Hello,
New to the forum here, and relatively new to anal fissures. Mine started a bit more than a month ago after taking antibiotics for about 3 weeks. I'd always had very loose stools in the past. In fact, for the last 15 years of my life, doctors always told me that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome because my stools were so loose. But they never caused me any problems except some hemmorhoids and the associated itching/burning and occasional minor bleeding. Then I got diagnosed with sinusitis and had to take an extended course of antibiotics. Afterward, I had constipation and hard stools for the first time ever in my life, and that's when the fissure began.
I'm now trying 0.2% nitroglycerin ointment, dibucaine, probiotic pills, Miralax, and a super high fiber diet for the fissure. No improvement yet so far, in fact on a few days I think I've corrected too far in the other direction and have gotten watery diarrhea that's made things even worse. So I'm definitely in the trial and error phase. My doctor doesn't seem to know much about fissures, bowel movements are terrifying, and sometimes it feels like I'm losing all hope of ever having a normal life again. I just wish there were a clear path to resolution; I think it's the indefinite aspect of the condition that bums (pun unintended!) me out the most.
Anyhow, a little about myself, I'm 30 years old, male, and am a computer engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area. I used to be pretty active in different sports like biking and snowboarding, but have had a few minor health issues (hence my forum handle) this year, so I've been a sedentary couch potato recently. None of the health issues compare to the agony of the fissure, though, I've all but forgotten about them until I cann somehow banish this fissure! What complicates things a bit is that my wife is pregnant with twins (one boy and one girl! :D ), and they are due in late September. It'll be our first babies! So it's supposed to be a joyous time, and that it is, but I feel constantly weighed down by the daily worry over my fissure and whether it will ever go away. I know there are worst things that can happen, though, so I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it, but have to admit that it's pretty hard sometimes.
Well, thanks for reading my novel, hope everyone is doing well, or as well as can be given our condition. This will sound a little bit messed up, but truthfully, I find some comfort in knowing that others out there are going through the same thing and understand the misery a fissure causes. If I can't have a painfree bowel movement, at least I can stumble on forums like this one