Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

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Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 3078 » 03 Oct 2013, 17:07

Hi,

I've been looking on this site on and off for the past year. It's been quite helpful at times, especially knowing that there are other people who understand the pain of an AF. I've been trying to deal with a chronic AF for two and a half years now. I've pretty much tried everything except diltiazem which I'm picking up next week from the chemist. I've been through countless tubes of Rectogesic over the past few years, which helped with pain but never cured the fissure.

Several doctors have told me it's quite small and I can feel that it's not too big but the pain is excruciating; especially about an hour or two after a BM. The pain begins to throb deeply like a pulse anywhere for up to 10 hours, depending on the BM. Sometimes I get away with very little pain. Other times I shuffle around groaning like an old man. And I'm in my early 30s.

The other problem working against me is that of having Crohn's disease for 17 years. My diet is limited to the point of eating like a reclusive monk. I eat mostly vegan, 100% organic, no sugar, refined food or alcohol. I cook every meal fresh at home (mainly steamed vegetables and rice) and never eat out. I drink at least 2 litres of water a day and several cups of green tea. I make 2 large green smoothies everyday with easily digested fruits and salads. Breakfast is either quinoa, buckwheat or millet porridge with rice milk and banana.

Nuts are just impossible. Even if I eat a few nuts it's like crapping glass the next morning. I also can't eat too much bread or cheese. Eggs guarantee no BM for at least two days when I eat them. My friend just told me a funny phrase:

"Eggs are binding, so is cheese;
Eat more fruit and sh*t with ease!".

But even on a diet like this the fissure is absolutely relentless. Having Crohn's I never know what kind of BM to expect in the morning, so one hard constipated BM can tear the fissure open and the healing must start from scratch. Sometimes I can actually hear the fissure tearing open with certain BMs. But the Crohn's is in remission and I rarely have stomach pains. And I can tell you that a chronic AF matches the pain of Crohn's.

Well, the diltiazem is the last option before facing surgery. I'll give it another two months. Every doctor I've seen has been extremely reluctant to cut this thing out. They all say I have to be patient and that there's no guarantee of healing with surgery. And that it can actually be worse than before because there's now a large wound to heal. Basically they don't have anything positive to say about cutting it out.

But I've gotten so used to this damn thing now that I've almost forgotten what life was like before I had it! I'm still hopeful that I can heal this fissure without surgery. I've seen many doctors and specialists and they say chronic AF can be healed without surgery. I'm determined to find a solution. But after two and a half years you really start running out of options.

Thanks for reading.
Deleted User 3078
 

Re: Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 03 Oct 2013, 17:38

Welcome and, Hang in there Buttles

Yes patience is the key when dealing with fissures. My goodness you say you think you heard yours tear, wow.

With Crohn's too we certainly are sorry of your plight. But there are others here and who have been here with crohns and they are managing and coming along nicely.

We hear you about the diet making one feel like a Buddhist monk of sorts; fissures have a way of making one eat right dont they? I liked the way your attacking this but would add a laxative to the arsenal. Just hearing you say porridge makes me guess that your from across the pond, not in the states so instead of recommending Miralax I'll suggest its counterpart of Movicol to keep you from re-tearing again.

Please keep being determined to find a solution as I was myself at wits end with about two decades of battling off and on, re-tearing fissures. I never went to the Dr's cause of no health Ins. so I had to fight it alone. Thankfully I was not a Crohn's sufferer or the like so it was just my diet and lifestyle I needed to change. But It took that long for me to figure what I was doing wrong along with having the determination to eat and do the right things.

Yes the battle can get quite tedious and tiresome Buttles, but its places like here that will help us through these times and bring us towards our ultimate goal of painless stingless "bottoms".

P.S. The only question I have in your regime is the green tea, which may have caffeine, which may work as a diuretic, which may explain some of your hard bowels. So drink plenty plenty of water.... GL to you
Deleted User 2950
 

Re: Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 3078 » 04 Oct 2013, 02:54

Thanks Buttastic,

I appreciate the reply and advice. Yes, I know it's strange but sometimes I do hear this thing opening up during the last part of the BM. Then comes the bright blood. But that is seldom. Usually it's just pain and not a trace of blood. I've heard a lot of people with Crohn's end up with fissures at some point. But the Crohn's makes healing the AF difficult because of digestive problems.

Wow, two decades with a fissure! I'm going crazy after two and a half years. I can't imagine 20 years of this thing. That's incredible. So you cured it without surgery?

I don't drink too much green tea and rarely take coffee. Can coffee make stool hard? For years I've been writing down everything I eat and drink and a few days ago I had a cup of coffee. The next two days were the worst in my time of dealing with the fissure. I can only put it down to the coffee.. My stool was like a brick even though I was eating soft food and drinking plenty of water.

