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Postby Corsi » 10 Aug 2008, 02:23

I am new member here, but I have been reading your support forum for a while.
Have had a fissure for 8 - 11 months. Thought it was hemorrhoids, but found out in January that I had a fissure (2x3 centimetres). Have been bleeding on and off for the last 8 years, but not as much pain as I have had since my fissure nightmare started.
This has been so painful, much worse than giving birth, and it seems to be a never ending story...
It is difficult to live a normal life, work, be with friends, be a good mum/wife/friend, do things, etc. I think the worst thing is that the pain takes all my energy, and that it is difficult to focus on my children (the meaning of my life :) ).
I had Botox two weeks ago, but I am not sure it has helped much...
Hoped to be able to start working again, but I don't know if I can since my fissure doesn't want to heal.
Feel kind of depressed, but I know I could have had worse things so I guess I shouldn't really complain.
By the way, this is a wonderful support forum!
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Re: New member

Postby val » 10 Aug 2008, 03:19

Image hi there. wow, 8 years is a long long time to have suffered with this! have you tried any of the healing creams like diltiazem or nitro? have you tried high fibre diet and sitz baths?

you'll find all the answers to your questions here, theres always someone who has " been there, done that!" so whatever you need help with, just ask!
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Re: New member

Postby Deleted User 5 » 10 Aug 2008, 05:17

Welcome board, Corsica! Image
I think having fissure pain for 11 months is a pretty harsh sentence!! What steps, beyond the botox, have you taken to try and reign it in?
Complain? Feel free to! That's what we're here for (partially!)
This is perhaps the only place many of us can come to to blow off steam, cry out loud, or just gripe about the indignities of this condition! It helps, if only a little.
I would think that after two weeks the botox should be showing signs of helping or not? Good luck in finding relief and welcome again, to our little board...
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Re: New member

Postby cherylk » 10 Aug 2008, 07:12

Welcome Corsica!
You will find lots of support here.
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Re: New member

Postby Guest » 10 Aug 2008, 07:36

Hey Corsica ....WELCOME !! Image
I am sorry you are here suffering too Image I agree this is worse than childbirth !! Image
We can all relate here thats for sure !
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Re: New member

Postby Guest » 10 Aug 2008, 09:06

Hi Corsica,
I can understand your pain. It is worse than childbirth. I would glady go through another unmedicated birth if it meant I could even have a week with no pain.
I had a fissure last year but have since had hemorrhoid surgery and a fistula repair and as of this morning is looks like I tore another fissure. It does feel like it is destroying quality of life and is so isolating because it is not something that people can readily relate to or admit to.

From what others on here have experienced with the botox is that more than one dose is required usually so don't be alarmed if you don't feel a huge difference yet.

I hope you will find the support you need here to get through this one day at a time.

Lecia
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Re: New member

Postby Corsi » 10 Aug 2008, 10:36

Thank you so much for answering - all of you!!
I don't think I have had this thing for 8 years, but the bleeding has been quite heavy, especially in the winter. I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease eight years ago. The pain has been a problem on and off, but it was last autumn that my fissure hell started. In January when I went to se my doctor/GP it was like giving birth when I had a BM (which I can have up to 4 times a day). I have always thought I had hemoroids.
I take sitz bath after each BM, but just for a minute and then a shower. I use some kind of soap in the water, not ordinary soap. This bath is necessary to take away the pain after each BM.
I have been using (a lot) of nitro cream, now I am using the one called Rectogesic.
It wasn't constipation that caused it for me, but because of my Coeliac disease my digestion and my BM has always been kind of difficult and a story on their own.
I am on a high fiber diet now, but I have to eat fruit and vegetables since my diet has to be gluten free (no bread). I think the problem for me is to get stool that is "perfect", not too hard or to.... it is a difficult balance to get "the perfect pooh" (as Gilliam Mc Keith on British BBC television talks a lot! about) .
It is a harsh sentence yes, and I hate what this does to my family. I am not being the mum I should be, it feels like I have to pretend to be happy..
What I have tried to do? When the fissure was big and extremely painful (first 2-3 months) I ate as little as possible. A lot of smoothie and soup. I have lost a lot of weight without dieting. I just couldn't eat when thinking about my PAINFUL BM next morning. It was like a horror movie to wake up in the morning Image, back to reality - you have to go to the toilet!
Now I'm trying to live more normal, but I still drink about one litre of water with each meal, I take 2 spoons of olive oil a day, stool softener, flax seed, little or no - wine, meat, coffeine, etc.
I am so happy this forum exists, it was one of the other users who told me about it. Have read it a couple of weeks, feel like I know some of you :D
It is (as so many of you have said already) difficult to live a normal life with this, it affects your mood and one gets depressed. Very often when being with friends I feel like I have to pretend to be normal, and especially on bad days you just want to be left alone and be blue. I think both husband and family are fed up with this, but not as much as me Image
Some questions, what is:
MOM?
LIS (partial cutting in the sphincter)?
Fissurectomy?
Salt bath/sitz bath with salt?? (never heard about it...)
And again, thank you :D Sorry for writing so much...
Last edited by Anonymous on 08 Apr 2009, 03:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New member

Postby val » 10 Aug 2008, 10:55

MOM? - is Milk Of Magnesia
LIS (partial cutting in the sphincter)? -lateral internal sphincteromy, they just cut the internal muscle a little to loosen things so that the blood can get to the area better and isnt in spasm
Fissurectomy?- the scar tissue which forms on a fissure means it cant heal properly so it is cut to form a smooth surface
Salt bath/sitz bath with salt?? (never heard about it- i asked everywhere in my town for a sitz bath and no-one had ever heard of it- you're from the uk too, right?? i think its a little bath thing which sits over the toilet, but i always just used my normal bath, and used a handful of epsom salts or just plain kitchen salt, either is good.

you sound like you're doing all the right things. have you got a good crs? (colo-rectal surgeon) the next step may be LIS, it sounds like you have tried everything! in my humble opinion, normal GPs havent got a clue about fissures, sounds like you need advice from an expert!

Lecia, i'm so so sorry you've torn another fissure, why is it that as soon as anyone says they feel better, that happens. hope it heals up soon. are you in much pain?
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Re: New member

Postby Corsi » 10 Aug 2008, 12:35

Hello Val & thank you for answering :)
No I am not from the UK, I am from Norway.
I hope I have a good colo-rectal surgeon, I really don't know...
I don't know how much trust I have in doctors/GP.
My GP said I had hemoroids in January after putting her finger up my... I should have had a colonoscopy last autumn, but she "forgot" to contact the hospital. If she hadn't forgotten, I guess I would not have had this hell, because they would have seen something was wrong.
Mais, c'est la vie! Nothing to do about it now.
Lecia: I have read what you have written for a while, and I can se that you have gone through a lot... Take care :)
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Re: New member

Postby val » 10 Aug 2008, 13:03

you speak extremely good english! i thought you were from uk because our nitro is called rectogesic too, i think its different in us?

have you only been seen by just your GP? if thats the case then you need to ask to be referred to a CRS, then hopefully, if you get a good one, they'll know what your next step should be. i dont know about the health system in norway, but over here it kind of beats the queues and waiting if you get referred to a private surgeon and then he makes arrangements, otherwise it could be 18 months or more before getting seen. your health system may not be like that though!!!
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