Guess I don't need to explain why I'm here but here's my story.
I can remember having sharp pains very similar and blood back in my 20's, when to be fair I didn't eat very well and was not regular (once every 3-4 days). So I'm guessing I did some damage then.
I'm 33 now and have been suffering with IBS for the last few years, although my diet is really quite good... perhaps a bit low in fat if there is such a thing. Very low wheat and dairy intake as this used to cause me constipation issues in my 20s. I drink 2-4 litres of water every day, and this is not something I have suddenly started because of the fissure. I'm also regular - like clockwork (almost to the minute!) - normally once each morning. IBS does cause varying consistency though, which I've decided causes the issue. One day watery, the next day hard, even with regular eating, water etc - nothing seems to control it fully.
Around October time I had a pain whilst cycling and though nothing of it until it became apparent there was an issue, as going to the toilet felt like passing something containing a razor blade (yikes!) and there was some bright red blood. I suspected either hemorrhoids or a fissure, got some Anusol suppositories and followed the weeks course - job done!
Then during my vacation in December I started to get similar pains but on a much milder scale. Tried to watch what I was eating / drinking as best I could and the pains simply went away.
Around a week or so after my return I got quite drunk (oops!) with a friend of mine and the issue came back. Knowing that this is probably a fissure, I tried to manage it myself over the course of 3 weeks. Some good days some bad, but generally improving. I would typically have considerable pain during the motion and then pain would subside after 10mins, followed by further pain which started around an hour later for 3-4 hours.
On Monday I thought I was almost better but happened to have an extra bowel movement that day which was watery and stung a bit. Didn't really think much of it and still ate well, with no alcohol etc.
The next morning my bowels decided to deliver something quite the opposite... it opened me right up and there was considerable pain followed by burning (which I'm used to now) which subsided like normal. Again as normal the secondary pain came on after an hour, only this time it was delivering an intense (unbearable) sting. This increased in intensity until around 1pm, at which point it had me in tears and immobilised - I have never felt pain like it. If I'd have been offered surgery or any way out I'd have taken it there and then. It was unbelievable pain. If I had to describe it, I would say it felt like someone was cutting me open then pouring something nasty into the wound.
By 6pm I was at the doctors (worst car journey of my life) and he had diagnosed the fissure and straight away prescribed me glyceryl trinitrate to stop the muscle spasms. After around 12 hours of pain this seemed to work fairly instantly, and despite slight pain still being there I managed to get to sleep.
Today I woke up thinking everything would be OK (despite still feeling pain) now I have my prescription, only to my horror I've still had to endure 8 hours of similar pain. Granted this is an improvement over yesterday, but is this really normal?
I know I'm probably a bit out of the ordinary with this, but the pain going to the toilet doesn't actually bother me as it's over quite quickly compared with my secondary pain. Yes it hurts lots, like passing razor blades followed by a very hot curry, but I could actually live with this if it wasn't for the secondary pain. I do wonder if my ability to tolerate the initial pain during bowel movement has made my situation a whole lot worse.
I guess my question is; has anyone else had such intense after pains and what did you do about them? 12 hours, even 8 hours of intense pain was something else and I want to avoid this situation again tomorrow.
Thanks for reading and apologies if this is a bit long !!