I know there's never a good time to be in pain, but since yesterday I have been in absolute agony again. I have to sit through a 3 hour exam tomorrow and I really don't know how I'm going to do it unless I get some relief.
Despite taking senna I managed to become constipated, I spent half of yesterday in the bathroom :(
Today I have managed a BM, but the pain is awful. I have used my Anoheal cream, have taken the Diclofenac the Dr gave me along with paracetamol ( I was told not to take ibuprofen with these). But still loads of pain.
This morning I sat on a bucket in the bath, filled with hot water (as hot as I could bear) and that did help for a bit. I'm trying to revise by lying on the sofa, sitting is near impossible.
I'm feeling very sorry for myself today, but I knew you guys would understand :(
Also, is it normal with a fissure to always feel like you need to go? I never feel like I have completely emptied my bowel. And I have noticed lately that my BM's are very thin. It's like they only have a tiny gap to get out of (maybe the swelling is closing everything off?) Maybe it's psychological, I know it's going to hurt so I subconsciously tense the muscles...
I hope you are all having a better day than me
for listening

Oh im so sorry you are in such pain.. i can remember going thru the same when i was at my worst.. lots of hot baths helped.. make sure you are eating at regular intervals and eating nice fibery foods.
I understand when you say that you 'never' feel like your bowels have emptied.. i used to get that feeling too.
Im sorry i dont know your history, but have you had surgery previously? How long have you had your fissure? What treatments have you tried so far?
Well i hope you can get thru your exam ok, i wish you all the best of luck.. try not to stress too much... i always found stressing out made my stomach turn into a mess.
let us know how you get on

sorry to hear, this pain is awful. what I noticed is when you don't get it all out that causes a lot of the pain.If I load up on fiber and don't get it all out I find that is a bad day.It seems when passing gas it also relieves some of the pain/pressure.
Have you tried Diltiazem ointment ? it changed my life.
Yesterday was a bad day for me but today so far so good. Hope you have a good one.

I am sorry you are having a rough time and I know you have your exam tomorrow. I bet it is related to stress and worrying about sitting tomorrow.
Have you tried flaxseed oil or fish oil or aloe vera? I know I have probably asked that before as it is my tried and true for keeping things sliding out. I wonder if a few tablespoons of milk of magnesia would help.
I know what you mean about filling like you can't get done. I go through periods where it feels like I am not emptying my bowels. I just try to reassure myself that when my body is ready it will expel it and not to strain or worry because my body knows what it is doing.
If you take 800 mg of ibuprofen at once, does that cut the pain? You can even take that with acetimenophen to get you through the sitting. I use a cushion with the middle cut out that kind of keep my behind from touching the surface. If I can't use that I sit on one cheek or sit on my foot.
I am sorry-please let us know how you get on.

Also, strange as it may sound, I found water enemas to be helpful with the pain sometimes. My CRS makes me take one two hour before the appt. I can't handle a regualr fleets enema, to irritating, so I dump out most of the fleets and fill with warm tap water, and proceed. The time before last, I found this really helped for some reason. Maybe I had something in the fissure that was irritating it. I also helped me have that complete bm.

Also, is it normal with a fissure to always feel like you need to go? I never feel like I have completely emptied my bowel.
I had that problem, too, but I am not sure it is related to the fissure, but it certainly could be. A tight sphincter probably is not doing it's job fully, that of pushing the stools on through the canal...
And I have noticed lately that my BM's are very thin. It's like they only have a tiny gap to get out of (maybe the swelling is closing everything off?)
That, too, may be related to the tightness of the spincter. That problem mostly went away with me after my LIS...
$)@

Hi, I'm so sorry you're suffering so much, have you asked your doctor for valium? I'ts helped so much. I use ice(wrapped in a thin sandwich bag and loo paper) , after a BM, and when the pain has settled a bit due to the ice, I get in a hot bath with savlon in it. I have paracetamol and ibruprofen together, with my breakfast, so that they've kicked in before the pain can get me! Sometimes it gets me anyway though!
I keep a bottle of wheatgerm oil in the bathroom and put it on the fissure every time I go in the bathroom. That's been a great help too.
Hope you feel better soon
Val

Thank You so much for your replies.
I am feeling much better this evening. I think the pain-killers take time to kick-in and I just need to make sure I taken them before the pain comes back.
Lecia, I think you're right and stress really doesn't help. I will be so glad when it is all over tomorrow. I take fish oil, but not aloe vera capsules. I will look for some next time I head into town :)
Val, The ice-cubes is something I had forgotton about! I will try that in the morning to numb the area before I attempt the bathroom. :shock:
Kimbo, I've seen LIS mentioned before, but I don't really know what it is :oops:
Buttgirl, that might be an option! Do you use warm water?
trouble in uranus, I think that Diltiazem is anoheal cream over here, it is brilliant usually.
cheryl, thanks for the reassurance :) I've apparently had the fissure for 7 years since I had my daughter. I thought I had hemmies and home treated, but lately the pain got worse and worse so I got a referral to the hospital (after I went in to ER). They 'think' it's a fissure but couldn't do much of an examination becasue of the pain, and sent me away with anoheal (Diltiazem). I go back in November, and now I am armed with more information (thanks to this forum) I'll be asking for more examinations.
It's so nice to know I'm not alone.
so much :D
Helen xx

Helen, LIS is the surgery that "cuts" the sphincter in such a way that it relaxes it and makes the AF spasms go away, allowing for blood to flow properly to the fissure site to heal it.
It is the surgery that I and Cheryl and some others on the board have had. It was the only way out of AF for me...

Yes, warm water is what I used.