Greetings! I found myself frequently on this page over the past few weeks and it's been super helpful, so I figured I'd introduce myself and my progress.
I'm 30 years old and I've been dealing with a chronic AF for about 7 months now. The pain was intermittent, and I thought it was a hemorrhoid. I've had 2 hemorrhoid flare-ups in the past 5 years, where the pain was constant for a week or two and then returned to normal, and I incorrectly figured what I've been recently experiencing was hemorrhoids. In February, I went to GP and said my bum hurt and probably a hemorrhoid flare-up, and without she prescribed Anucort-HC (hydrocortisone acetate) suppositories along with the OTC creams for a few weeks every couple months when I had a "flare-up". First mistake was I'm not a Dr. so I should have asked to have it checked out! I also had not had any blood in stool.
The pain started getting more frequent about a month and a half ago, so I made a GP appointment to get a GI referral and to schedule a colonoscopy (My sister passed from colon cancer so it was recommended I get screened every 5 years). During this time I have been taking fiber pills and stool softeners, baths with Epsom salt ~2 times a day, baby wipes, installed a bidet on my toilet... etc... etc... etc... I was like . The problem I've found with stool softeners and fiber pills I've found is that it's very hard to get/keep clean, and I never felt fully evacuated afterwards. Maybe all these tactics could be fine tuned and I could live my life tending to this fissure, but who has time for that?!
This all changed when I had the colonoscopy 14 days ago and the pain then became a debilitating constant misery . When the doc did the colonoscopy it looked something like this . There was blood on the bed when I awoke and blood with BM's since. After my colonoscopy the Dr. was like , but what he really meant was and my mostly-virgin bum had gotten ravaged and tore open the fissure, and would need to go to a GI. Basically whenever I moved too much, and especially after a BM I would have a throbbing/burning sensation. At it's worst times it would feel like a dull utility knife cutting into my bum!
GI inspects 9 days ago. Says I have a small but chronic fissure, as scar tissue has formed and I have a sentinel skin tag with my hemorrhoids a bit engorged. He said the pain was most likely just the fissure. GI also said the Anucort was actually counter-productive, as it's steroid properties would be preventing the fissure from healing. I was prescribed Nifedipine 0.3% ointment, which is a muscle relaxer that when applied relaxes the involuntary action of the internal sphincter muscle in hopes the fissure will heal. After using that for 3 days with worsening pain and , I called to try to skip right to the Botox injection and stop messing around, as I've barely been able to function let alone work. I am fortunate I work for myself and can make my own schedule, but I've been mostly confined to sitting on a heating pad most of the day in misery. I feel for those who have to suffer through this 9-5 , as we know it is physically and mentally taxing.
Fortunately I was snuck into an early morning appointment this morning and got some Botox in my bum. The Doc was like . It is 6 hours later, and I feel great, and think the local anesthetic has worn of. It was an easy procedure and I was knocked out for it. I am only experiencing a mild stomach ache today and have yet to , but I'm feeling so good I made a GIF of myself dancing today and it looks like this .
From my experience, if you're hurting and the doc is dinking around with ointments and diet and month out appointments, call and push the process forward with the docs if you aren't feeling better. If I hadn't of done this, I'd be suffering and waiting for appointments. The squeaky wheel get the oil, and I'm so relieved that the Botox appears to be working and that it's only been a 2 week long process to get to this point. Even if the Botox isn't my last step, it's still one step further in the process and closer to the LIS if neccessary.
Also, please please PLEASE consider getting a bidet attachment, it's the best purchase I've ever made. I got a non-electric BioBidet BB-70 for ~$25 from a Groupon, but normally it's <$50 anyways. I'm sure in the winter it will be cold on my bum, but for the price it's an essential clean like no other.
Maybe this will be the end of my fissure experience, maybe not. I will keep up to date on how the Botox has worked.
-BotoxInMyBum