Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum off/on for a year, but finally decided to join. My AF started with what I would call a minor fissure with some stinging pain which would recur every now and then over the last 10+ years. I would maybe have a day or two with some mild pain and then I would be fine. Two years ago I started on a new medication which causes severe constipation and that is when I started to have more trouble. However, I upped my fiber and water and finally got into a good BM pattern and was fine. Then after the holidays everything went downhill. I think the change in diet set it off and I ended up with a bad bout of AF. It started with pain and enough blood to make the toilet water red which freaked me out. The bleeding stopped within a few days, but the pain continued. It was pretty bad, but tolerable. I developed a skin tag and was still having issues so I visited the CRS. She has the bedside manner of a porcupine, but I wanted to make sure everything was ok. Twenty years ago I had CIN3 of the cervix and until last year didn't know of the risk of anal cancer because nobody had ever said anything about it. Anyway, the CRS only did a visual exam because I was in too much pain. She confirmed a posterior fissure and skin tag and gave me an rx for Nifedipine(sp?) which was largely useless. Over the next few weeks I healed and all was great. Back into a good BM pattern, no pain etc. Then I went back to work full time which seriously aggravated my IBS (had since high school..I'm 40) and I started to have some pain again. It was not too bad really and over time I started getting a bit more regular. Then the holidays hit and once again I had trouble. I thought I had it under control and then I had a med change for one month (pharmacy ran out of my brand) and I was severely constipated. This episode started like the last one, bleeding enough to make the toilet water red and severe pain. The pain was worse than any other time I've ever had. Totally debilitating. Severe spasms and nearly passing out from pain when I had a BM. I was in too much pain to go to the doctor and the experience last year with the CRS was something it took me a long time to get over which was more about my history than anything she did. I've tried every cream, potion and lotion out there and finally decided to try acupuncture. The acupuncture was amazingly helpful for the pain and after a few weeks I finally felt the sphincter relax and the spasms stopped. It is still relaxed and over the past few months I've gradually healed. Having said that, at the same time the fissure acted up I had a hemmorhoid which I've never really dealt with. It was thrombosed looking and I'm not sure internal or external, but it would be external at least part of the time. Now that it is gone (the acupuncture helped with that too) the main issue is this darn skin tag and something that feels like it prolapses when I have a BM. It's like I can feel it pop out and then back in and it's uncomfortable. I've also started noticing a groove along the side of my stool, but I don't remember seeing that before this latest episode.
So I've scheduled with the CRS next week which I'm totally and completely freaking out about. I'm anxious and upset just thinking about having another exam. She has one of those tables where you are head down with your butt in the air which I thik makes the entire process even more humiliating than it already is. I'm terrified that I have anal cancer which I know is very unlikely, but still I'm worried so at this point I'm thinking the anxiety over worrying that something is seriously wrong is worse than just going. In order for her to really see she's probably going to need to use the scope and also do a DRE which she did not do last time. I feel like I can feel something straight above my skin tag and fissure which from research I'm guessing is most likely a hypertrophied anal papillae, but I'm paranoid it's a tumor.
Anyway, that's my story! Any advice about the upcoming CRS apt is welcome. Looking forward to reading about you all and helping in any way I can.