First I would like to thank you all for the posts on this board.
I found the board last week, when I was in a lot of pain, and I know now that the next thing for me is the LIS procedure.
I have had my AF the last 22 months, and I have been trying all kind of things to fix it.
First I was on Rectogesig for about 4 months, and that did not help me. In the next 8 months I got 2 botox treatments on a private clinic, and they did not do the thing for me either. After the last check up, the CRS told me that he would do a LIS op next week, and I got so afraid because of all the warnings about incontinence after LIS op. That was when I decided to go in for a 2nd opinion in NHS in Denmark. They put me on Diltiazem hydrochlorid for 4 weeks, and I was only to apply it 1-2 hour pre BM. It did help a bit, but was not groundbreaking. On the next check up the CRS made a schedule for botox/fissurectomy.
About 8 weeks ago I got the Fissurectomy, and botox once again, but this time in the NHS, and that did make some difference from the two other times with botox, when it started to kick in. The AF almost disappeared, and I thought that this was to be the breakpoint for me, after so many months in pain and on strong medication. But last week I could feel that all the old symptoms were coming back, great pain, spasm etc. It was now just a question of time when I would be back where I were pre the last botox/fissurectomy. And I was right, this weekend it all went wrong again. I did not have a hard BM, but anyway the BM were bloody, and I could feel the AF were big and open again
Before the last botox/fissurectomy the CRS told me that I had to think about the LIS op as an option, as he thought that I would end up with that, and he was right. Fortunately I had been reading on this great site for most of last week, about LIS op, and therefore was prepared for it, and it did not scare me anymore, with help from all of your great threads/posts. Therefore I called the hospital yesterday, and asked them to book me for a LIS op. They had a cancellation this Wednesday for a pre check for LIS, and at that appointment we will schedule when I will have the LIS op.
I am so lucky that my employer have no problems with me working from home, and I have been doing that for the last 12 months. But now I really am getting sick of working from home. I really miss the close contact that you get everyday on the job, and I really miss all my lovely colleagues. I think, that helped also making it easy to take the decision about the LIS op, I really want to go back to work so bad.
Like all of you I have been changing my diet, and drinking a lot water past the last 22 months, and do all the right things that can help you healing an AF and live as normal as we can. In Denmark we eat a lot of fiber, because we have this bread called “Rugbrшd” that we eat in the morning, and for lunch. The more fiber in them the better in my opinion, and it gets you all the fibers that you need in one day. I still have been using Magnesiumoxid, but not that much. For pain I have been eating Oxynorm with Oxycodone in them. I now that they can cause constipation, but I have never had problems with constipation during my AF adventure, because of the high fiber “Rugbrшd” and Magnesiumoxid. I have seen a lot of threads with people saying that it is a no go with opiates for pain when having AF. I think if you get the right diet, and laxative, then it’s no problem with opiates for pain relief, but that’s my opinion. I read a lot of threads with people in pain, so I don’t understand why these people should not have some real pain relief, but again I guess that their DOC/CRS have another opinion. My DOC/CRS have all been against me using Oxynorm, because of the risk of constipation. I have talked to all of them about this, and after some persuasion they all understood the need for me not to be in pain. What I mean is, that if you don’t get constipated of pain killers I don’t see why people with AF should not have them. I also know that pills with Oxycodone are addictive, but it’s not as bad as you read on some sites. I have been up and down in doses of the Oxycodone that I have been eating the last 19-20 months, and I don’t think the withdrawal is that hard. I almost was off them after last botox/fissurectomi. I just withdraw 10mg every week, and by doing that I did not feel uncomfortable. In the beginning of my AF adventure, I got Tramadol for pain relief, and they did not work. So if you are like me, and can’t handle the pain, try to put some more fiber in your diet, and ask your DOC/CRS about some Oxycodone for pain relief, as they do work really well.
I have also been experimenting with pain relief from cannabis, in the first months with my AF, and that worked pretty well, in the beginning when the pain was not a big a problem as it is today, and have been for the last 19-20 months. Therefore if your AF only gives you a small pain, then cannabis perhaps could help you with the it, so you still can live your life close to normal. I have a friend that baked me chocolate chip cookies with cannabis, and I could really not taste the cannabis in them, but after about 1 hour post eating them, my pain would go away for like 8-10 hours, and then I would eat another, and that would remove the pain for the rest of the day. I know cannabis is illegal in most countries in the world, but I must say that I did not think of that for more than 1-2 sec. before I eat the first cookie, and never did I think about it again. It did also help a lot on the spasms, and for most of the day i did not feel my muschle had any spasms.
I think that post my LIS op, when the pain from the operation is gone, I will try to switch to cannabis cookies again, and withdraw the Oxycodone with 10mg every week, till I am all of them.
Again I will like to thank all on this board, for helping me decide to go for the LIS op just by reading your posts. I think that I will show my CRS the board, so he can give the url to other AF patients, because if I got so much help just by reading what others have been writing, then others could benefit as well.
Hope that you all have a good day, with a lot of progress in area51
Kind regards Danish_AF
