Hi everyone,
Been surfing this forum for the last few weeks and I thought it was time to become a member and ask for your advice as my AF is making me pretty miserable.
I am 28, 5ft 8, about 170 lbs. I don't really have much of a healthy eating habit.Fruits and vegetables are a small part in my usual diet.
I have had attacks of constipation/diarrhea before and there has been days in the past when I might have had a BM which caused bleeding and discomfort..but,they never had the kind of after effect like I am facing now.
More than 2 weeks ago (I remember the date,it was 30th April),I had an attack of diarrhea (went to the loo about 6 times at night and it was sort of watery which stung while having the BM). The next day I don't remember having any discomfort during BM but the day after that,I again had a bit of an upset tummy and that's when the burning and pain started while having a BM.
This is the history of what has happened in the past 2 weeks:
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May2- May8 :
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I had quite severe pain and burning sensation while having a BM.It was like shitting razors as someone rightfully said. There was blood only one day(On 5th May)that too when I went to the loo for the third time that day (I used to keep feeling as if I didn't have a complete BM,so,I went mutiple times). I tried home remedies like vitamin-e oil,tried applying some aloe vera syrup which I had for a day,applied neosporin ointment etc...completely stopped eating non veg,oily and fried stuff and started having smaller meals
May9-May16:
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When the pain and burning sensation didn't seem to subside,I went to a CRS (On 9th May),he did a videorectoscope(or something like that) and diagnosed me with internal haemorrhoids(they showed me pics,it was like two small bumps next to each other somewhere in the lower half of the intestine..when he inserted the tube,I could feel the tube moving inside me and I think they were about 5 centimetres inside the anal canal (is it possible to get haemorrhoids that far inside the anus?I also had two small external haemorrhoids,but,he said that the pain and discomfort was due to multiple superficial fissures.

He suggested the following medicines-
1)Ciplox Tz (14 tablets, to be taken two in a day for 7 days)
2)Nelnac p (10 tablets,to be taken two in a day for 5 days)
3)Oxyrute ointment (to be applied to the affected area twice a day)
4)And a probiotic capsule to be taken once a day for 10 days.
The problem with the oxyrute ointment was,the applicator was quite large and my ass was too sore for me to try and push the applicator inside,so,I have been using Q-tips to apply as far inside as I can bear...which is not much..maybe about half a centimetre inside.
I felt some improvement for a day after seeing the doctor,had a good night's sleep after a long time (otherwise before seeing the doc,I couldn't sleep properly at night as the pain and stinging sensation caused me discomfort each time I turned sides in my bed)
But then,on 11th May,I again had blood with BM and it has continued everyday after that till the 16th instant.
During this week,I also started having sitz baths daily atleast twice a day...I fill up a tub with warm water(add some dettol to it at times)and then sit in it for 15 mins or, so.It does provide some temporary relief.Also since the day of my diarrhea,I have completely stopped eating non veg food,oily food,fried stuff and have been averaging more than 2 litres of water a day.I have also started eating a lot of fruits like bananas,oranges,papaya and have only steamed and boiled rice and vegetables when I have any.Also,started eating oatmeal,cornflakes and yoghurt everyday
May 16- today (i.e May 18):
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After I started bleeding again durng BM on the 11th instant,I still continued with the medicines suggested by the CRS.I finished my course of medicines on the 15th instant.
I started on a course of homeopathy from 16th Night and before going to the loo,I apply a bit of lignocaine gel around the O so that there's not much pain.Yesterday and today I have had no blood during BM though it still hurts (though I believe not as much as it used to about 10 days ago). However,my O still feels quite sore and puffy. I apply the oxyrute cream once in the morning nowadays (as I don't know how long one should use such ointments) and in the evening after having a sitz bath,I apply some vitamin E oil.
Also,at work,I take breaks every half hour or so and walk around for a few mins ,or,just stand up once in a while to relieve the pressure on the sore O.
Do you think I am on the path of recovery? the pain and burning sensation has decreased somewhat and thankfully for the last 2 days there has been no blood with BM.However,I wonder if the pain seems to have decreased cause I apply the lignocaine gel before BM(though it still hurts and burns even with the gel on).
Any suggestions that you might have which I can try out at home?I'm currenlt in week 3 of my AF.
Thanks very much for any advice.

