Greetings all. I hate to be here, but am relieved to have found this board. I am a woman in her late 30s who has suffered from a fissure since 3/11. I think it started after someone pushed me on the floor and jumped on my abdomen in a fight. It was either the impact or the back spasms that happened weeks afterwards (from stress) that caused it.
I've always eaten lots of whole wheat, produce, and have been regular before this all happened. At first I tried the typical cure of hiking up my fiber intake. For me, this was a mistake. I've learned a year later, that whole wheat and fiber supplements actually aggravate my condition—even if I drink nearly 2 gallons of water a day. I found this out by accident when visiting inlaws (meat and potato people). My stools seem to really bulk up when I eat whole wheat. So I have cut most bread out of my diet and when I do crave bread, I eat refined only. I drink lots of water and enjoy lots of fruits and veggies to make up for the fiber (4 cups of green smoothies + whole fruits and veggies). For some reason, the fiber from produce doesn't aggravate things as it does from the supplements and whole wheat. I never touched red meat or dairy to begin with, and I haven't had to cut any other types of protein out of my diet (chicken, fish, eggs, etc...).
It's been kind bad before. Lots of bleeding at one point. It was painful enough I had to take ibuprofen a few times. My general practioner found it right away. When I got to the anal surgeon, though, she couldn't find it (I had been treating myself before that point with aloe vera juice, sitz baths, and Prep-H wipes).
Right now, I'm using diet to prevent tears. I use RX lidocaine before and after movements if I haven't gone in more than a day or if I have any tearing. I'm hoping to pick up a tube of .02% nitroglycerin gel this weekend, but I will be waiting til the end of the summer to use it as I am weaning my daughter. Currently, I have a tear twice a month to once every other month—usually when I eat something I shouldn't (yesterday it was several fresh figs—the little seeds don't seem to agree with me). When I get the tears they are much smaller than they were the year before so I am hoping to see an end to this in a few months or sooner without any surgery. It blows my mind how much it can dominate one's life!