need to change your diet and add a stool softener to your diet, such as psyllium. (Metamucil) Soluble fiber is best as it adds bulk to your digestive tract which wheat fiber will not do. Some food choices include oat bran (not wheat) prunes and legumes. Avoid constipation and you will heal up.

    I have a scoop of psyllium husks in my protein shake every morning, I presume that would still do?

    Yeah I will make a big effort to get more vegetables in, I've taken a liking to mixed greens which I will try to have as much as possible going forward.
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.

    I drink quite a lot of water each day so I don't think that's the issue.
    Kalikel wrote: »
    The obvious answer to "What should I do when blood is coming out of my butt?" would be, "Call a doctor."

    It's not really that it's coming out, there's none in the stool itself, just a small bit on the toilet paper when I wipe which is awfully consistent with the pain I just felt passing it!!
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  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    edited November 2014
    I have a scoop of psyllium husks in my protein shake every morning, I presume that would still do?
    nooooo. having psyllium in this way will plug you up worse than a bale of hay. Because the psyllium need lots of liquid to expand and the protein shake already has stuff in it that will absorb the water away from the psyllium. I really would try a juice/psyllium combination, later in the day, and not mix it into a protein shake. Eat 5 prunes a day. It's old fashioned, but it really does work. I used to bleed until I became anemic. Not a pleasant picture, I know. The razor blade comparison I can relate to. (You have hemorrhoids).
    also - a "scoop" may be too much. One teaspoon for every 8 oz.glass of juice or water works best.
  • servicedograiser
    servicedograiser Posts: 38 Member
    edited November 2014
    Your're trying to pass a tree trunk with all that dry fiber. Up your fat drastically! Use stool softeners and a glycerin suppository to get it started. - advice from a cement butt!
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    lewispwest wrote: »
    Okay will do, more veg it is!
    OdesAngel wrote: »
    By what your saying, a lot of fiber is not good either. Check your macros and balance it out with more fat in your diet. Hard to say without seeing your food diary, though.

    Oh I didn't realise too much fibre was bad, I figured it was a "more the merrier" type deal! Will have to watch it then.

    Nope. In fact, a lot of people with chronic constipation make the problem worse by overdoing the fiber.

    I have some luck with minor exercise sometimes. Preventing fissures (I've had them in the past - they're a pain) can sometimes be done by just not straining. I know it's hard to. I have chronic constipation (TMI, I know, reality of being in recovery from an ED), and in the beginning I would strain. This would lead to tears... fissures, the like. I had to force myself to stop trying to force myself. I haven't had any since. I have to sit around uncomfortable for anywhere between 1 day - 2 weeks, but I'd rather be uncomfortable than deal with that again.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    Do not self diagnose, See a doctor.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    When this happened to me back in college, the doctor told me to drink Citrucel 3 times a day. It worked. Also buy some hemorrhoid cream to keep the orifice lubricated and soothed at all times. It helps immensely. Try stool softeners at the outset for immediate help and then once the Citrucel is working you may not need them anymore.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    edited November 2014
    lewispwest wrote: »
    LeonCX wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
    uh-uh. You can drink water till you pop and it will not help with constipation. OP you need to change your diet and add a stool softener to your diet, such as psyllium. (Metamucil) Soluble fiber is best as it adds bulk to your digestive tract which wheat fiber will not do. Some food choices include oat bran (not wheat) prunes and legumes. Avoid constipation and you will heal up.

    I have a scoop of psyllium husks in my protein shake every morning, I presume that would still do?

    Yeah I will make a big effort to get more vegetables in, I've taken a liking to mixed greens which I will try to have as much as possible going forward.
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.

    I drink quite a lot of water each day so I don't think that's the issue.
    Kalikel wrote: »
    The obvious answer to "What should I do when blood is coming out of my butt?" would be, "Call a doctor."

    It's not really that it's coming out, there's none in the stool itself, just a small bit on the toilet paper when I wipe which is awfully consistent with the pain I just felt passing it!!
    Unless it's tested, there is no way to know if there is blood in the stool until it's tested. That's why doctors test poop.

