Hi everyone . I thought I would post as this forum gave me a lot of solace when I was in a lot of pain. Hopefully my story can tell people there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
My fissure first flared up about three years ago and got progressively worse, ending up in a situation where I had a sentinel tag and was in a lot of pain. After long drives especially I'd be doubled up in pain and literally brought to tears. I know fissures are sometimes called passing glass and the stabbing feeling is the closest I think could describe it. It would normally kick in a couple of hours after passing a BM and would take a lot of ibuprofen just to even take the edge off. Last year I was passing a LOT of blood and despite a few trips to by GP , I kept just getting fobbed off with 'are you sure you haven't had a pile'.
Things culminated in a work medical where the doctor literally brought me to tears trying to do a prostrate exam and eventually I got a referral through my works private medical. When he first suggested a Sphincterotomy I was understandably nervous but two months on I can honestly say it's the best decision I've ever made.
I went in for the op early December and the Removed the tag as well as the Sphincterotomy . To manage expectations, I needed a full week off work. I do an office job and if you do manual work you might need longer . A couple of days after the op I was in a lot of pain and I was wondering whether it had all been worth it but after a couple of weeks it all settled down. It's now Feb and I don't have any soreness at all. I still have to be v careful on diet (particularly water intake ) and I take a Holland & Barrett fibre force tablet to try to keep things moving and avoid any recurrence. However, the main thing is no pain and no blood! If you are weighing up whether or not to go for the op, my advice would be go for it... I haven't looked back