Hi everybody. So basically I have been under a ridiculous amount of stress and I started seeing blood in my stools. I don't really remember passing anything hard but I can't be certain. This was a little more than a month ago. It was blood and sometimes puss. I've had this before in my life (I am 33) and after a few days it went away. This time it never went away. After about 3 weeks I went to a gastroenterologist. After I gave him full details of what was wrong he said that he thought I had a fissure. He went up inside me and said that he found it. I wasn't used to that feeling so when he asked me if it hurt I said I wasn't sure, then he squeezed really hard and I cried out! (this is no way to treat a patient is it???) Anyway he said it was a fissure but he couldn't be certain unless he performed a colonoscopy and did some blood work. Unfortunately, I don't have any insurance so I had to decline on the tests. This apt cost me $200. So he gave me Analpram and said to do sitz and increase fibre. Well its about three weeks later, the analpram was not working, but my diet is now salad, fruit, soup, bread and fiber. My poops are really soft and come out very easily. All this time I had only 1 day w/ no blood and the puss is now rare, so I am still bleeding and today (after I thought things were getting better) was bad again. The thing is this, I have been reading and reading all over the net and everybody complains of pain, since day 1 I have no pain, nothing hurts but I do bleed. So do you think it's possible that I don't have a fissure and the guy was an idiot? Does everybody have pain? What else can I do? My poops are soft and don't hurt... I'm just confused.
Does anybody know a good doctor in Baltimore, MD?
Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I've had bleeding from internal hemmroids in the past when I've been constipated. I've had blood in the past with a fissure without pain, so the absence of pain does not necessarily mean you don't have a fissure in my opinion. I think I would further investigate your problem however you can manage to do it. I live in the Midwest, so cannot help with a doc recommendation.

Hey Soctree
I just went through surgery on 15 april I went to a doc in Glen Burnie and he has partners in different offices like in ellicott city. http://www.colonrectal.net Check them out. I went to Baltimore medical center for the procedure. I had the fissure repaired and I also had two internal hemmroids removed and the third one was banded. I live in southern maryland near pax river.

Hey soctree,
I'm in California so I'm can't help with a doctor recommendation.
But my fissure is definitely enigmatic. In the beginning, I had severe pain during defecation and also for hours afterward. I also had good amounts of bleeding. But after a few months, the pain and bleeding both decreased dramatically. Now I have just mild discomfort and itchiness. So yes, I think it could be possible to have a fissure without much pain.
However your GI doc is right that bleeding should be evaluated to rule out other conditions. Colonoscopies are obviously expensive, of course, so if you don't have insurance then I think you're on the next best track by looking for a second opinion. The doc should be able to visualize your fissure and confirm that you indeed have one.
Also, blood tests are pretty cheap so you could always have that done. I'd think the goal there is to check for anemia caused by things like GI bleeding or colon cancer. It's not as good at detecting those as a colonoscopy would be but most symptomatic colon cancer causes anemia, so it could at least be a simple screen.
Like Cheryl says maybe it could be hemorrhoids too? I used to have those and they bled without any real pain. A fissure generally causes some level of discomfort whereas hemorrhoids are more likely to cause bleeding without pain I believe.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts!
Marsh37 I made an appointment with them so hopefully I'll get some form of closure.
Thanks

I went with a general surgeon....mostly because i didnt want to wait for a specialist.

Yes- it can absolutely still be a fissure !
It is best to go to CRS for any butt problems IMO. ; )
Best of luck !!!

Hey everybody,
I just wanted to give you all an update on what happened. I went to the doctor that Marsh37 recommended and boy what a difference. He looked at me and said immediately that I do not have a fissure. He said that he thought I had proctitus and it was pretty bad so he scheduled me for an sigmoidoscopy the next day. He wanted to make sure it wasn't colitus. The procedure happened and it turned out to be proctitus. I have to take some suppositories for the next few weeks but after taking the first one the bleeding has stopped!
So BIG moral to the story - Not all doctors are good, the first doctor I had was horrible!!! I changed my entire lifestyle because of what he said (not that it was bad, but it was difficult). Fruits, cooked vegs, no meats, fiber, fiber, fiber nothing changed. Turned out he was WRONG.
Anyway thanks for every bodies help and especially Marsh37 - thank you for the recommendation, it really made all the difference!!

Nice! Congrats on not having a fissure and getting an accurate diagnosis!

Thanks for posting and sharing!