Hello everyone! Just registered, and I must say, I am very glad I have found this msg board. My battle with AF started about 4 or 5 months ago. During a episode of diarehha, my stool became a painful, bloody mess. At first I assumed it was a hemmroid. I had a doctor appointment a month later for blood pressure, so I waited it out. I went to the doctor, and told him about my problem. He said to watch it and see if it gets better on his own. By the time my second doctor visit came around, it didnt get any better. He took a look, but didn't find a hemmroid. I was worried to say the least. I kept thinking to myself "all this blood and pain, and yet I dont have a hemmroid"? I was scared. I went back the third time for my last blood pressure check and told him I was still having problems. He took another look with a rubber glove, and sure enough, he said I had a anal fissure.
The doctor gave me some suppositories, and sent me on my way. At first, the medication worked great. However, one night it flarred up real bad and its been pretty bad ever since. Blood in stool and on toilet paper, painful bowel movements, occasional chaffing. The last couple weeks my anal area seems reallly tight. My stools aren't coming out smoothly. Still some bright red blood, and occasional itching. Here is what I have been doing.
Preparation H Suppositories
Hot tub or bath
I'm upping my fiber intake
Drinking more water
Any other advice or personal success stories. My pain is not crippling when I'm not having a bowel movement, thank god.
Thanks and look forward to learing from you all.

hey hoosier....
welcome to the af support board.
during my bout with af, i too was doing prep-H suppositories and my CRS nixed that! he said it would probably do more harm than good because of the insertion of the suppository and it irritating the fissure rather than helping it heal. he was against inserting anything upward into the rectum for fissures - hemmys would be a different strategy.
in the tub or bath, avoid using soap on your butt or in the butt area. just have a little wash cloth with warm water to clean and rinse that area.
with regards to fiber, how much on a daily basis do you intake? do you think you are getting 35-40g per day? that would be the goal (if you are about 5'10'' and between 160-190 lbs). also it would be best to get your daily fiber from foods rather than over the counter supplements/aides.
all bran bran buds are a great source of daily fiber and are wonderful in soy milk with some fresh blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. i would go further to even cook a bowl over a warm heat to soften the buds up - as the softer your food going in, the easier it will be coming out and it will be easier to digest too. just a bowl of all bran bran buds yields 39 g of fiber.
during the day, have enough of all veggies in the rainbow - carrots, beets, broccoli, yellow squash, etc. steamed is my favorite.
not sure if you consume dairy, caffeine, or spicy stuff on a regular basis. you may want to stop or significantly cut down on all these to help your system make a change.
also, avoid red meats for now and look into lean cuts of chicken and fish and try out tofu, seitan, and tempeh.
see if you can increase your intake of whole grains and beans.
***
with these dietary suggestions, don't try to do them all at once but progressively add them into your exisiting diet and take away what isn't really helping you at this moment.
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with regards to your butt, you may want to buy some Palmers Cocoa Butter to use after a shower or bath and also some Aloe Vera salve too. if you have Vitamin E gel caps, the gel is a good soothing ointment as well for your fissure. for some people it may sting, for others it is a comfort.
avoid anything with Witch Hazel - so stay away from Tucks or Prep H moist pads.
replace your regular toilet paper with baby moist wipes that don't have fragrance or additives. i prefer Charmin's freshmates.
***
after your bath/shower, blow dry your butt and between the cheeks to make sure there is no moisture. after that is done, apply a very thin coating of the Palmers Cocoa butter to your rectum (not inside) outside and the cocoa butter will work its way in to the fissure.
you may want to consider using the cocoa butter prior to a BM too for lubrication.
***
i hope i haven't overwhelmed you with info. but you can work your way through with it.
some are easy changes (toilet paper, blow drying butt, etc) and some take time - adjusting your diet.
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don't strain.
don't push.
if you are adventurous, try squatting over the bowl when eliminating. this will help take the pressure off the fissure.
and probably one of the hardest things to do, is to keep your anxiety level down when going to BM. try to relax the body and do some heavy breathing as you prepare and during the BM.
***
good luck.

Hi there and welcome! Sorry to hear you have been suffering with this and that it has taken so long to figure out what you have. I really think you need to see a colorectal surgeon. The suppositories you were given are not useful for anal fissure. In fact they can thin the skin and make healing more challenging. The main creams that are prescribed are either nitroglycerin or diltiazem/nefedipine which are both blood pressure medicines that are compounded in petroleum jelly and sometimes lidocaine so they you can apply it to the anus to reduce blood pressure to that area. It helps to relax the anus allowing more blood to flow into the area to promote healing.

We have tons of threads about how to deal with AF. You might want to browse back a few pages too. We've had a lot of stories in the year and a half we have been here but the advice is very similar.

I hope you will find relief soon.

Hi there,
sorry you're having a rough time. Its strange how doctors give us medicine to cure hemmorroids when we have fissures, mine did that too! I'm sure you will find lots of information to help you here!
Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your replies. Would it be ok to take Preparation H suppositories. This medication gives me instant relief. I think i'll see if I can fix this by the end of the year, and if I can't, i'll visit the surgeon. agggg.lol
On a more positive note, my AF hasn't drastically altered my daily life. After bowel movement it sucks, but I can deal with it after that.

Hi Hoosier,
I am thinking you might be from the Midwest like me as I went to school in Indiana. Happy gave you lots of great tips. I have learned more from these boardies than from my docs. You can get a wealth of info here, and the person who created this forum did a great service to all of us.
I have been using Diliatzen cream for about 3 months, and I think I am almost cured of my fissure. It is very important to get your digestive system regulated. Maybe some of Happy's ideas (and Lecia's) can help. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about Diliatzen cream and welcome!! I went golfing today and did my best of the season, so I am happy about that right now.

Happy,
Lost of great tips--I copied them to my personal folder.

Do you like the golf icon I put up for you Cheryl?

maybe prep H suppositories have a pain killer like lidocaine in them or some other local aneasthetic?

If so, lidocaine would do the same job, but without the damaging effect of hydrocortisone.

Welcome Hoosier !
I am sorry to read your troubles !
There is so much good information here , i am sure this will help
I would absolutely try one of the BP creams Lecia mentioned and maybe a stool softner too !

I think you should see a Colorectal specialist as soon as you can. They see so many fissure patients and are the experts when it comes to this stuff. They can give you the creams that Lecia mentioned, which have healed alot of people.
My fissure was not diagnosed for a year and during that time the doctors kept giving me prep H and telling me it was hemmies. It really didn't help too much. It wasn't until I started seeing my CRS, about 4 months ago, that my healing began due to the nitro cream he gave me.
I hope you feel better soon.
Jen