    Doctors can figure out all kinds of things, but they have to see you to do it.

    If you don't want to go, don't go. It's your health! It probably is nothing and maybe you eat lots of fiber and take Colace and it gets all better.

    But if it is something and you don't go, you'll be one of the ones who regrets it.

    I know a guy who blew it off and spent three weeks in the hospital. Another blew it off, then called after he got some abdominal pain, but before his appointment, it progressed and he spent two months in the hospital, much of it on a ventilator.

    That's why I suggest calling the doctor. Because there is no way in hell I could know what is wrong with you. Better to go in and find out it's nothing than just assume it and be wrong.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
    LeonCX wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
    uh-uh. You can drink water till you pop and it will not help with constipation. OP you need to change your diet and add a stool softener to your diet, such as psyllium. (Metamucil) Soluble fiber is best as it adds bulk to your digestive tract which wheat fiber will not do. Some food choices include oat bran (not wheat) prunes and legumes. Avoid constipation and you will heal up.

    This. OP, please google soluble and insoluble fiber. Read up on what YOU need. I drink 3x10g of psyllium every day in blender bottle with water BEFORE meals. Cured my IBS. Apparently the microbial environment in our guts are as unique as snowflakes (gasp, I said the word!) So what works for somebody else, might not work for you.

    Trial and error FTW :D
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Thanks for the advice all, I will look in to everything that people have put here :)
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Foamroller wrote: »
    This. OP, please google soluble and insoluble fiber. Read up on what YOU need. Trial and error FTW :D

    Just read a good article which said that the Weetabix I have every morning is a great source of insoluble fibre (7.8g) which is good for preventing constipation so I will keep with that and change up the method in which I am taking in psyllium as per the other commenter :)

  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    OP, psyllium in itself, is actually not particularly high in fiber. But it has a "jelling" effect in the digestive tract, and helps soften everything up. Soluble fibers work best to achieve this effect. Also, are you looking at things in your diet that may be constipating you? Too much dairy can cause this.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    LeonCX wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    If you're getting enough fiber then you might just need to increase your water intake.
    uh-uh. You can drink water till you pop and it will not help with constipation. OP you need to change your diet and add a stool softener to your diet, such as psyllium. (Metamucil) Soluble fiber is best as it adds bulk to your digestive tract which wheat fiber will not do. Some food choices include oat bran (not wheat) prunes and legumes. Avoid constipation and you will heal up.
    You need to be drinking sufficient water when consuming a lot of fiber. This is even marked on fiber supplements. From my own anectodal experience, if I do not drink enough water but I am eating a lot of fiber, I can easily become constipated.

    Wheat-based foods are FINE to consume whether they are eaten to increase fiber intake or not.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    I would get checked out by a doctor just to be safe! How long have these symptoms been going on? If they're recent, it is possible that there was a tear or cut from a recent BM that was too big to pass properly. Or, it could be something going on inside your body. Definitely look into the stool softening suggestions above, and try not to strain too much when going as well before seeing a doctor.
  • flowrgal23
    flowrgal23 Posts: 33 Member
    I second the magnesium; try magnesium citrate.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    lewispwest wrote: »
    Foamroller wrote: »
    This. OP, please google soluble and insoluble fiber. Read up on what YOU need. Trial and error FTW :D

    Just read a good article which said that the Weetabix I have every morning is a great source of insoluble fibre (7.8g) which is good for preventing constipation so I will keep with that and change up the method in which I am taking in psyllium as per the other commenter :)

    Are you taking an actual supplement powder? When I used to use Metamucil, if I did not drink a lot of water along with it then I actually became constipated. So didn't matter that I was getting in enough fiber. I have fewer issues with constipation when I drink enough water and oncE I stopped taking Metamucil. Fiber intake is quite high most days, I very rarely am below the rec'd amount and even if I am it balances out with very high days.
This discussion has been closed.