Anal Fissure Support Forum

[SunshineHope]

Hi all,
Just had a weird experience, my fissures been acting up a lot lately, and to this date I don't even know how many I have or what exactly is going on down there. Probably 6-8 months ago, my CRS told me I have 2 fissures. My CRS is only available every 3 months so I just stopped visiting him. I've booked an appointment with my GP for tomorrow.
In the past few days I've been having a lot of pain, with no blood. Then one or two days were fine, with Miralax. This morning, the BM wasn't as painful as the other days, but I bled like there's no tomorrow. I saw so much blood that I thought I was getting my monthly a bit early!!! It's been a while since I've seen that much blood. I'm not angry, stressed, or upset about it, I'm just really wanting this all to stop. In December I'm going on a month long vacation to the East and that's originally where I got my first fissure - 2 years ago (yay, maybe my fissure and I will celebrate a 2 year hot anniversary... Going back to the lovely place we first met). :flush: lolll. Oh the memories... I remember being so healthy before and being able to eat anything, having no restrictions, having no FEAR of the next BM. I want this to go away before I get there, but I doubt the chances of that.
Even if I booked myself down for surgery now, the actual date I'll get in is very unpredictable here. Usually they'll give me a date for 6 months later, and if any opening comes before then, they'll tell me a few days before. I can't really do that because I have work and a big exam to write, I can't handle the "all of a sudden surprise" of an ass surgery... I've just been using aloe vera and it helps me heal tremendously, it usually takes away the pain and starts healing things just after 2 days of using it twice a day. BUT, it doesn't prevent my fissure from re-opening when I've eaten something wrong. I might just go back and get diltiazem again tomorrow and work with that --- I remember diltiazem helping me but I stopped using it because it started itching so badly down there (I'm assuming because it was healing?)
This is totally looking like a cycle for me, a viscious cycle. For those who have seen me on this forum for a while or who I've known for a while, e.g. kim, lecia, kate, gareth, etc., you guys have probably seen me posting a FEW times about re-tears, complaints about pain or blood again, etc. I would love to hear from you guys again, it seems like you're more reliable, consistent, and caring than any of my doctors, by far !!! lol... (this also goes for all the other boardies who have been kind enough to reply to me recently). I'm still not upset or depressed at all, for some reason (phew), which is great because stress really aggravates any health condition, obviously. I don't think I have it in me anymore to be depressed or upset about this!! I will continue keeping hope that this will, one day, heal. Maybe I've just been doing the wrong things. I haven't been able to keep my diet super strict, that could be a reason. Right now though, I don't know if revamping my diet for like 2 months will really help??? I can try... But I'm sort of looking for something quicker haha. When I'm traveling there, it'll be extra hard to get the right food. Sometimes when traveling there, you don't get to a good place for a while, so you pretty much survive on nuts, fruit, chips, and/or water. It sounds very anti-fissure, but it's better than stopping somewhere and eating an infected meal, getting stuck in the hospital with food poisoning for a week! I will be with family for most of the time, but there will be at least 2 weeks where I'll be on my own. Any advice for those days? Maybe just lots of fruit? What else is good for fissures that doesn't require heating lol? :p
Some people have found healing for many illnesses through alternative therapy, like homeopathic or naturopathic therapy (I don't know the difference, to be honest). I was thinking of trying this out. I took a test on my Ayurvedic type and supposedly my type is the kind that is nourished by lots of warm oatmeal, sweet and sour and spicy st uff, lots and lots of dairy... You guys have no idea how much I miss milk, buttermilk, pure cheese, etc. Usually, pizza doesn't constipate me, but regular plain cheese will. The other day I felt like my body was just craaaaaaaaaaavvvvvving milk! I have low calcium and sometimes I have signs of carpel tunnel because of typing so much, I feel like milk would help me. I'm worried about not having strong enough bones. I miss being able to take any iron supplement (which i also need - pure vegetarian i am) without worrying about constipation. I love eating soy products but they often contain milk, so they're not the best thing for me. I feel like I'm missing out on my general health because of these dietary restrictions. But what can ya do..... That is sometimes the reason why I break my diet, I won't go off and drink milk, but I might eat a bit of cheese with my veggie burger, or I might have a dessert with milk in it, or I may eat a few chips if I feel like my body is craving that salt, or the dairy... I hate having to control for nuts, dairy, soy, and salt/spice when those are all the things that either soothe my body or give me greater strength and health!!!!! This is why it's so hard for me to keep up with anything, I feel like I'm torturing my body more to stay away from that stuff when my bones and body are asking for it, even if my ass will suffer a bit from it... I don't know. Maybe I should be stricter on looking for alternatives. It's been twoooooo years and I've probably had pain for half of the time or more. So I've been having pain for probably a year without stop?
I can't even drink soy milk because it hurts my stomach... I just hate feeling so restricted at such a young age.. I feel like going out and eating anything like everyone else does. There's no one to blame for this and I'm thankful for all the lessons I've learned through this... But I'm just nearing a point of genuine... "i'm sick of this crap" 'edness! I don't think I deserve this anymore. I'm going to heal and I need to heal. Just need to find a way. A better way.
Has anyone tried any alternative forms of therapy that have helped? Maybe I should schedule an appt with a naturopathic doctor? It's expensive but it might work? I don't want to turn to surgery... I'm looking for anything else right now. I'm willing to set myself a meal plan. Fibre has never been an issue for me, I still go twice a day, for me it's just a matter of hard or soft stool. I'm willing to go get another tube of diltiazem tomorrow and start applying it consistently, and getting gold bond maybe for the itch. I just really don't want to deal with hell when I go to travel. Maybe if I start taking care now, things will get better......
so much for being my online and only true support.. My family keeps telling me to take surgery but I really don't want to right now... Maybe I will if NOTHING else works and I come back from my vacation with a sorer butt...take care......
~SH :prayforme:

