Hi, I'm Rachel and I'm almost 21 and have been dealing with my fissure for about two weeks. I had to go to the ER and urgent care earlier in the month to deal with what I thought was just a hemorrhoid, but spiraled into a kidney infection and swelling of my colon, made worse by my anemia. I was put on two antibiotics, both of which cured my infections, but seemed to destroy my GI tract. After getting off my antibiotics two weeks ago, I started experiencing the WORST pain after a bm. I would curl up on the couch for hours, sobbing because I hurt so bad. After consulting my nurse mother, we finally figured it out. I'm so relieved so have some kind of answer!
The past few days, I'm been eating LOTS of fiber, sitz baths, taking a stool softener and applying Vaseline before bms. I also use Lanacane and Cortaid as a substitute for the prescription medicine Analpram. I've noticed A LOT of improvement, I'm not doubled up on the couch sobbing anymore. I'm so grateful to find a support group, and I just wanted to say hello! Hopefully the new year will bring me some relief!

Hi Rachel,
Welcome to the forum. It's great that you already have a diagnosis although having a fissure isn't great at all!! It took me months before getting one and starting proper treatment. It sound like you are on the right track though. Keep up the good diet and softeners. Soft, regular bm's are the key to healing. Many folks have had better results with healing on here who were able to get one of the prescription ointments for fissures while they were in the early phase with their fissures, such as yourself. So if at all possible, I would try and get the Analpram asap. It can help relax the internal sphincter which will promote blood flow and help heal your fissure, as the warm baths will too... It's great that you are already seeing improvements! That's definitely a good start. :)
Be cautious with anything that is prescribed for hemmies as it can thin the skin and can make matters worse with a fissure...There's tons of info in the diet and supplement threads you may find helpful also.
May the New Year bring continued healing for you! :)

Thanks so much! I'm so glad to have the support here, hopefully I'll have a good story to tell soon! My mom, the nurse, actually talked to her friend who is a GI Nurse and a GI doctor's wife who's been suggesting the combo of hydrocortisone and lanacane as a more affordable Analpram. It's been working awesome. I haven't been using any prep h since my hemorrhoid went away, so good! I really can't tell you how grateful I am to have such a good support system, my mom and one of her friends have been helping me through this!

u are using hycrocortisone? if i'm not wrong, that's a steriod right?
i was using a steriod cream when i was wrongly diagnosed and this cream doesn't help but cause it to get worse... i switched to aloe vera instead..
anyway, just to help you with some more ideas on healing, do read up the thread "my success story".
Hope you'll be painfree soon! Post here if u have any questions!

I agree with Dwarfs 100%. I wouldn't use the hydrocortisone for over 2 weeks. It feels good in the beginning but prolonged use can cause thinning of the skin. Also as far as I know Analpram is the same as Diltiazem which I used with my fissure, and it's not the same combo of ingredients you are using. It is a topical calcium channel blocker and there isn't any hydrocortisone in it. It will relax the muscle and promote blood flow. Hydrocortisone will only help with redness/ itching...

Thanks for the advice! Like I said, I got this advice from a CRS and his nurse wife through my nurse mother, so I think I'm going to just keep using that :)

Good Luck Rachel. Most of us were gave the same thing and it didn't do much good long term. Like I mentioned before it did make matters worse for myself and many others. Actually 2 CRS's that I saw and a GI told me to throw it out because it can actually ulcerate the skin.
We're all just going by our experiences and trying to save you from the same problems...

Yikes! I'll make sure I'm careful with it, hopefully I'll be ok. I'll keep in touch, I'll be going back to the doctor soon!

yes, different things does help different people. As soon as u think something is amiss with the creams given to u, stop it. I have tried Drwheatgrass superbalm/superspray on mine and it caused me more pain and stings while i was healing! So do use urself as the benchmark!