Hello from a long time lurker

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Hello from a long time lurker

Postby Ugh » 06 May 2019, 00:09

I'm a long time on and off lurker here, and have really appreciated everyone's information and advice. I figured it was time I introduced myself and told my story . . . maybe someone will have some suggestions for me.

I think I first had an AF in 2005, I was 25 years old. I was traveling in Guatemala, had a hard stool, and incredible pain for weeks afterward. Finally I went to a doctor, who (mis)diagnosed me with hemmroids and prescribed a steroid cream. I also called my primary care doc back home, who advised me to get a sigmoidoscopy because of the blood I was seeing. So, I went to a fancy clinic in the nicest neighborhood I could find in Guatemala city. They sent me home with a video of the inside of my intestine and said I was fine, just hermmroids.

I eventually got better, using the prescription ointment and later prep H suppositories. It would come back every once in a while, but rarely, and the suppositories would help, sometimes I used some aloe. It was never as bad as that first time until . . .

Probably 2014ish it came back and was brutal, and I finally went to a CRS who told me I had a fissure. She prescribed nitroglycerin cream, which I used, and healed. I had a couple flare ups between then and 2018, when I delivered my first baby in January. I was terrified of the post pregnancy poops given my history, and was relieved when they didn't really hurt. But a couple months later, I think due to dehydration from breastfeeding, the fissure came back and I was MISERABLE. Trying to care for a newborn and in so much pain.

So back to the doc I went. She gave me the nitro again, and said I could use it while breastfeeding but that there was really no data on how it affected the baby, so to use it right after feeding him. So I did, but I was a little nervous about it. I used it until I felt better but didn't continue the 4 weeks she recommended after that, because I didn't want to have my baby eat it if I didn't really need it. Well that was probably a mistake. Basically once a month since then the fissure has come back. When it does, I resume the nitro, start taking Miralax (can't take long term because it gives me stomach aches after a few days) and usually feel better after a horrible week.

The last time this happened, in March, I decided ok, I'll continue the nitro for the full course since I'm only breastfeeding twice a day now, and I don't think he gets much milk anymore anyway. I was running low on the nitro so I only did it once a day after the first few days. I was good until middle of last week, and then retore.

I have tried all combinations of nitro, neosporin, lanolin, and estrogen. I use vaseline before BMs and usually squat. I take Miralax, magnesium (500 mg a day, just increased to 750) and Vitamin C (1000 mg a day). I drink SO MUCH water. I just got a refill of the nitro so my plan is to do the real full course 3 x a day, estrogen a couple times a week, and the carlson suppositories I just ordered when they arrive. I sometimes take baths but I have a full time job and a toddler, so that's tough.

Maybe this is all futile and I should just get botox, or surgery.
Ugh
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Re: Hello from a long time lurker

Postby Abu » 06 May 2019, 09:07

How is your diet Ugh? Everything you seem to have done so far is to work on the effect - and not the cause. You need to work on both fronts if you want to heal naturally. Even with LIS there is no guarantee that the fissure will not return after a few months or years if you don;t watch your diet.
Tell us more so we can better help.
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Re: Hello from a long time lurker

Postby Ugh » 06 May 2019, 13:43

Oh, that was silly to not mention my diet. I eat very well. The initial tear in 2005 was because I was living with a family in a rural village and there were no fruits or vegetables to be had, and I didn’t drink enough water because they had to boil it all, which was time consuming.


But now, I eat well. Oatmeal and berries for breakfast, a huge salad with beans, quinoa, or lentils for lunch, and veggies with maybe some fish or chicken for dinner. A lot of leafy greens. Snacks in between are usually dried fruit, fiber cereal, avocado, or peanut butter. I do drink one cup of coffee in the morning, but that actually helps to keep things moving and again, the toddler, there is no giving up caffeine in my near future. I occasionally have a beer, but that, too, seems to relax and keep things moving, so I don’t think it’s a problem. A couple of the relapses in the past year I traced to eating red meat (I think, I had low iron during pregnancy and after birth, so I was trying to get more), so I basically cut that out. A couple relapses I traced to failing to drink enough water on a given day. But the most recent two I have no idea.

I had no problem during pregnancy, despite having to take iron supplements and eating a lot of bread and pasta because that was what was appetizing.
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Re: Hello from a long time lurker

Postby Abu » 07 May 2019, 08:48

Your diet is very high fiber Ugh. Why not try something totally different and see how you feel on a low fiber one? You cannot do the same things over and over again and expect different results (as Einstein said I believe :))
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Re: Hello from a long time lurker

Postby Ugh » 07 May 2019, 16:46

Yeah I've tried that. Low fiber makes BMs hard and infrequent.
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