Hello everyone – I’m new here and I’ve never posted on a forum before, so please forgive my blunders. I’ll do my best to learn the ropes. I’ve been ‘lurking’ on this site for a while now and I’ve been so impressed by how compassionate and helpful you are here. This site has already helped me so much!
I’m posting now to introduce myself, since I’m pretty confident that I am facing a difficult fissure mess and I expect I will be needing some advice and emotional support fairly soon. Well … actually, I could use some now!
Last April, after a very bad flu, I developed *huge* hemmies (or rather, ‘perianal hematomas’, as my CRS insists I call them). It took all summer, but they eventually resolved. I live in Canada, so, of course, the hematomas had resolved by the time I got to see the CRS! He told me that I have anusitis (inflamed anal tissue), and put me on a strict diet. That was last November. Since then I’ve been struggling with digestive issues that I developed when I went on an ultra-high fibre diet over the summer (my doc thinks I might now have mild IBS-D). The digestive problems were just starting to settle down when I developed a fissure! That happened on Feb 27. I believe I now also have a second one, which developed two days ago. This new one is bleeding like crazy (although I suppose it’s possible that both are bleeding and that accounts for the copious amount of blood after the morning BMs).
I don’t know if I should be worried about a lot of blood or not – does a lot of blood mean anything serious? I haven’t been having the extreme spasms and tightness that many of you describe; but the BMs are very painful (the familiar passing razor blades feeling), with raw, burning and sometimes throbbing sensations for a while afterwards – is this what spasms feel like?
I am scheduled to see my CRS again on Tuesday and I’ll say I’m very anxious. Oddly, I’m more anxious that I am NOT a candidate for surgery. After reading so many success stories here, I feel pretty comfortable with that option. The problem is that I don’t know what to do. The warm baths and soft stools are not solving the problem and I really can’t continue like this.
It’s difficult to know what to do here. It is possible that I’ve actually had a fissure most of the summer, but it just wasn’t diagnosed (I was bleeding occasionally then too). If this fissure is one that keeps healing and re-tearing, perhaps the nitro and/or botox won’t work? I don’t think I’m spasming, but I don’t know. If my sphincter isn’t spasming very badly, does that mean that surgery won’t work?
I don’t mean to put anybody on the spot and I understand that my questions are probably better answered by a doctor; but I’ve come to value the insights and wisdom of the people who actually live with this problem and would definitely appreciate any input/advice you can offer.
Sorry for the long post … Thanks so much :)
Hope