hi everyone,
wanted to come and introduce myself. i previously had an account and posted once or twice, but that was a few years ago and i'm not sure what happened to my old ID (koolkat330). anyway, this is my ongoing story -
three years ago i was in college, and didn't want to have a bowel movement in a dirty club, so i held it in. for whatever reason, i didn't go for over two days... and when i did, i gave myself a large anal fissure. i did the sitz baths, and some suppositories and it went away. but then a few months later, i would have another, in a different location. i'd go on some miralax/stool softener for a few months, then it would go away. i'd wean myself off the medicine, then another would crop up, in a different location. it appeared my skin down there was simply not very elastic, and every time i tried to come off the stool softener, a *new* fissure would appear. the old ones would indeed heal (confirmed by my gastroenterologist) but new ones always formed.
this was my life, on and off, for the last three years. i've seen specialists, but they just kept advising me to eat more fibre, drink more water. but the only thing that would make my life normal was constantly drinking miralax - which i wasnt a *huge* fan of, but did it anyway. i'm only 24, didn't want to be on medicine forever...
well, anyway, three days ago i had an itch down there. stupidly, i scratched it. the next day i was in IMMENSE pain due to a hemorrhoid (external) flare up. i had one there before, and it went away into a skin-tag-like item, but i guess the scratching irritated it enough to flare up into a full hemorrhoid again. i put some witch hazel on it, and it has improved (shrunken slightly) over the last two days.
however, in my scratching, i swear i caused at least two MAJOR fissures. i was in a full sweat on the toilet, tearing up, trying to get some poo out because i know holding it in will just make it worse. then i took a sitz bath.
i don't know what to do anymore. any idea why i'm getting so many fissures? they seem to be new ones every time, each in a different location. i had a sigmoidoscopy a year ago, and they said my colon looked perfect. right now i'm just trying lots of sitz baths, i forgot how excruciating fissures were. i havent had a full fledged one in over a year (due to constantly being on that polyethylene glycol). its been THREE YEARS with no real end in sight. yes, my "end" comes when i drink my miralax, but i can't be a normal person... i hate being on medicine forever and i dont know. im not even sure its safe! and now im in bed, in so much pain due to my hemorrhoid and two huge fissures...