Hi,
Are you in the UK?
I have never heard of Ciplox Tz, Nelnac p, or Oxyrute ointment. Do you know what they are?
Only you can tell if you feel better or not. I would think that the lignocaine can only mask the pain so much though.
Sounds like you are getting things under control. The real key to healing for hemmies and AFs is changing your diet... permanently. You want to aim for 25-30g fiber per day and lots of water (like you have been doing). You might consider doing fiber supplements. I do metamucil because it is hard to eat that much fiber every day.
You want your stools/BMs to be nice and soft like toothpaste.
You might also try an electric heating pad, but be careful not to overuse or turn on too high.
So glad you are starting to feel better. Sometimes it takes a long while and you just need to stay the course as best you can.
-Tanya

Like Tanya mentions above, the best thing you can do is maintain a healthy diet where you keep bowel movements soft and easy to pass with no straining. From what I understand your doctor has prescribed antibiotics, a mild pain reliever and a topical cream that contains hydrocortisone, among other ingredients. If you are seeing a reduction in your symptoms, that is always a good sign that you are recovering.
To answer your question, yes it is possible to have hemorrhoids further up in the anal canal, in fact these are the more common types of hemorrhoids.
Anal problems take a long time to resolve because the area gets no rest, so it takes a lot of patience. You may want to try soaking in a warm bath several times a day, especially after bowel movements, as this brings added circulation to the area and helps the muscles relax, which assists the body in healing.
Good luck with continued healing!

Hi Tanya and jr2
Thanks so much for your replies.
Tanya,I am from India so I guess that's why the medicines I mentioned weren't familiar to you.
jr2's right about the medicines that the CRS prescribed me,the first one was to control infection,the second was a pain killer and oxyrute does contain 0.25% HC.
I do hope I am on the path to recovery.The last 3 weeks have been kinda bad.There's still a bit of a dull pain when there's an involuntary contraction of the muscles in that region or if,I hit a speed bump on the road.However,it's manageable and if I don't concentrate,I usually don't feel much discomfort during my day to day activities (except that if I sit for a long time and then get up,the O area hurts a bit while getting up from the sitting position).
It's only during a BM when it hurts and I get the tearing/burning sensation.
I am hoping that there's no more blood during BM till the fissure heals cause it freaks me out seeing the blood and spoils my mood for the rest of the day because I take that as a sign that the fissures opened again.However,even though the pain seems to have reduced,I have observed that when I sit in a sitz bath and feel the O region,I feel a lot of soft,spongy tissue right next to the O opening?..most of that tissue doesn't hurt when I touch them..is it because that area is so battered at the moment ..are they what is called sentinel piles? and if they are indeed sentinel piles,do they go away once the fissure heals?
As I mentioned,I started on a course of homeopathy from the 16th instant...so,I hope that it will work for me and things will get back to normal soon.Have to say though it's a really big test of patience.
Thanks for your support and suggestions guys...appreciate that a lot.

Hi,
It probably isn't sentinels but just inflammation.
It is normal and very common to have set backs in healing. So there will likely be a bit of blood from time to time. But so long as each set back isn't as bad as the last one, then you know you are on the right path to healing.
Sounds like you have the right attitude for healing.

-Tanya

Thanks Tanya, will post on how things go.I hope it will all be back to normal again :)

Hi everyone,
Just thought would update with how things are with me now.
It's a month now since I got the fissures/haemorrhoids.
I finished the medicines prescribed by the CRS and then switched to homeopathy cause the earlier medicines didn't do much good and am almost about to finish the prescribed doses of homeopathy in another 2-3 days
So, here's how things are now-
1) Pain:
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3 in a scale of 1-10. It's manageable now and definitely much better than the feeling of having razor blades coming out during a BM which I had in the initial 2-3 weeks.
2) Burning sensation:
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2 in a scale of 10. There are even days when the sensation is almost not there.
3)Bleeding:
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There was no blood during BM for 10 days and then again 2 days ago there was quite a bit of blood cause I had a bit of a hard bowel movement. Still,the pain and burning sensation is quite manageable now and speed bumps etc don't cause me any discomfort nor does sitting for 1-2 hours.
I'm keeping fingers crossed that in another 2 weeks or so,I will be back to normal and I don't suffer a relapse. Touch wood :)
I also lost 13lbs in this one month :) cause I was so particular about what I ate.No non veg food (except one day when I gorged quite a bit out of frustration) and gallons of water everyday.
If you google 'homeopathy + fissures' in google you get a lot of links. My doc's writing's really bad,else I would have put up the medicines which I was prescribed,all I can make out is that two of the sugar pellet medicines he prescribed me had Nitric acid 30 in it.
I guess diet plays a major role in healing..I have been living on corn flakes/oat meal/sandwiches (once in a while),fruit and vegetable salads, yoghurt and 2-3 litres of water per day for the last one month...sounds like some model's diet :)

I'm going on 3 weeks totally healed now, and mostly from making major changes in my diet. I dropped a lot of weight but never felt like I was going hungry. Anyway just wanted to share my post about what did work for me in case some of those ideas might work for you:
http://anal-fissure.org/t4752-what-worked-for-me-what-didn-t-work?highlight=what+worked+for+me