Feel a bit better today (8 days later). Still have a mild discomfort during and after BM. I can feel I’m in spasm worse now than before the tag removal. Disappointing but maybe lis will fix me?

I think it will fix us both

Peggydoo wrote:Hey Conifer2, I have 2 direct messages to you sitting in my outbox as well.. so must be a site issue. If you don't see them, post here and I will try again in a few days. Glad to hear you are doing well!

Hey peggydoo
If you'd like to join in on our active chat theres a few mums chatting in the post under considering lis or already had it and its called 32f lis post op experience come join us 2 of us have just had lis an 2 of us are thinking about lis

I thought Id come back and update a bit on how things are going as its been a while and also see there is a number of posts here I have missed.
Hi Missy and Suffering2long - sorry to see you are still active here and struggling with the continued issues from this horrendous condition. I really hope you both get things moving in the right, healing direction as soon as possible. Just to feed in to the tag conversation - I had mine removed as the surgeon told me that the fissure would likely never heal on its own as it kept aggravating it. I am so glad I had it removed. Sure there are definite cosmetic benefits and I feel normal again there but I really believe it was contributing to retears and I have since read some scientific papers that suggest this was indeed the case.

But suffering - I am sorry that you are still having spasms and are in pain. It sounds like LIS might be the right thing for you. I was also terrified for incontinence but to be honest I would have put up with it as I couldnt handle the day to day pain anymore. I was in a dark palce and it wouldnt have taken much to push me over the edge if I am honest. I did have a bit of 'seepage' for the first few months after LIS and used gauze routinely every day. I sometimes get a little bit (really really little but not enough to makr underwear) if I have had a really lose bm due to something Ive eaten. But 90% of the time its fine and I think this will improve over time as the muscle gains back its strength. Im not concerned though at all about it.

As for my general recovery - things are really good. I am 5 months and 1 week out of LIS and honestly feel almost normal again. I don't have any discomfort during or after a bm and I have now stopped using sitz baths. I still use wipes to clean after bm but this is just me being careful. My diet is back to normal and I eat what I feel like eating (within the confines of pregnancy) but still take 1 laxido a day. I stopped this about 6 weeks ago and things werent great but I think that was linked to pregnancy constipation so when back on it and everything went back to normal. I think I will keep going with this for a good while longer until baby is here and then think about adjusting. We are back to being able to go away for trips and not have me panicking about the toilet situation and how I am going to cope which really makes me realise just how much having a fissure can take away so much of your freedom. I barely think about my bum anymore which is such a change to when I was litearlly spending 12 hours a day on this site reading everything I could possibly find.

The pregnancy is going well - almost at 6 months. I have a meeting with a consultant in June to dicuss my birth plan as my CRS strongly recommended a c-section given the LIS. It wouldnt be my preference but at this point after fissure trauma and 2x MCs last year I will do what it takes to have a healthy baby born safely. I read a lot about how you cant have LIS prior to having children and that is just not true.
So in summary to all of this - LIS is still the best decision I have ever made and would do it again if I had my time over. Will continue to check back in and will make sure to do an update after the baby is here for anyone that it might help.

Oh my gosh Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou conifer for updating us all! I understand that when you feel good and healed, it’s difficult to get back on this forum because you want to move on. It helps tremendously!
I appreciate your explanation of leakage and it does make me less scared. I can handle a few “marks”..especially if it improves with time. I just don’t want to poop myself in public!
It sounds like you have your life back and I’m so glad to hear it. Hopefully that will be me soon enough. I’m seeing my surgeon in early May.
My tag site healed and is no longer an issue. I’m still getting a very tight feeling which burns during BM and can make things feel stuck and slow to pass.
Please update us if you can and best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Suffering2long wrote:Oh my gosh Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou conifer for updating us all! I understand that when you feel good and healed, it’s difficult to get back on this forum because you want to move on. It helps tremendously!
I appreciate your explanation of leakage and it does make me less scared. I can handle a few “marks”..especially if it improves with time. I just don’t want to poop myself in public!
It sounds like you have your life back and I’m so glad to hear it. Hopefully that will be me soon enough. I’m seeing my surgeon in early May.
My tag site healed and is no longer an issue. I’m still getting a very tight feeling which burns during BM and can make things feel stuck and slow to pass.
Please update us if you can and best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

I was straining every time I had a BM as it seemed like the opening was too tight which was the last straw for me to go ahead and get the LIS. If your sphincter is already tight, you will not have any incontinence issues unless the surgeon makes a mistake because it indicates your sphincter is good and strong. I have had zero incontinence issues for the now 18 months since my LIS (I was off the charts tight down there). LIS has a 90-95% success rate. Try to find a great surgeon and you should be fine. Get your old life back. Best decision I ever made.

Just another option.
I had a fissure for 8.5 yrs I'm now not having pain or bleeding during bms and my bms are sometimes big or hard an still no problems. What i did was slowly went off softeners then ate healthy for a few months then added in 1 tsp of natural psyllium husk once a day. I still eat healthy i still take 1tsp of psyllium husk each day i drink 3 ltrs of water everyday but thats because I'm breastfeeding. Just to add something else that can't hurt i use rectogesic after every bm just because. Good luck you can heal.

Thanks Rich44, it sounds like exactly what I’m experiencing. Your story gives me hope.
Missy, that’s interesting that you’ve turned a corner..hopefully you can fully heal with no setbacks in the future. Avoid the surgery if you can but it’s nice to know that the lis is there if you need it.

Conifer, I just wanted to thank you deeply again for this thread because it made me feel corageous enough to do the surgery and I'm really glad I did because so far, it has been very similar to your journey.
Reading your experience has helped me a lot and gave me lots of hope ❤️

I'm still doing ok had a week were things were sore not the same 8yr old anterior fissure but a newer posterior fissure its fine now but i was just wondering am i the only original poster to still not of had surgery? It seems like everyone whos been hanging around this site with me for years has made that jump an had lis. I mite need it one day if i get any posterior or anterior flear ups in the future but i definitely think i heal faster with bigger more normally formed bms then the inconsistencies of bms caused by softeners. I wish everyone a beautiful future please all come back an update some day, and see if I'm still here. Updates as we all know are super important. Take care