Yes, I am a 'new" member here, but by gosh, I've been reading this site, among so many others, for a few YEARS now. I am fifty-seven year-old male, who was very active just a few years ago. Ten years ago, I had pain from ostensibly a fissure, which did heal. But in 2013, the fissure returned with a vengeance. In addition to the two years of pain from the chronic fissure, I have also had a miserable summer, with what seemed like a UTI infection (which thankfully, seems to have passed) along with a feeling of a bloated abdomen, distended feeling in the gut, and for months now, profuse sweating. I have had a colonoscopy, and then a sigmoidoscopy, and four different colo-rectal surgeons all offer their opinions, along with the patience of my Primary Doctor, as I have tried Nitroglycerin, Nifedipine, etc., but this latest symptom of severe sweating has me very concerned. I cannot sit without pain for about two years now, and since last Spring, the abdomimal symptoms, along with the sweating, began. Prior to this, I have been disabled for forty-three years now with Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, a facial nerve pain, so in a sense, I am used to dealing with pain and with doctors. It's astonishing how dibilitating this anal fissure problem can be, since I do have access to pain medications, but really, none of these help the fissure pain. I do have Levator Ani Spams that do respond to Baclofen, so I have found partial relief to the spasms, but I still cannot sit normally without pain for two years now, and it's driving me toward madness. And once the severe sweating began this Spring, it seemed like my entire life was over. I cannot go out, even if it's 65 deg F or higher, with a shirt on, without sweating uncomfortably. I even obtained special "breathable" Merino Wool shirts to wear, but to no avail. I am miserable, facing a possible Sphincterotomy LIS procedure, but I also feel that currently, I may be too ill to even undergo the surgery. No doctor, of the dozen or more that I have seen, seems to understand what I am going through, or can offer any ideas to explain all of my symptoms. For five or six years now, I have very slow healing wounds, and I've also had rashes and similar afflictions that are just uncharacteristic of how I was in the past. I am still able to walk and function, as long as I stay inside with AC on, but this is no life. Can anyone relate to any of this?

I can relate to being your age, and having suffered from an anal fissure for many years before finally having the LIS surgery this past January. I am not familiar with Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, but had Trigeminal Neuralgia for a couple of years in my 20's. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me, and was far worse than my fissure. It took a long time for them to diagnose the problem correctly, but they finally did and put me on an anti-convulsant. That drug made me nauseous 24/7, but that only lasted for 2 years and then the neuralgia went away. Because it was caused by dental work though (I've had 19 root canals), I now have broken teeth in my mouth (because the teeth that were treated when I was in my teens and 20's are now all falling apart from brittleness), and cannot have them pulled because the neuralgia would probably return. This leaves me unable to eat many foods, because I don't have a lot of upper teeth that meet bottom ones.

I'm so sorry to hear that your doctors have not been able to diagnose what else is going on with you, because until they do, they obviously can't provide a treatment plan.

Where are you located? Perhaps your doctor can refer you to a multi-discipline specialist (we have those in Toronto), who may would have more experience dealing with overlapping issues?

I'm sorry that you're having such a bad time of it right now, but hopefully, a new doctor can help you figure things out soon.