I am pleased to have found my way to this forum. I have been in hell for some time now and it is taking some time to work my way through my HMO. On Monday I finally see a CRS. I went from my primary care physician -> two anoscopies with a general surgeon (the first did not work because too much mucous after a prescribed enigma)-> CRS.

In brief:

1. I have never experienced pain like this.
2. It has always been tolerable to have a BM but between 0.5-3.0 hours (most frequently two hours) the crippling pain crescendos and can last many hours.
3. The general surgeon prescribed nifedipine 3X per day and 2 tsp fiber powder + H20 per day.
4. I have 2% lidocaine cream and 2.5% hydrocortisone (Proctozone-HC) in my arsenal
5. As of yesterday, I have Norco as a pain killer but the one time I took it (today) it didn't forestall the pain much if at all.
6. Even now when this debilitating burning is subsiding after a BM 8 hours ago, I still have minor pain at or near the orifice.
7. I am it the sits baths a lot. I am at a loss as to what to do to help myself. The quality of life for my wife of 40+ years and myself is at an all time low. How best should I navigate this forum what what can you tell me to help myself?

Thank you for responding quickly.

I think the CRS will be more helpful than the general surgeon you are seeing. I would suggest not using hydrocortisone since it thins the skin and doesn't help with healing. I hope you find some relief soon. The agony of a fissure is really like nothing else.

I agree that the quality of life is compromised with this situation. I do not think people understand until they have gone through this.
I found a cream, Dr. Butler's Fissure Ointment, and that was the only thing that has worked for me so far. It finally started giving me relief until I re-injured it again a couple of days ago.

Brad,

Did you go see the CRS? Pain this debilitating definitely warrants going to a doc. One thing you could also try is adding a stool softner (docusate) to your arsenal, or docusena if you are constipated which is a softner + stimulant.

Another thing that I'm looking into trying is fasting, if you are in good health I would research that.