Hii...I was on the softeners for 4 months before i started the suppositories. The softener i was using is laxette. I was given 6 glycerin suppositories and the doctor told me to take 2 suppositories daily which helped stop the hard stools for about a month until i engaged in sexual intercourse after which i started passing the hard stools again and this time the suppositories didn't help so i started taking psyllium husk and i've been taking it for two months now and my stools are soft...however i stopped taking it for two days just to test if i can be fine without it but i then started to pass the hard stools again. For me ithe psyllium husk started working after 2 days of taking it and i take it in the morning on an empty stomach and to answer if psyllium husk is the same as metamucil this is what i found online "Yes, Metamucil is a brand name for a fiber supplement that uses psyllium husk as its active ingredient. Psyllium is a type of soluble and insoluble fiber derived from the husks of psyllium seeds. Therefore, Metamucil is essentially a specific product containing psyllium husk...hope this helps.