Hello folks, this forum has been a lifesaver for me these past few weeks. So thank you everyone!
I developed a fissure back in October after a short bout of diarrhea coupled with some intense stress. After pain and bleeding for a week (with no treatment) it was healing along nicely when I decided to start taking Metamucil. HUGE mistake - my body did not like the single biscuit I ate (with tons of water, by the book) and went into major constipation mode with rock hard BMs. I stopped the Metamucil but the damage was done, must have been some kind of allergic reaction. Severe pain, like I've never known before, and a skin tag popped up literally overnight. There were days when i was in pain 6 hours a day, and crying from it.
After 2 visits to the GP and Urgent care, I was misdiagnosed with hemorrhoids and took a bunch of suppositories which I believe just made things worse.
I finally got in to see a CRS first week of Nov. He started talking surgery before he'd even finished examining me, and freaked me out, then prescribed nifedipine+lidocaine
Unfortunately, it didn't heal after 3 weeks of the cream. At my 3 week follow up, he started talking about skin tag removal and debriding scar tissue and LIS (i had had the fissure 5 weeks at that point which struck me as early, but I tend to be scalpel shy, what do you think?)
This week, I finally realized my diet and stool softeners needed to be tweaked. I made 2 changes:
1. I switched to 3 teaspoons of miralax twice a day ( was taking a capful at night and it wasn't doing much good ).
2. Stopped eating all those sweet potato chips ( I was tucking in about 3oz a day for the added fiber but I guess it was too raspy coming out)
I also continued with my high fiber steamed/boiled diet, nifedipine, sitz baths, and daily mild exercise.
Yesterday I was able to angel gas for the first time in a month standing up, which I am thinking is a major milestone. The fissure is still there (i can feel it) but it isn't nearly as inflamed as before and my BMs have been less painful each day. There's still some spasming but not as much as before.
I hope you can help with a few questions:
1. I'm supposed to meet my CRS in 10 days, and I know he'll start pushing the surgery again. How long should I continue this regimen, ie, when do I know it's time to opt for the surgery?
2. He seemed a little snip happy, is that normal for a CRS? I feel that he didn't spend any time advising me on BM consistency and diet and that I'd have been in a better place if he had, so I'm having a bit of a trust issue.
3. If it does heal without the surgery, will the skin tag get absorbed back?
4. My biggest concern with the surgery is the pain - I am living by myself now and I've read a lot on these forums about the debilitating pain some folks have gone through and I am not in a good place for that now. I wonder if I can ask for just an LIS and to leave the tag and scar tissue alone?