by Bambi » 09 Oct 2012, 10:12
I had LIS in Feb 2011 and I, too, experienced a lot of what you all are talking about. I was convinced my fissure was not healing and at my visit to the CRS in 6 weeks he said it was completely healed. But I had some slight leakage ( for want of a better word-that sounds worse than whatbI had) that caused irritation, particularly where my fissure had been, butnI think it was really the new tissue under the skin tag that was removed there. IHe recommended the Calmoseptine at that appt and that helped a lot and I still use it occasionally.
Let me just give you my long term perspective. I was so much better off post LIS and I have never regretted that. I wish I had done it sooner, but oh well... After LIS, I was on Miralax for quite a while as I should have been. I think the keeping the stools soft and the muscles needing to adapts what caused the tendency to have some hygiene issues. However, these got much better over time. I also developed what I called "princess and the pea syndrome", because what was actually coming out was so minimal. It was like the new skin down there was much more sensitive than before, so I felt the need to be super clean. I developed a system for me that helped a lot:
1. Use the bathroom wipes like Cottenelle or baby wipes if you aren't already.
2. I use the little Tucks wipes after the first baby wipe is clean with a little Balneol on it and it is amazing what else comes off. This was also my trick for what seemed to happen about an hour after a BM when I would suddenly be very itchy. I am very sensitive to stuff and fearful, so I usually wring out the Tucks wipes in warm water to remove the witch hazel. I thought it was drying my skin out, but I live at 5280 feet so that might not be the case elsewhere. Anyway, for me, the little wipes were super soft and could gently get in spots the bigger wipes couldn't.
3. I found these very flexible tubes like you would use for travel and found some that could squirt water when upside down, so I made my little travel bidet and would then rinse off the Balneol.
4. If things were still itchy, I would put a little Calmoseptine on.
Of course, I suddenly always needed to have a big purse and I don't know what men would do. I have found that contact lens cases are a great tool for putting some Balneol and Calmo in and they have never leaked.
I know this is probably way too much TMI but I hope it's helpful to someone.
Bottom line is: for many of us it takes a while for this itchy thing to go away, but I can say it really does get better. Occasionally now I will have a slight issue but there is usually a reason- looser stools than usual, etc... That was probably true per fissure life too. Normal was not always completely perfect after all...
Things did get better after I had to get off Miralax-something I was very scared of, butnI was becoming too sensitive to it and was having 5 to 6 loose stools a day after taking only 1/2 a tsp or something. Stay on it while you still need it though!