this is available at the health food store, I did not try it yet, i see it may not be fast acting or strong enough but could help/ it is Pharma Gaba, supplement. 100 mg it is on Web MD additional info worth checking into. These muscles have a mind of their own I need to have a talk with mine and really get this tightness and spasm back to it's old self.. It has to get tired, sheesh, These muscles have got to relax.... once and for all.... There has to be something natural...

Does anyone have the tightness pulling up to the tailbone? Seems to reach further up higher. Although all of the muscles are connected, I will ask the PT also.

TY GG, if we could just get these muscles to retreat... I wonder if there is some type of activity or natural food that would have the calming relaxing effect, other than these invasive treatments. I do not think I had much Botox, must have been a very low dose or its the levator muscles and others in the area that were not treated that keep in action mode.

http://www.coccyx.org/personal/2003/nad.htm this woman was cured of her muscle spasms ..interesting

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How I healed...and how I stay healed
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How I healed...and how I stay healed
Postby ihatethisclub » 13 Apr 2016, 16:39

It's been months since I've posted. If you do a search of my posts, you'll see I tried everything over a year to heal a chronic fissure that had led to excruciating spasms. The fissure pain itself was overshadowed by hours and hours of agonizing sphincter spasms that left me writhing in pain, crying and sweating on the bathroom floor. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced.

Anyway, I did it all. I used every cream ever mentioned by anyone who ever had an anal fissure--nitroglycerin cream, yeast cream, wheat grass cream, Liquid Bandage, Lansinoh, olive oil, coconut oil, and so on. I took stool softeners, magnesium, Miralax, fiber. I went for a highly invasive visit to a pelvic floor physical therapist. I visited 3 different colorectal surgeons, and had doctor friends making inquiries for me out of state with other colorectal surgeons. I had Botox done twice. I had my fissure cauterized and injected with Kenalog (aka, the "Feingold procedure"). The only thing I didn't do was a sphincterotomy because I've had 5 babies and am considered very high risk for incontinence later in life.

The agony lasted a year and no one could give me answers other than, "Just keep your stools soft and it will heal."

One day, I was praying and these thoughts came to me: 1) Stop taking Miralax and Magnesium. They're making you poop too much and freaking out your hyper-sensitive sphincter. 2) Stop eating/drinking dairy products. 3) Stop consuming fake sugar (i.e. Diet Coke). 4) Start walking every morning (the repetitive movement always brought some relief when I was having a spasm, but I hadn't been doing it regularly)

So, I did. I had a very quick rebound effect from stopping my stool softening agents so suddenly, and my stools became very hard very quickly. I started taking Senna at night, and it was just the right amount of stool softening to keep me from going into spasm. Without dairy and Diet Coke, my anal area started to heal. The pain, burning, itching, and creepy-crawly feelings started to go away, and with that, the spasms began to taper off. I also began to tolerate using Calmosepetine cream (which would trigger spasms before because my nerve endings were constantly on high alert). That bit of menthol cream offered a bit of drying and cooling which was welcome.

I also started taking some heavy duty probiotics. I feel like my gut bacteria balance was the source of my fissure. I am one that didn't have a "triggering" event when my fissure "happened." It just started hurting one day and got progressively worse. I had been a Diet Coke fiend at the time and not eating healthfully when the fissure happened, but I wasn't particularly constipated.

I have tried adding back in dairy and diet coke. I went on vacation recently and threw caution to the wind. I came home and was *miserable* for a week while I eliminated those things again from my diet. Even the spasms had started to kick up. I doubled up on my probiotics, too, to try to get my gut back in line. I find that I don't need any kind of stool softener or fiber, as long as I keep the fake sugar and dairy away.

Now, I'm back to "normal" and doing great. I say "normal" in quotes because obviously, I wish I didn't have to be so careful with my diet. But fortunately, it's not worse. I can deal with no dairy and no Diet Coke and taking probiotics every night. My diet is much better now, and that's a good thing. I also have a treadmill now, so there's no excuse not to run or walk daily.

And that's where I've been and where I am now. And I guess my 2 cents is that if your situation is chronic, take a holistic view of what's going on with your body. I've been interested in gut health for a long time. In past years, we brewed water kefir, made sauerkraut and other fermented foods, grew our own sourdough starters, etc. I was on antibiotics as a kid A LOT and I was trying to make up for it. I'd gotten lazy in the past couple years and this is where it got me. While I'm not currently going out of my way to eat fermented foods, I'm finding that probiotics are a must. Good luck, friends!

Mamafizz - I would say that anything you can do to keep bowel movements regular and soft is going to help. The internal sphincter is not under conscious control. It works a little differently than other muscles - unfortunately because this complicates things. Sometimes the muscles resting state becomes way tighter than normal, and this is difficult to fix.

I would say that, based on my own experience, see what the physio and crs have to say before doing too much research into supplements etc that can help. I find that I can spend hours searching online about this stuff, but when I'm done I'm even more stressed out. The best for me was to try and just put it out of my mind until I could talk to the people who deal with these things everyday. Just what worked for me!

Thanks your absolutely right... I have been using very conservative measures so far, and making improvement, the Botox has helped by way of allowing it to heal, but I have a way to go. Patience is key I am so anxious to get back to normal that it propels you after being in so much pain to find answers right away. Mine is defiantly in that state as well and because it has been for so long it is affecting the surrounding muscles. Just need to stay positive and pray through it all. We will all be healed.

Hi girls,
I haven't been very talkative lately due to suffering in silence. I got tired of hearing myself crying about how much pain I am in. However, I do have good news (I think). My exam appointment was scheduled for 1/27, but I received a call and they had a cancellation for yesterday. Of course I took it because this is more than I can handle. As it turns out I am going into surgery Friday 1/27 for a LIS. I am scared and pretty nervous. I will definitely be in more contact with you all. I hope you don't mind. I live alone with my six dogs and I don't think these little critters will entirely understand lol.

Oh good news...Things happen for a reason. You will be better soon will pray for your fast healing.... let us know how things go... :)

RM,

That's great news - this surgery is the gold standard, chances are in a few weeks you'll be feeling great!

To be honest, I wish I had had my surgery in September when I had the chance - I put it off because I had some improvement but it's been a long painful road since then without much overall improvement.

Keep us updated!
GG