Hello,
I just wanted to make a quick thread and introduce myself to the members of the forum.

I've been suffering for nearly one year now and I'm hear to learn and share.

My decent into this hell that is anal pain started last year in May. I came down with an ear infection and was given an antibiotic for it to squirt into my ear for two weeks. This didn't work so they put me on a very strong antibiotic which made me constipated. I had to be on this antibiotic for nearly a month.

The GP (I'm UK based) didn't feel it would be a good idea to put me on a laxative. So I tried over the counter options which didn't work. Because by the time I was desperate, my stool was so hard and big that once it had made it's way out of my body it tore me - literally - inside.

I was dismissed saying the blood was probably from haemorrhoids, so they gave me cream for that, still ignoring the fact that I was incredibly constipated. So taking a poo became very painful and I would bleed. I was in so much pain that I would sit rocking myself in agony. I'm sure many of you know this feeling.

After finishing eight weeks on haemorrhoid cream I went back and told them again, that there was a large amount of blood in my stool and I was only going every 4/5 days. So they gave me something called Rectogesic and Laxido - Laxido is another name for Movical,. I was on this for eight weeks and started to have some relief but it wasn't gone. So I went in again, and again, and again...

Fast forward to the beginning of April and I went in because I could now feel a very large lump in my rectum. I was still having the bleeding and pain. I was given an urgent referral to a colorectal surgeon because they thought I had bowel cancer. I spent three weeks thinking I was going to die and I felt like it too.

I finally got into my appointment with the colorectal surgeon and had a very uncomfortable examination without any anaesthesia where they put a camera inside me and have a look around. It made the pain after a bowel movement seem like a bee sting. However, I was diagnosed with multiple fissures, sentinel pile and a large Polyp which had grown to a size which was blocking me internally. It was at the top of the largest fissure which was 2 cm long and the sentile pile was at the bottom of that. The rest were little fissures around the rectum from straining from constipation.

He rushed me for an operation which I had on the 24th of April. He removed the sentile pile and the polyp and injected botox in my rectum for the spasm to help the fissures heal. He prescribed me Diltiazem 0.2% cream, more Laxido, Diclofenac suppositories, codeine 30mg to take 4 times a day.

I'm nearly a month out of surgery and while I've had improvements, I'm still suffering. I can still feel a large amount of swelling just inside my rectum and I am in pain 7 hours or more on most occasions after having a movement. I'm still constipated despite a healthy diet and ensuring I'm drinking enough water. I'm having a reaction to the diclofenac suppositories where they irritate me inside and cause really bad diarrhoea. The pain is so bad from my insides while I'm going that it's hard to describe. Like the muscles are clenching for stuff to come out, but nothing is coming out and it's a very violent feeling.

last night I purchased Cicatradina suppositories and full spectrum CBD for vaping.

The suppositories arrived today and I've just had my first one. I haven't received the CBD yet, but apparently it's good for inflammation. At this point I'm willing to try anything just so I can have my life back.

Welcome to the forum. I"m sorry you have been through all this - it sounds like some of the treatment you have had on the NHS has been far from optimal.

Your experience with laxatives strikes a chord with me. I'm also in the UK. I've been on a daily dose of Laxido for something like five years, and haven't found that it caused me any harm. I think it's beneficial, and helps to keep things moving. Rectogesic can be helpful, but the last colorectal surgeon (CRS) I saw told me that it wasn't doing anything much for my condition and was only likely to make things worse. But everyone is different, and you may have another experience of it. As far as I know it's only meant to be used for short periods of time (max. 8 weeks).

Regarding pain, I've recently been reading Dr. Greg Lehman's Pain Guidebook - Recovery Strategies - it's a free download - and I have found it useful in coping with the pelvic pain associated with anal fissures. I wonder if you might also get some benefit from it? I know it's often hard taking advice from strangers, and you need to follow your own instincts in choosing the best route forward. Just remember that the forum is here, and many people who are here now or have been in the past have been through tough experiences with AF, and can offer support and help.

Thank you Dmcff for the recommendation. I'll give it a read.

I welcome all the advice I can get ! I'm reading through all the threads looking for something I haven't tried yet.

I couldn't live without Laxido. I thankfully have a repeat prescription of this now and I take 2 to 3 per day. It doesn't guarantee I'll go, but it stops the stool from becoming hard and bulky.

I've had no relief from the rectogesic or Diltiazem. My GP and Surgeon seems to disagree with each other on their usage. So I have a follow-up with my surgeon on the 3rd of June. I do find the Diltiazem to sting very badly so I never use it right after a BM.

Diltiazem gave me a nasty rash, and I've never used it since. One physiotherapist prescribed aqueous cream, and it's about the only thing I've been able to put down there apart from water - I've found that sitz baths are helpful. The bath attachment can be purchased on Amazon for a tenner, and it functions as a bidet, don't know if you've tried it.

Hope you get some good follow-up from the CRS. Yes, there is often a clash of opinions between GPs and CRS. I think it's partly because colorectal and pelvic conditions are an area of medicine that in the UK until fairly recently was relatively unexplored and more or less taboo, therefore ignored. It's only since the turn of the century that doctors and surgeons have turned their attention to it. A lot of GPs are really out of date in this field, and even the CRS still tend to be dismissive and unwilling to treat patients who suffer with pelvic pain.

Hi there,
read your post with interest. I am in the UK as well here and have gone through a similar experience to yourself. I have seen CRS via the NHS at 2 london hospitals and even paid to see one privately but I have to say that all of them have left a lot to be desired. Waiting times between appointments on the NHS have been horrific and the advice totally contradictory. I am currently having to deal with a fissure which will not heal, skin tags and haemorroids too. In desperation I am travelling to the US later today as I have been recommended a leading surgeon there. Let me know if you are interested in his advice and I will get back to you on my return

Hi, I hope your visit to the US will be productive, and that you get some effective treatment. Will look forward to reading about your consultation with the CRS, and his advice. Very best, dmcff

bdfguy wrote:Hi there,
read your post with interest. I am in the UK as well here and have gone through a similar experience to yourself. I have seen CRS via the NHS at 2 london hospitals and even paid to see one privately but I have to say that all of them have left a lot to be desired. Waiting times between appointments on the NHS have been horrific and the advice totally contradictory. I am currently having to deal with a fissure which will not heal, skin tags and haemorroids too. In desperation I am travelling to the US later today as I have been recommended a leading surgeon there. Let me know if you are interested in his advice and I will get back to you on my return

Hi Bdfguy,

Safe travels. I hope you’re able to get some help. This is the absolute worst

Let me know how you get on and what your surgeon says.

Pherianne

Phierianne.
So sorry to hear about your fissure problem. I had a painful one 2014. Took about 1 1/2 years to heal. However my longterm pain was not as bad as yours. Have a minor one again. Im glad you had a CRS who actually looked inside and saw issues. Rather than doctors doing basic exams and guessing.I wish you well.
(TMI WARNINGS)Right now My goal is to have BMs where it simply falls out with minimal pushing...due to pain and desiring healing..
Best of luck!