[SunshineHope]

Correction, I've been having pain for way longer than a year!!! What am I thinking! It's been way too long baby, way too long now! I have to persist to find a cure...... Seriously. I will, and you will, and we will all heal, I'll put money on it. We WILL HEAL.... We just need each other's support and we need dedication and commitment. Two years of battling this (plus the many years before when I had hemmies or other anal pain that I ignored as a teen) is pretty tremendous. We should all be proud of ourselves for putting up with this for so long!

[val]

Hi Sunshine,
you might have developed a sensitivity to the diltiazem- I did and the itching was a nightmare. Have you tried the nitro instead?
You must be totally fed up with all this by now! :( I'm sorry you're still having problems 2 years down the line. If it was me, I would give in and have the surgery! But it is a problem if you have other commitments.I think if it hasn't healed in 2 years though, and its bleeding that much, maybe nothing apart from surgery is going to work anyway.
At least if you do have it, you could go back to a near-normal diet! Yours sounds very restrictive, you must be totally fed up with that too! :(
I wish you luck in whatever you decide!

[SunshineHope]

Hey Val, thank you for the speedy response. . I don't know what scares me about the surgery, it's just the permanentness of it! I just feel like trying everything else in the book before surgery. I especially Can't have surgery in the next few months anyhow, it takes a while to get an appointment here.
The diltiazem, I used almost one tube of it across a few months but I didn't apply it regularly (yes I wasn't smart about my healing then). Usually I would get lazy as soon as my pain would stop, but I didn't realize the fissure was still there. The diltiazem only started to itch after a long time of no pain, so I was told it's probably a sign of healing. Sometimes it would itch too if it came in contact with my skin tag which has been a pain in itself.
I was so shocked to see the blood, I never bleed like that. Usually if I do, it's just a few pink spots if I wipe a whole lot or something. Ah well. Thank you for your message. I'm definitely going to look into surgery in the future if my efforts for the rest of this year fail. Take care.

