Hi all, thank you all so much for this forum. I have lurked here for 6 months or so and truly appreciate each post I've read.
I have had fissures since my first child was born via c section, 18 months ago They developed within 2 weeks due to poor diet and dehydration. I was breastfeeding around the clock and had no real help at first from anyone, so I just ate whatever I could easily. Initially, I had 2 fissures, a small posterior and a large anterior. The posterior healed within 4 months. The anterior took a year to heal. My CRS had suggested surgery for it, but I wasn't ready. I healed it with Diltiazem for 2 weeks before I had a reaction. Then I continued with Vit E oil several times daily and drastically changed my diet. This past May I had a follow up and everything seemed on the upswing. I could eat more foods and only felt the scar tissue when I had BMS, but no pain. At the follow up, my doc prescribed Nefedipine ointment to try because I said I still felt a tiny pinch at times when having a BM. This was the worst thing for me! I tried it and immediately I felt tightening, but thought it was just temporary. The next morning when I had my BM, I felt a brand new tear. I babied it immediately for a couple of weeks and it seemed to get better. Then in August, I had a setback with this new fissure and simultaneously got a very superficial one across from it! I babied them again and got past the painful part and could just feel stretching when having BMs. Went back to CRS and he said everything looked good, mostly healed, don't call unless you need us. No mention of surgery at all! I was ready to try and get pregnant, again! Until, the worst BM I've had in 18 mos came on a few days later and ripped both of the more recent fissures open. Great...so here I am again scheduled for surgery, but scared out of my mind that I'm going to leak the rest of my life. I keep thinking I should just give natural healing one more try! I know I can get back to the point I was at in a few weeks...it's just hoping I don't have that one day where I get lazy in my habits and eat something I shouldn't or not drink enough water!

I am so sorry you are having such a difficult time and wish you the best in your surgery. One thing I have seen quite a but on this board is the mention that beyond the initial healing, it can take a couple years for that area to really get back right, for tge skin to regain its integrity and strength to where it was prior to tha damage. That really makes sense, especially considering how long some have neen suffering with and trying to treat fissures. The daily trauma of a nm alone, plus the prolonged or repeatef use of different medicines has its impact.
That said, I encourage you to plan on babying yourself well beyond the initial healng phase, at least a year or two. It is worth it, it's your health.
This may sound cruel and I don't mean to be, but consider (heaven forbid) if your child were suffering this tertible issue. You would do whatever is necessary, not only for initial healing, but to insure complete health and that it never happens again. You deserve no less, plus you want to be at optimum health for your family and yourself.
So I urge and encourage you to not see your recovery as.temporary, but as a whole new, life-changing beginning. I wish you all the best.

I have no leakage etc. but I do have "skid marks" which I am not sure is because of all the farting, the LIS, or the Miralax which I have finally stopped taking.

Thank you, Jojo and Tony.
Tony, I have read a great many of your posts, but also many others so I don't remember the details of your surgery. How long has it been since your LIS?
Jojo, my whole life style has changed. We eat only organic, whole foods now and nothing processed. I stay away from white flour and anything that seems to not break down easily in my gut...basically a lean protein, fruit, and veggie diet with a few whole grains in small amounts. I've lost all my baby weight plus some. I am still breastfeeding my son twice a day and I wonder if I should stop that and try the natural route before going in for surgery tomorrow. I have passed gas all week because I've been eating a great many beans. It just makes me think tightness isn't my main problem. I don't have any spasms outside of when I have a BM. I'm just so scared of making the wrong decision. Thank you again for you quick responses.

I am either 4 or 5 weeks out. I have has a pretty easy recovery but the doc said it is not healing as fast as he would like. I am not in pain and barely used any pain medicine after my surgery. Once in a while I get a little shock of pain down there but it's only a few seconds. I feel I have been really lucky but the day of surgery I felt better.

Tony,
That's great that you didn't have a great deal of pain. Congrats on having the nerve to go through with surgery! I think I read somewhere that you had used a lot of creams. I am worried this is more my problem than actual tightness. I feel like I've thinned the skin down there from using diltiazem and analpram(steroid creme) so much in the last year and a half. The last two were superficial until recently when one of them got worse. I just wonder if I'm going to have the surgery, but still have basically the same problem until my skin can recover from all the meds! My doctor thinks this is absurd...he even to me that the analpram isn't thinning my skin and causing tears. But, the medication even says not to use for more than 2 weeks due to this.
Do your doc have any idea why you aren't healing faster? I'm a slow healer by nature, which also scares me. I hope everything will continue to be positive for you and get back to normal quickly.

Nothing he said to me, I went back to work 11 days after surgery and pretty much do everything I would normally do so maybe I am causing some of the slow healing. Since I am not in pain it's hard not to do things I have been missing out on.

Having surgery is a very personal decision. That said, were I in your shoes and had the recurrences you have had, I would proceed with the surgery. It will give your body the best chance at healing and a new start to be able to benefit more from the changes you have made. In fact, there are some changes in there I need to make too.
My decision to have surgery was based on the fact that I simply cannot take what this has done to me. I could continue to fight if I were seeing improvement, but my body has made it clear the medical route is not going to work for me. Plus, being a bariatric patient, I have to eat more protein (though I've cut out red meat since this happened), than I can get through vegetarian sources and due to the malabsorption, I'm going to have more waste relative to what I eat compared to a normal person. So I was coming from a disadvantage anyway. Should've realized that initially and saved myself three months of torment, but you live and learn.
I think you owe this new beginning to yourself and hope you decide to proceed with the surgery, but I wish you the best in whatever decision you make.

So, I backed out. I wrestled with the decision for days and just thought that if I'm this upset over it, then I'm not ready. Hopefully my CRS won't hold it against me if I do end up with the surgery. I know he's a great surgeon, but I was also looking at being sick with anethesia and pain meds, as I can't take codeine and I always get sick after being put to sleep. That, combined with my already hesitancy about the surgery was just too much to handle. I will continue to try and heal my fissures, but I am okay with having the surgery after I give it just one more try. I'm going to stop breastfeeding and see if that makes any difference. Thanks so much for your post, Jojo. The diet changes are 90% what helps me cope with these and why I was able to heal my two fissures. Hopefully, I can stay on track and get these last two healed up. :)

Hey Hope2be,
You'll know when your ready. Just wanted to say pain meds make me sick too and I always throw up after anesthesia. If it makes you feel any better when and if you decide to have surgery, they can write you another RX for the nausea. It's called phenergan and it takes care of the nausea. I took it with the vicodin after my surgery.
Good Luck!