Hi Rach, JHH and anyone else reading! Well we have sold our house so that is step one, no houses are coming up in the new town we want to move to though Fissure wise, all is a bit strange. I have some BM's where there is no pain or blood going but I have after pain which I have to take pain relief for and then other days like today which hurt to go (even though a 6 on BS) and after pain. I still have blood quite often also. I am down to go under GA again soon (through NHS) although haven't had the date yet. My DH cream is now giving me a rash so had to stop using it Hope you are all ok??

4 months on since botox and my fissure is pretty much back to square one, minus the pain level...thank goodness! Still 3/10 rather than 10/10, so maybe it's not back to square one? The reason I say it is is because I still have pain going, it always bleeds and I still have pain afterwards and need to take pain relief. My BM's are always very soft now thanks to Movicol, wow that stuff is good, I moved to it after taking lactulose and haven't looked back. I have another GA on the 28th March to see what's going on down there, I think they 'may' do more botox, but I have no idea. Love and thoughts with you all as always. SS xx

Oh Im sorry SS, I hoped for better news from you. At least the pain isnt as bad.

To me it sounds as the fissure has reached its chronic state, where the pain is less, but not much healing is going on.
Im happy movicol is working for you. That stuff really is the king of soft BM's!

Its hard to advice you, since we do not know how much the last botox has helped. If your fissure has gotten smaller, and you have gotten tighter again, then I guess another round of botox could work.

Another factor is the retears. If you have had retears until starting movicol recently, then maybe you just need time. Soft BM's and avoiding retears are the most important thing healing a fissure.

Good luck the 28th!

J

Hello my lovely AF buddies,

I had my 2nd round of botox yesterday, arse pretty painful when I came round which is obviously to be expected! I was all happy with myself this morning as had some pain, but have a nasty hem on the other side and it felt like it was that.....UNTIL....I had a BM. My goodness me, the pain!! Reminded me of the days before my 1st round of botox, terrible pain going and lots of blood. I had almost forgotton how bad it used to be! I have however just checked my very first post and seen that it was like that the day after my 1st round of botox (good old diaries) except of course I was worse 'before' I had my botox that time, than I was this time, if that makes sense? BTW JHH you were right, it is now acute not chronic, which in my understanding it has healed a bit after first round of botox. Is that right? Whenever I read about the difference in them, it just refers to the length of time you have had it, so not sure.

I hope you are all well and coping as well as can be.

SS xxx

PS - Forgot to say the BM I had this morning was a BS 6, thank goodness!

JHH, I loved reading your Botox diary! I am considering it myself and have an appointment in a week for a consult. And keep us up to date sugar and spice, I can't wait to read about your progress! I'm having a really hard time keeping my stool soft so I'm going to ask for a prescription for lactulose, it doesn't look like I can get that over the counter unless I'm missing something.

Hi JBL,

Not sure where abouts in the world you are but I would go for Movicol/Laxido over lactulose every time, it's BRILLIANT at keeping stools soft. It's called by other names if you are not in the UK, but not sure what. Maybe google it?? I think maybe Miralax?? But don't take my word on that. Basically a powder that you mix in with water.

Best of luck
SS

Thank you SS! It is called miralax and I'm currently taking 1.5tsp morning and 1 tsp evening. Can I ask how much you take and when you take it? My stool is soft after the first hard part but that rips me open every time

Ouch yeah the 'plug effect' they call it on here. JHH told me that lubricating your bum with vaseline (petro jelly) really helps 'before' passing a BM. This def helps, but there is also a lot of other advice on the plug effect on here, put the word 'plug' in to the search engine at the top and it will all pop up! :-)

SS

Ahh yes, the dreaded plug effect :-)

I still prelube when I feel something a little harder than usual is comming. I reckon the fear of a hard BM will stay with me for quite some time...

Jbl, you need to work with your diet and supplements if you want to avoid the plug. It took me months to figure out, but its well worth it. Movicol/miralax is much better than lactulose, and much easier to dose. I only took lactoluse because I couldnt tolerate movicol. It made me feel sick like the flu but my BMs were like silk.

SS, keep fighting girl, and keep the spirit up. Someday this will end!