[val]

it is shocking to see loads of blood - it used to really freak me out! Its surprising how much blood can come out of a little cut!
I think the creams work better if they are used about 3 times a day!!
The surgery might be your only option - apart from botox. I think if a fissure is left a long time, it develops scar tissue and healing doesn't happen so well, even after LIS.
My only regret about the surgery was not having it done sooner! Its not that bad, honestly!

[happyass]

hi sunshine,
well being almost 4 years into it, you are only 1/2 there.....
it all depends on how much you want to tolerate the cycle of mercy and pain from your BMs and fissure(s).
if you are looking to try something different, in addition to alternative therapy (acupuncture, herbs, massage, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, etc.), you may want to try macrobiotics.
also when i traveled to buenos aires, at the time when i also had my fissure, i discovered this magic drops, they looked like water drops, and you would add like 20 drops into an 8 oz glass of water or juice and then you would have a very easy poo....this was sold in the pharmacy and recommended for those with fissures, fistulas, and other anal issues. i wish they would have sold that here otc as they did there.
i walked into the pharmacy there in buenos aires and asked for something to go to the bathroom easier and that is what they gave me....so it wouldn't hurt if you went to a pharmacy where ever you may be travelling to and see what they would recommend.

[Fissulyna]

I tried acupuncture and any cream under the Sun. Only LIS helped.
Wishing you best of luck

[Corsi]

Hi SunshineHope
Sorry your fissure has come back to haunt you, but from I have read on this forum - that is what happens with fissures. I guess that even if we heal we will dread BMs for years ahead.
It would be interesting to know who has retearing the most? Those who had LIS or those who has healed without surgery....I would guess the last one.
Have you tried Botox?
If you are low in iron you can try iron transfusions. I get iron t. weekly now, and I do think it helps (=my husband thinks my mood is better :) ).
About the trip to the East, I would never ever have gone on such a trip with a fissure. That is asking for trouble, but that is my opinion :)
Take care
Corsica

[SunshineHope]

Thank you all for your responses. Happy, those would be great. I'll definitely buy some more Miralax as well to take along with me. Miralax works great for me so I'll definitely take that along. I may look into other therapies, will update the boardies if anything helps. My friend found a great naturopathic doctor who has cured her ovarian cysts. One of her friends also had some health problems and the same doctor helped her a lot. I will look into him in the next 1-2 days. He's only a few minutes away
Corsica, I want to try Botox but I can't find anyone else in my area that also needs it. My doctor was saying you can sometimes find another fissure patient who is interested in getting Botox done and it'll split the $450 into half for you as one case of it is enough for two people. I may not have enough cash to pay the whole deal right now as I'm saving for my own place/car but if none of these other therapies work, I'll probably just move on to surgery. Are there any boardies from Vancouver BC that are interested in getting botox?
The iron transfusions - what a great idea. I know of someone who had them done, that's a great idea for iron deficient folks that are prone to constipation. Thanks for that advice.
Re: the trip, it's not really a trip for adventure, as much as I wish it was. It's more so a family trip and I'll be attending 2 weddings there and visiting some shrines, and many family members homes. For the most part, I will be in good hands. There may just be a few days here and there where I'll have to take food along or make arrangements so I don't have to eat chips or junk. I'll be sure to write a list of potential food items I can take and will try to organize it in advance so I don't have a re-split in some unfamiliar, stinky bathroom!
Thanks again everyone,
~SH

[happyass]

i wouldn't necessarily say acupuncture is a cure for fissures but it is an adjunctive therapy that can help not only with dealing with the anxiety and mood that comes along with dealing with fissures.
i always recommend acupuncture for everything......it may be a coincidence too, but at the time i had started acupuncture, i also was doing macrobiotics (forgot that i had also done acupuncture at the same time because that was the same time i was hit in a car accident (maybe that cured my fissure ), they all worked together to get me where i am.
as you can see with fissy, some things work for some and not for others.
but you have to have an open mind when it comes to this ordeal! which we all do.