Hi ppl,
Davo, thanks for the information you provided. Reading your posts has definitely instilled me with quite a bit of confidence about this procedure. I obviously am nervous about it, as I’ve never undergone surgery nor been admitted to the hospital my entire life. But the specialist I saw said that it’s a very effective, pain-free and short procedure. Furthermore, he pointed out that incontinence shouldn't be a problem in my case as I'm young. He also told me it’s an outpatient procedure, which means I probably wouldn’t need to be admitted to a hospital and stay there for days for post-surgery recovery.
This problem has been with me for three months now. I’ve been using Diltiazem for about a month, with absolutely no improvement whatsoever. Still having the immensely painful and bloody BMs, with the pain lasting the whole day after I go in the morning. I’ve been consuming fruits, vegetables, bran flakes, oatmeal, whole-wheat bread and water. This has been my diet for the past three months. As healthy as this all sounds, I’m getting real sick of just living off this stuff and not being able to eat my favourite foods for this whole time. When I’m out with friends, I always have to refrain from eating coz they always want to eat proper, full-fledged meals or junk food. Watching them eat that delicious food while not being able to join them isn't much less than an atrocity. I fear BMs like a little kid afraid of the dark. Plus, I really need to get my mind off this major concern so that I can focus on other, more important things that I’m having to deal with simultaneously.
I have an appointment with the specialist tomorrow. I think I’ll tell him straight up that the ointment and high-fiber diets are not working, so let’s do the sphincterotomy. He is, however, a general surgeon. I have read good reviews about him online, though my own impression of him is of someone who’s in a rush to get through a session. I don’t know if I can be referred to a proper CRS. But I’m kinda banking on the idea that this guy’s done a lot of these procedures, and knows exactly what he’s doing. After all, my regular doctor referred me to him, so I’m guessing this guy should be the right one. I’m gonna try to get info on his track-record with this procedure when I meet him tomorrow.
Thanks guys.

Hi guys,
Just thought I'd share this info. My sphincterotomy has been scheduled for the 29th of May. That means another month of this agony and ridiculous diet that I'm on. One thing has come out of this misery though, now positive or negative, you can decide. In the 3 months I've been suffering, I've ended up going down from about 150 lbs to about 125 lbs. Not that 150 was too much for me to begin with, but now, people have noticed that I've gone thin and I look weak. I'm too embarrassed to tell them though that I'm suffering from an AF, and that I've been avoiding eating out of fear of BMs.
One concern I have regarding the surgery though, and I'm hoping that someone might have an answer to this. If the 1 month of Diltiazem ointment and 3 months of a high-fiber diet haven't helped at all, how would surgery succeed where these remedies have, thus far, failed?
Anyway, I'm seriously looking at this surgery as a last resort. If this doesn't work, I'll just have to learn to live with this for as long as it lasts.
Bye.

Hi,
Thanks for your earlier comments and i am glad that my previous posts have given you some confidence. I lost about 20lbs due to my fissure and at first it was nice but then i did start to look a little too thin. Its now about six weeks post surgery and i have put about 9-10lbs back on!!!!
I must say i am surprised you have been offered surgery after only 4 weeks of Diltiazem use, its normally at least 6-8 weeks before surgery is even considered.
Whilst Diltiazem is great at relaxing the sphincter its only at its strongest for a few hours after application therefore there are times in between applications where it starts to wear off. Also i dont think its actually strong enough to completely relax and paralyse the sphincter. LIS is much more aggressive approach, i had my doubts at first but believe me it was a quickfix. I can't speak for anyone else but personally the last pain i had from my fissure was on the morning before my surgery.
LIS is actually classed as the last resort after all other methods have failed. Its success rate ranges between 95-100% and the risk of incontinence is less than 1% (UK NHS statistics).
Anyway good luck with your procedure
Davo