Hi everyone, I'm a 31 yo woman in Australia. I've been suffering from a fissure for a little over 3 months but have only just been brave enough to see a doctor for diagnosis. I'm so relieved to have found this forum, I feel so much more normal to know that I'm not alone in this!
I let it go on for so long before seeing the doctor because I thought at first it was piles as I've had slight problems with those over the years (poor diet) and never seen a doctor for them. The pain was much worse than I was used to but I kept hoping it would clear up on its own for weeks and weeks... Obviously it didn't. I was experiencing the razor blade feeling during BMs but did not realise it was actually a tearing until I stumbled across the term anal fissure while googling treatments for piles - I had never heard of it until then! For about a month I was self treating with Anusol suppositories which I think helped a little.
I think my trigger for the tearing was a change in diet, having cut out my daily bran cereal which disrupted my BMs.
My doctor has prescribed 0.2% Rectogesic and I honestly don't know if I'm even applying it correctly - trying to applying it internally is a nightmare, and I don't want to get to 4 weeks from now and have no improvement because of not using it right. She made no mention of some of the suggestions I have seen in this group, which is disappointing because when I left her office yesterday I was thinking a few weeks of the ointment would solve it easily - and I realise after reading some threads here that might or might not be the case.
So my plan is to keep trying with the Rectogesic, plus switching to soft foods, increasing water and a combination of Coloxyl and Movicol. I hope with my sluggish digestive system I won't have to wait too long for my BMs to improve. Today's was absolutely one of the worst I have experienced in the 3 months and ended with my in tears of pain, frustration and despair on the toilet!
I welcome any and all suggestions you're willing to give - I think even having the support of reading and relating to the topics on here will help me emotionally with it. People who don't suffer probably don't realise the extent to which this can affect normal life an the way you feel about yourself as a result. Thanks everyone for your posts and just being open and honest about a difficult topic xx