by Chloe6 » 18 Aug 2016, 23:15
Hope I'm not being premature in my upbeat mood but I haven't been upbeat in quite some time. I've had a fissure now for over a year. A month ago I dragged myself to my 3rd gastro doc as the first two were not getting me anywhere and I was very down. This third guy not only recommended a paste that has been the only thing that has taken pain away for me, Calmoseptine, (over the counter by the diaper section and I've tried around 10 different oinments, oils, salves, honey, lidocaine, blah, blah) but wanted me to see a surgeon which I didn't think I was ready for. He says this guy will not be quick to want you to have surgery, he's good, see what he has to say. So the surgeon says he used to do many surgeries for fissures but now only about one a month cause chemically he's having success. Gives me script for special compound of Lidocaine and Nitroglycerin. No Qtips says must use your finger. So for two weeks now doing it and lo and behold no tearing or bleeding. I switched also from taking high dose of magnesium (can lose control of bowels) to Colace and am lowering dose from three to one. Also I've had skinny bms since a teenager (he says skinny bms/tight muscle can contribute to fissure) and they are starting to widen, they almost look normal. This was an added positive feature that I wasn't expecting. Reading this board I've seen discussions about dilation and so I gently dilate for a few seconds when I insert the compound. So I'm not sure which is the winning variable but I am feeling hopeful. Don't know much about nitroglycerin and don't know if it is coating the tissues better than vaseline so that it doesn't tear but the surgeon did use the word 'healing' a few times whereas the first two gastro guys said you don't heal from this, they mainly saw a lifetime of stool softeners... It pays to shop around! I have my next appointment with him in 3 weeks. I now have questions about possibility of life without surgery, without eternal stool softeners, without worrying about bms. I didn't think it would be a surgeon that would give me hope, but guess you never know! Hope my upbeat mood isn't premature. Any comments on any part of this welcome...