It really is amazing how quickly a fissure can change your lifestyle. I've already changed my lifestyle and diet because of the Crohn's and now it's become even more refined because of the AF. And if I hadn't been so careless with my diet to begin with it would never have happened in the first place. I didn't even know what an AF was until I had one.

Unfortunately I can't use laxatives or stool softeners because of the Crohn's. My digestive system is incredibly sensitive to any laxative. Even a slight trace of psyllium husk powder can cause stomach pains and bloating. I've already had a resection so I really have to tackle this fissure using water as the main stool softener. So for now I'm sticking to the Buddhist monk diet.

I'll definitely keep checking this site to keep my determination going. It's been really helpful so far.

Cheers!
Deleted User 3078
 

Re: Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 04 Oct 2013, 13:02

Yes Buttles,

I healed my fissures without surgery through diet alone. I identified the culprits of floury foods (breads crackers etc) and salty foods, cut way back on those two things and I've been fissure free now for almost three years.

Anything with caffeine in it, coffee or tea can pull water from you especially your intestines making your stools hard. Experts list coffee and tea as two foods to avoid if you have Crohn's.

I'm guessing you have identified your trigger foods that you must stay away from. So what do you call plenty of water that your drinking a day? A good way to tell is the color of your urine, the darker more yellowish urine means you probably should be drinking more. Psyllium is no joke, many people prefer the less bulking flaxseed oil as its gentler on your system.

So what other laxatives have you tried. What about prune juice and yogurt, do you think your system can take them?
Btw is the rice your eating brown or white?

Just some ideas for you to think about and help you better to manage, I also thought this was a good read to help avoid flare ups from Crohns.....

http://www.lifespanmedicine.com/11-natu ... ease-flare

GL HTHelps
Deleted User 2950
 

Re: Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 3078 » 05 Oct 2013, 16:43

Buttastic,

That's great you healed a chronic fissure without surgery. That's definitely the path I'm taking too. Did you use any cream like Rectogesic or Diltiazem? The doctors told me a fissure couldn't heal without a cream. I also tried some of the Miralax (different name, same stuff) and I've had no problems so far; although the version I found in Europe tastes pretty salty and strange. This morning my BM was really soft and long although very painful with bleeding. I hadn't used any cream for a week until I finally got a new tube of Rectogesic today. I also have two internal hemmies which they want to remove (with rubber bands) next month. Maybe that will help in healing the fissure too. The doctor said it's a very basic procedure.

I eat yogurt every morning. It's one of the only forms of dairy I can take because I'm also lactose intolerant. I drink at least two litres of water a day and my pee is crystal clear after the first few glasses for the rest of the day. I put a teaspoon of flaxseed oil into my green smoothies. Unfortunately brown rice gives me terrible stomach pains, so white rice is my only option. The same goes for bread. I mainly eat spelt bread. I can't tolerate anything wholemeal without stomach pains. And prune juice gives me bad stomach pains too.

I haven't really had a break from salt. My weakness is potato chips because they don't give me stomach pains. But I put a lot of salt onto my food. I didn't think it could affect a fissure in any negative way. I don't weigh much so cutting out bread would leave me feeling quite hungry and it helps keep some weight on. I usually only eat a few slices a day. But I've lost about 5 kg since getting this fissure!

Thanks again.
Deleted User 3078
 

Re: Chronic Fissure & Crohn's

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 05 Oct 2013, 19:27

Yeah Buttles

It sounds as though your real tight down there with your sphincter muscles. Fortunately for me my "resting pressure" of that sphincter muscle was never really to tight like others. I also never really suffered the long hours of spasming that others have and possibly you.

That, along with the fact that I did not have health insurance is why I never used those prescription creams. I just used OTC stuff like vaseline, Tinactin foot cream, Tucks medicated witch hazel soaked pads and the like. along with soaking in the showers after every bm and prelubing before each bm along with walking around with those Tucks pads stuck up my butt, thats pretty much how I self treated myself all those years.

Yes, with the salt, it is dehydrating. That's why we cant drink ocean water. Your body needs to use water to get rid of the extra salt and that's why your kidneys would shut down from being overworked, trying to filter out all that salt. They say 1 teaspoon a day is the amount of salt we need.

Actually when I first saw the relation of how salt affected my bowels I started reading the labels and checking the sodium count. I could not believe how much sodium are in foods. Who knows, give it a try, see if cutting back on your sodium helps at all. Perhaps with your Crohns you may not notice a difference but maybe you will. Its all about trial and error when dealing with our fissures.

We hope everything goes well when they remove your hemmys. Some people work on getting their fissures under control before dealing with those hemmys.

What about protein shakes? Just keep up the safe experimenting and you'll eventually find a diet and routine that works for you.

GL
Deleted User 2950
 


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