Living with it

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Re: Living with it

Postby Ponder » 04 Mar 2016, 16:46

Hey guys.

I got some much needed rest but feeling quite depleted today. Perhaps the system may not regard this condition as life threatening, but It sure can be debilitating at times. Just like people having their gall bladders ripped out at that rate of packaged foods hitting the shelves, I'm betting people all over the world are ripping themselves new A Holes at the same rate. No offense intended.

Just wanted to say thank you for your responses. I appreciate the warm tone.

That's very encouraging Savaici. I think I will need a few thousand + words to sum up my intended approach. I might go start that process now. ;)
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Re: Living with it

Postby paine » 05 Mar 2016, 01:27

hi savaici. i was just wondering how to self dilate when there is an active fissure and how about when the tag is also inflamed? do you need to wait until the fissure has healed? thanks for this site!
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Re: Living with it

Postby Savaici » 05 Mar 2016, 15:32

The dilation is to 'exercise' the involuntary internal sphincter, so to speak,which is what gives all the trouble. It took quite some time for the spasms to stop for me. So, you do it while the fissure is active. This is what I used, etc.

Link dilation:
post119934.html?hilit=Pediatric#p119934
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Re: Living with it

Postby dmcff » 06 Mar 2016, 05:41

I think the problem for those of us in the U.K. may be in actually obtaining the pediatric dilators - I haven't yet been able to find them offered by any U.K. source. But will keep looking.
2014 Anal fissure
2015 CAT, EUA, sigmoidoscopy, 2 MRI
2016 Pain severe then moderate to low
2017 Moderate pain
2018 Physical therapy, pain management
2019-20 Living with it
2021 Still AF
2022 Therapy, meditation
2023 Onward, up
2024 CT scan
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Re: Living with it

Postby dmcff » 06 Mar 2016, 10:48

Going back to the "living with it" theme of this thread: I'm struck by the change in the way I'm reacting to the varying levels of AF pain this year. Last year I was constantly visiting my GP, to a point where I felt I more or less wore out my welcome, and when the pain got really bad ended up in A&E more than a couple of times. This year I still have the pain, though maybe not quite so severe, and have seen my GP only once (make that twice) since the beginning of the year. I have been to A&E precisely 0 times.

Part of this is due to the realization that A&E can't help me beyond supplying me with the creams and painkillers I already have. As far as hospital treatments go, I know that for me the next step is sigmoidoscopy and Botox injections, and I have to decide if I want to follow that route.

What I really want - or have thought I want - is to get back to the way things were before the fissures happened (largely, I feel now, as a result of stress).Yet somehow I know that isn't going to be possible: once things go wrong "down there" the chances of them returning to normal are probably not all that great.

I realized recently that my work is likely to suffer - last year I was able to do very little work because of the pain, and this year I started out optimistically hoping that I could get back to my normal working routine (I work from home), only to find that in the end the returning pain affected my ability to concentrate, and I had to back out of a fairly demanding project that a couple of years ago would not have caused me much trouble at all.

Maybe there is a cure for me, or maybe there isn't. Either way, I feel that AF has caused my life to turn a corner, and it's too late to go back now. And at the age of 71 maybe I need to rethink my priorities: perhaps work is not the be-all and end-all, perhaps there is room for some life as well, and I need to work on making that room.
2014 Anal fissure
2015 CAT, EUA, sigmoidoscopy, 2 MRI
2016 Pain severe then moderate to low
2017 Moderate pain
2018 Physical therapy, pain management
2019-20 Living with it
2021 Still AF
2022 Therapy, meditation
2023 Onward, up
2024 CT scan
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Re: Living with it

Postby Savaici » 06 Mar 2016, 13:04

Look for the brand name DILITAN dilators, if you are in the UK. They are German, i believe. I found them on ebay uk. I started off with them, then changed to the pedeiatic ones available here in the USA.
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Re: Living with it

Postby brokenbottom » 07 Mar 2016, 13:50

Hello again. I too am worrying about the implications this will have (and is already having) in my work. I'm of an age where if I lose my job I'm extremely unlikely to get another and my pension (thanks to the banks and the government) is pitiful. So a way of living with it has to be found somehow.

Reading this thread has made me sad but it has also given me a bit of an eureka moment. The whole dilation thing is something I find so horrifying to even think about that when I was reading about it it caused spasms to kick off! And I thought, if I can set off the pain with my mind, maybe I can calm it too. So I've been doing deep breathing, visualising a healing white light when I breathe in and relaxing the muscles when I breathe out. It may have helped a little. I also found this article which includes some helpful suggestions:
http://diyhealth.com/7-best-exercises-e ... ssure.html

But I certainly won't be buying a dilator any time soon!
Suffered acute AFs since about 2010
2015 Chronic AF diagnosed
18/2/16 Botox (unsuccessful)
12/4/16 Lateral anal sphincterotomy and removal of polyp and two tags
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Re: Living with it

Postby Savaici » 07 Mar 2016, 14:00

Well, that is up to you, BB. The information was for dmcff. :sunny:

Dilation was suggested to me by a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the States, so I trust his opinion! You only gently use the dilator just past the muscle (have a look at the anatomy of the rectum) so it barely enters the anal region. I always used organic lubricant for this.

About deep breathing; this, unfortunately, did nothing for me as being an involuntary muscle which is what the internal sphincter is, it is not possible to relax it by thought. But, no harm in deep breathing if it helps you.

If you feel like it, do read Suzyljank's (one of our excellent Moderators) posts who after having Double Flap Surgery was recommended by her surgeon to dilate to stop the stenosis from which she suffered from re-forming. It is also used on small children after surgery, which must be very difficult for parents, but must be done.

Good luck with your healing, BB!
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Re: Living with it

Postby dmcff » 08 Mar 2016, 07:40

I'm not sure whether dilation would help me or not, as the pain I have appears to stem from chronic fissures that go on opening, part healing, then opening again. Reading Suzyljank's posts, I get the idea that chronic fissures are caused by stenosis, so maybe that's the problem I have. It's so hard to get a proper medical opinion from the doctors I see - I really need to see a CRS, but there are not many of them in the U.K.
2014 Anal fissure
2015 CAT, EUA, sigmoidoscopy, 2 MRI
2016 Pain severe then moderate to low
2017 Moderate pain
2018 Physical therapy, pain management
2019-20 Living with it
2021 Still AF
2022 Therapy, meditation
2023 Onward, up
2024 CT scan
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Re: Living with it

Postby dmcff » 09 Mar 2016, 08:12

And now after months of there being less pain, for no apparent reason the pain has intensified again to a 6 or a 7-8. When it got this bad before, I used to call my GP or go to A&E, but now realize that there's not much point, as there is little anyone can do, short of Botox and/or surgery, and I haven't yet decided to take that road. But today the pain is almost unreal in its intensity, and I don't know how I'm going to deal with it. Will have to try.
2014 Anal fissure
2015 CAT, EUA, sigmoidoscopy, 2 MRI
2016 Pain severe then moderate to low
2017 Moderate pain
2018 Physical therapy, pain management
2019-20 Living with it
2021 Still AF
2022 Therapy, meditation
2023 Onward, up
2024 CT scan
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