In Pain & Writing from my Tub

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In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Oregon Fissure » 08 Oct 2013, 21:45

Hi all. I've been on this forum a few times during some sleepless nights, and finally decided to register and introduce myself.

I'm in the middle of my third fissure and this one is by far the worst. Fissure #1 happened when I was a young boy and I don't remember it. Fissure #2 was back in May 2007 and healed after a few weeks of nitro ointment.

This one isn't going away as quickly. I'm 5 weeks in, and did 3 weeks of nitro with no success. In fact it has gotten worse. I'm now on day 2 of Diltiazem ointment, and am hoping this will work.

As the title suggests, I'm writing from the tub because this is the only bit of relief I can get right now. Otherwise the pain is excruciating. I actually had a pretty good day, I felt good and even went for a long walk. Then I pooped at 3:00 and have been in pain since. (It's now 7:45)

That seems to be the story: feel ok for a while, poop, then have excruciating pain for the next 6 hours. This is in spite of switching to an entirely fruit & veggies diet only, taking stool softeners & fiber supplements, and cutting out soda, alcohol, and coffee.

My BMs are coming out soft and easy, but for some reason it still aggravates my fissure to no end.

I'm seriously considering going on a liquid only diet to stop pooping for a few days but don't know if this will help. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?

Sorry for such a graphic first post, but I thought this would be a place I could speak candidly since we're all going through the same thing.

Cheers!
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 09 Oct 2013, 13:42

Oregon fissure asked


I'm seriously considering going on a liquid only diet to stop pooping for a few days but don't know if this will help. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?


Hi Oregon thanks for joining;

Sounds like those darn spasms are setting in with you. The pattern is typical, we get our first fissure and there's generally not much problems before they go away by themselves. But subsequent fissures are the ones that bring along the spasm and what-nots with it.

If the Dilt does not work for you, there is another cream called nifedipine which is a good alternative to Nitro or Diltiazem.



As for the liquid diet, that was my "stool softener" if you will for most of my battles with my fissures (battles over, been fissure free for about three years). I would go on the liquids of fruit juices like apple and orange and I would also take in milk and protein shakes. With a liquid diet you'll still poop, but it will be very runny and may come out like pee.


Some complain that this pruduces a burning sensation, but unlike diarrhea which I have had with fissures and indeed I did experience the burning with the liquidy bm, the liquid bm from a liquid diet never gave me the burning sensations that true diarrhea did.


That pretty much worked for me without any issues, I would sometimes supplement that with a multi-vitamin. This liquid diet would only last for a few days before I thought my fissure could handle solids again. Even still I would gradually introduce solids just in case.

To help decrease your burning and spasming after bm try pre-lubing the anus with petroleum jelly if you can get it up in there. Use a q-tip if you have to. Also avoid wiping with toilet paper, dab it with wet tp or wet wipes. If your at home hopping straight into the tub or shower after a bm will really give your bottom much needed relief and cleaning.

Also it is the pushing and to flexing of the sphincter muscles while bm'ing that seem to trigger the spasms so try to relax and not push so hard and try to minimize opening and closing your anus muscle while going.

These are just a few ideas for you, others will likely have some too if you stick around here long enough..

Hope this helps, good luck.
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Ever the Optimist » 09 Oct 2013, 15:51

Hi Oregon,
Butt has given you some great tips, so definitely worth trying these out.......
The only thing I would add is that experimentation is essential to a degree to obtain the stool consistency that works for you but if you are already getting soft & easy to pass stools, then this is actually pretty good going and personally, I would think carefully about whether you really need to go for a liquid diet. It's great this worked for Butt, but for some, the acidity of diahrroea not only burns & stings but can certainly aggravate things too.
The harsh reality is that when you are in that acute stage of the fissure, even the softest of poops will create that same intensity of pain and pattern of suffering after a BM - I just couldn't figure it out either - I assumed that once I was passing soft stools things would start to heal up pretty quickly but unfortunately, a troublesome fissure (and particularly those that decide to stay) take a good few weeks or months to heal completely. This will continue until you are able to start healing the fissure, which does happen with time, (in just a few weeks or so) but the use of Diltiazem or Nifedipine can hugely help that process by relaxing the spasming muscle and speeding up the process somewhat more.
As the fissure starts to heal and new tissue forms across it, the pain after BMs certainly becomes less intense and a different set of "healing" symptoms seem to kick in.....
Was this possibly one of your older fissures that has resurfaced after time?? - If so, it could be that it might take a little longer to deal with this time round....Hopefully the cream should be really helpful for you.
Butt is spot on when he says please do not try to strain your muscles if possible when going. For me personally, stopping the excessive pushing & straining has been my saviour long-term! I also switched from the traditional sitting to "squatting" position and again, it's really helped relieve pressure when I go - I would never change back again!
I wish you all the very best and hope that the Diltiazem starts to help very soon - I actually attribute my own healing to using this very cream.........Hopefully, it will do the same for you too. :)
Chronic Fissure diagnosed December 2011
Healed by Diltiazem around Feb 2013
Anal Fistula followed burst abscess in June 2012
2 internal troublesome piles remain & suspected, but undiagnosed, ongoing Levator Ani type symptoms & flare-ups
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 09 Oct 2013, 17:09

Oregon fissure

Looks like I'll have to explain myself better. Yes ETO is correct when she suggest experimenting before going the liquid diet route. What I was trying to say about diarrhea is that there are different definitions that can be from different reasons.

