I've been reading on this forum for several months now and thought I would introduce myself. I'm a 40 year old mom of 2 (ages 11 and 6) and my nightmare began on Thanksgiving weekend 2018. Thought I had started with my first case of hemmies, but the pain got worse and worse until I was in tears driving 5 min to pick up my kids from school. Went to GP who diagnosed a hem and prescribed creams. The whole experience triggered physical anxiety symptoms and I ended up in the ER with heart palpitations. Throughout this horrible time, I Also had frequent urination, extreme thirst, my blood sugar went up (and I'm not diabetic), menstrual cycle was thrown off, lost a lot of weight (and I'm already small). It was truly terrible and I didn't know what was wrong with me. Went to a GI, and he scheduled me for a flexible sigmoidoscopy the next day, where fissure was diagnosed. (Eventually all those other symptoms went away. I had no idea how powerful anxiety can be!). A few days after sigmoi., I developed a sentinel pile, but didn't know what it was at the time. I was in sooooo much pain! And trying to get thru the holidays! Got in to see nurse practitioner at GI's office, and after another painful exam (3rd digital by this time!), she referred me to CRS. Got in on New Years Eve. Started on Nifedepine and started feeling better within a few days (along with high fiber diet, lots of water, and magnesium citrate Natural Calm). Crs said I could cancel follow up in 6 weeks if I felt better. A few days before it, I did cancel. Then (big sigh) 1 day after what would have been my 6 week follow-up, I got what I can only describe as a butt ache, different from fissure pain, and had some discharge. Made an appt with another CRS in the practice, and she diagnosed a small Abcess. Apparently the fissure healed too quickly. 2 weeks of flagyl ointment to try and clear it up. Didn't work and may have formed a fistula. So today I went in for an EUA and debridement of fissure. I was terrified beforehand and am so glad its over! Now onto healing. CRS also removed sentinel pile. Am nervous about that healing, as I've read it's painful. The local is still working right now and just have to wait for the first BM! Took a dose of miralax when I got home and ate a bowl of bran flakes with ground flaxseed to get things moving!
I've taken a lot of comfort in reading through stories on this forum and am so thankful it exists!