Hello, I'm a 29-year-old female who has been living with hemorrhoids and anal fissures since I was a little kid. I think it was around 9 years old that I got my mom to show her a toilet full of blood. She assumed I started my period, but it actually was from a fissure. I also have a skin tag - presumably, from one of those fissures over the years). I have a genetic connective tissue disorder so I'm guessing that contributes to my issues.
As a kid, my mom was against getting any kind of medical help unless you were practically dying, so I didn't get any treatment. I thought everyone had excruciating bowel movements. There were times I was convinced that I was giving birth to a baby and I'd stand up and look in the toilet and be disappointed that it was just poop (I grew up seeing animals give birth, so I knew where babies came from but didn't know exactly how babies were made).
As an adult, I finally saw a GI doctor who did three rounds of bandings (meaning three rounds of three bandings - nine bandings total) over 8 years. Every time, the hemorrhoids came back after the bandings. Which were really painful themselves, and it seemed like they were progressively painful. And they did nothing for my fissure. I tried four or more different types of creams and ointments to treat the fissure and/or hemorrhoid, but they did nothing or had major side effects (like an instant migraine and I had to lay down for hours after or else I'd pass out).
Anyway, I finally went and saw a colorectal doctor at Cleveland Clinic while I was there for an outpatient program for another issue and he tried yet another compounded ointment that didn't do anything. Today, he scheduled a botox injection surgery for next week and while doing some research about what it was, I found this forum.
So hello everyone!