by Scientist2516 » 14 Apr 2015, 23:17
Hi Canadabum - I'm honoured you think I can help - I will if I can.
I'm so glad you can talk about your fissure to people. That's got to be a great help mentally, because I found the loneliness of NOT feeling comfortable talking about it quite depressing (until I found one person to talk to about it). So good for you for having the guts to be open about it.
Hmmm, sounds as if you are making some progress, but not very fast. Your initial experience sounds quite similar to mine, but by 6 months I was having mostly good days with some bad days now and again. I still think you could heal, but it might take a long time.
I think there's still a chance to heal even months later, because according to the CRS nurse, my fissure was still open more than a year after it was first diagnosed. And now I feel totally fine. I've even had some hard BMs, and some stress, and no pain at all. So I think it's possible.
If you notice over all improvement over weeks, then it's probably worth persevering with the dilt. If you are going along with good days and bad days, but the good days are not increasing, and the bad days stay really bad, maybe you should have LIS. Do you keep a journal? Try keeping a record of pain, and any possible triggers like the hardness of your stools, stress, heavy exercise etc. After a few weeks look back and see if there's a positive trend, or no healing trend. You can keep your journal on this forum and have people cheer you on or sympathise when things aren't so great. It's really nice, and a great help if you are feeling low.
There was quite a long period - about six months - when I had significant pain, but could bear it because it was so much better than the first 2-3 months. It was at a level I could live with. It sounds as if you are at that point now. So as I say, I think there's hope for you.
Also, I wonder about sticking the dilt up inside? Maybe with an applicator it's OK. I used my finger and eventually thought I was probably doing more harm than good, so just applied the nitro to the outside. But nitro is well absorbed and maybe dilt. is more effective when applied internally. I hope that applicator nozzle is very narrow and soft!
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Hopefully others will chime in with their experience. You may have seen that Butt Queen just checked in with her success story. It's always good to read about the successes!
Good luck Canada! Keep us informed about your progress!
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!