Loosely speaking any watery stool is considered diarrhea. But diarrhea the type that I think most people refer to is indeed acidic/enzymatic and can cause problems for our fissures. I have definitely had these where I would eat solid foods but watery bowels would come out stinging.

The diarrhea that is caused by a virus or infection I think is what most people refer to when they hear the word, and this diarrhea indeed passes out the acids and enzymes of the intestines quickly to give the burning sensation. The very little burning I said I got sometimes from my liquid diet was just from the open wound, just like a normal bm gives. But most of the time there was no burning.

Some juices like orange juice is also considered acidic but they did not cause me problems perhaps because as I've read my body unlike with a virus had time to assimilate and break down the acids in the orange juice. The other juices like apple or the berries are not too acidic. Then there are your ever widening choices of V8 and other vegetable smoothies and shakes yogurts to try that I also had success with.

Better explanation of the burning....
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-mo ... arrhea.htm
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Oregon Fissure » 09 Oct 2013, 22:42

You guys are great! I appreciate the support & advice.

I'm back in the tub while I write this as well. Today was a great day so far. Very little pain or itching, but I also haven't pooped yet. I have a bad feeling that once that happens (probably tomorrow) I will take a big step back. I'm trying to stay optimistic though.

I'm going to stick to my vegetarian diet for a bit longer and see if it helps. Fresh fruit for breakfast and homemade veggie soup for lunch and dinner. Bland but hopefully it helps things. I guess the nice thing is I've lost 15 pounds in 5 weeks by not eating very much.

Also, next week I'm going to start acupuncture. Has anybody else tried it, and if so, have you had any success?
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 10 Oct 2013, 14:14

Hey Oregon fissure

I like your plan of attack and we hope this works for you. I think if you added protein to your
meals than that could help the healing process.

About the acupuncture I have not tried it, but I sure do remember others here talking about it. Here's the thread...

search.php?keywords=acupuncture

Also one more word on the liquid diet if someday you want to try it. Actually one of the things it is recommended for is for people with diarrhea and other gastro intestinal issues....

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0, ... _3,00.html

hope this helps, good luck, keep searching for answers....
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Oregon Fissure » 11 Oct 2013, 21:47

Thanks for the acupuncture info! I'm trying it on Wednesday for the 1st time. I figure it can't hurt and may help so why not?

Yesterday was interesting. The morning went great, and I felt good until 3:00 when I finally pooped. Then things went downhill quickly. In a nutshell, I suffered for 5 hours with no relief outside of soaking in the tub.

I play in a competitive basketball league, and have missed my past 2 games because of this thing. I seriously considered skipping last night's game as well, but was really missing playing so I sucked it up, drove 10 painful minutes to the club, and got ready for my game. Warming up was awful, sharp pain, and I wasn't sure if I could play. However, once the game started the pain went away, and things felt great. I played the entire 50 minute game with no pain at all, and felt great coming home too! I'm not sure if the blood flow helped, or just moving around, or what, but something in that basketball game really helped things. I haven't really exercised much lastly, but I'm going to try and get out and move more even if it hurts at first.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Again, thanks to everyone for their advice and support.
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Deleted User 2950 » 12 Oct 2013, 10:11

So did I Oregon Fissure

I played ball competitively too with my active fissures. And just like you say the stinging and or spasming stopped when I played. I bet it was from the extra blood flow to the area.

Yeah overall you wanna stop your spasms and get that thing healed. Perhaps resting a bit from the games in the future will help if your fissure do not seem to heal. But I remember never letting my fissures stop me from playing ball or going to practice, and I still healed.

Trial and error my friend, take care and good luck.....
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Revma » 13 Oct 2013, 21:47

Hello, new here, and I just want to say Oregon Fissure, I feel everything you do - the spasms have me living in water. I am amazed you made it out of the house, I've been house bound for 3 weeks and counting, first to recover from my hemorrhoid surgery, then right after into the world of anal fissure hell. Once the spasm and knife stab jab stops, the pressure and prickling starts - I can't will myself out of bed or bathtub. Amazed at your strength, and everyone on here - some strong people. Like if super human soldiars were real - you'd be it!
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Re: In Pain & Writing from my Tub

Postby Oregon Fissure » 16 Oct 2013, 00:59

Thanks Revma! I think you're giving me too much credit though. Just trying to deal with this one day at a time.

Speaking of which--I had a string of several good days in a row, which got my hopes up that I may have this thing beat. Not so fast. After pooping this evening, I'm currently in a ton of pain, and can't sleep. I can tell that it is going to be a bad night.

Tomorrow I go in for my first acupuncture appointment. I'm hoping that helps things. This is frustrating because I thought it was healing but now I realize that I've still got a long way to go.
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