It has been 5 weeks since this thing took over my life.

I have dealt with the occasional hem for years, so when I had a particularly difficult bm, I just chocked it up to that and did what I usually do to treat it. Unfortunately, all of the creams, ointments and otc junk just made it immensely worse. The stinging was atrocious and nothing worked. I had never been in this much pain over a hemmy before.

I researched the heck out of hems and finally tumbled onto the idea of an AF. All of the symptoms were exactly what I was experiencing. Now that I knew what to do, I tried to do the fiber supplements, sitz, etc. Again, nothing worked.

My stools have always been bulky and regular. I have never needed anything to help me go. So I just kept re-injuring and going out of my mind not knowing what to do. I went to the doc and he gave me dialtazem and Vicadin for the pain. I took the Vicadin and was so relieved that I could manage the pain, but it left me constipated and I was so loopy I would forget normal, everyday words like toothbrush.

I gradually stopped the pain meds and continued dealing with the constant pain of 1. the BM and then 2. the hours upon hours of pain from the spasms. Couldn't sit all day so my back is destroyed from standing all day working. Thank God I own my own biz and can work from home. Although, I'm not even half as productive with all the reading up on forums, having to walk around a lot to navigate the pain etc.

I also can't go anywhere in my car. My husband has to drive to me my kids' school for my twice weekly volunteering efforts which always turns into an event. I basically stand in the back of the car.

I have missed meetings, a ton of travel and so much work and life stuff. This is crazy. I'm keeping a good attitude because I refuse to let this thing win. I know I can fix this, I just need the right tools. That's not to say I haven't had my pity parties though.

I finally, thanks to this forum, found what works for me, which is Miralax +MOM + Sitz. Thanks to that I have eliminated the bulky BMs re-injuring the AF. I am still dealing with hours of pain from the spasms though and not being able to site all day sucks lol.

I still run every day and drink a ton of water which I always have so that's nothing new. Some days the runs are not so easy with the spasms, but I find it mentally helps me focus on something else.

Anyone have an idea how long those take to go away once the re-injuring stops? Also, how do you know when you are healing?

Thanks for reading my saga :-)

Hi Pita,

Diltiazem can take 6 weeks or more to kick in. Applying it twice a day. You have to use it for at least 8 weeks. Have to kept using it? If so you should get some relief soon hopefully.

Best, LemonMan