I can't even believe this. I almost feel like I'm in shock.
I should start off by saying I've been feeling constipated lately. I've been taking Naproxen 2x per day due to some severe shoulder pain that I've spent $1000's on and still don't have a diagnosis for. In addition, I take Spironolactone, which can cause constipation.
Woke up this morning, got ready for work like usual. About 5 minutes before heading out the door I needed to go to the bathroom. No big deal, right? I only passed a small stool, and I wasn't straining, but as soon as I started passing it I felt pain. I immediately became startled, because boy did it feel familiar. It wasn't HORRIFYINGLY INTENSE, but it hurt and burned a bit. And sure enough, although there was no blood when I wiped, there was a spot of blood on my stool.
Cue me crying hysterically for the next hour or so, until I thought I would throw up.
I had my first fissure back in 2009, and it lasted at least 1.5 years, maybe 2. It's hard to remember now. But it was the most miserable period in my life. It wouldn't heal, I stopped eating and dropped to 90lbs, and I was constantly depressed and in pain. I never had the heavy bleeding other people describe (blood dripping into the bowl, blood on toilet paper, etc), generally just spots of blood on my stool. I had LIS surgery eventually, which didn't go well at all. I couldn't urinate afterward, so the nurse put a catheter in me, but because that entire area down there was swollen, she had a very difficult time. It took them a solid 5 minutes, and that part in particular was easily the worst experience of my life. I have interstitial cystitis and vulvodynia, so everything down there hurts. BAD. I can't even have normal female exams because the pain is truly astonishing. The doctor also gave me a stimulant laxative, which caused me to have hard stool the day after my surgery, so I bled some more. I'm sure that did me no good whatsoever. Healing was very slow.
Most importantly, the muscle "twitches"/spasms (mine have always been painless) didn't stop after LIS. They slowed down a lot, but every now and then I still feel a twitch. Until now I've kinda just shrugged and accepted it.
Which is why I'm so terrified right now. I have another fissure, and I still have muscle twitches. I feel like the odds of this healing are slim to none without a second surgery.
I still get pain with my scar tissue. Indeed, I was still so sore a number of months after the surgery that they put me out to take a look and see if I had a fistula (I didn't). I had a different colorectal surgeon do that procedure, since I was still angry with my previous one for brushing me off after the surgery. The surgeon said she only saw the scar tissue, no remaining fissure/fistula.
Since then I occasionally had mild burning down there, and used Calmoseptine to great effect.
I'm thinking that this new fissure may be the same one, since it feels like it's in the same spot. I just...I can't believe this. I can't believe that just yesterday I was fine. I can't believe I have to do this all over again. Back in 2009 I was in college, but now I work every day 9-5 sitting at a desk all day. How in the world am I going to get through this?
I'm planning on being very aggressive with home treatment. Chugging water, Miralax every day, maybe sticking to ONLY oatmeal, probiotics, warm baths with epsom salt, wipes with witch hazel, Calmoseptine and maybe a new ointment I haven't tried before that has good reviews called Mayinglong Musk cream... I already take a magnesium supplement called SlowMag. Are there any other supplements/vitamins people would recommend?
I'm probably going to put a call in and make an appointment with a colorectal surgeon (one I haven't seen before, since I've moved since the last one). I'd like to start using that nitro ointment again ASAP.
God help me. I just want to crawl into a hole and die. I don't know if I can do this again.

Hi crimeofpassion
I think this time won't be as difficult as the first time, since you already had LIS (your canal is not very tight) and also you have a lot of experience taking care of yourself. Just try to calm down and be proactive, start doing your fissure friendly actions and you will see it will go away soon, if fissures are treated early they heal fast!!

galamat wrote:Hi crimeofpassion
I think this time won't be as difficult as the first time, since you already had LIS (your canal is not very tight) and also you have a lot of experience taking care of yourself. Just try to calm down and be proactive, start doing your fissure friendly actions and you will see it will go away soon, if fissures are treated early they heal fast!!

If my LIS surgery had gone well (or at least more smoothly) and the muscle spasms stopped, I wouldn't feel so bad right now. But I continued having those painless muscle fasciculations, and still feel them every now and then to this day. I don't think my muscle tone improved that much. They were very conservative during the procedure (which I think is normal, but I rather wonder if they were too conservative).

I asked my mother to pick up some wipes with witch hazel and more epsom salt at Walmart. Planning on buying an omega 3-6-9 + evening primrose capsules on Amazon, in addition to that Mayinglong Musk cream. I have some high potency B12 and vitamin D at home, as well as just a Walgreens brand of vitamin E.
Would anyone suggest starting with any other supplements ASAP?

Oh I feel your pain! When I got my second fissure a few weeks ago I just about passed out in disbelief and was terrified to go through it again. You're much stronger second time around don't worry it will heal up quickly. Stay calm and just do what you need to heal it. I drink 4-5 liters of water a day. Maple and briwn sugar Quaker oatmeal (10 g soluble fiber) every morning and about 5 smaller meals throughout the day. Magnesium and a multi vitamin every morning and a cap full of Miralax every night before bed. Oh and nifedipine too. Hope you feel better soon!

crimeofpassion...
I'm so sorry to read this. So many of us can relate to what you are going through.
As far as your plan of action, it really all sounds on track. I can tell you I love the Mayinglong Ointment and after the literally dozens of creams and ointments I've tried, it is one of the ones I am never without. It has a pretty intense effect, but since you've used calmoseptine , it should be fine for you.
Diet, supplements to keep stools soft, appointment with CRS to get on top of this as quickly as you can. All sounds good.
In addition, do whatever you possibly can to get the stress and anxiety under better control. It will only aggravate your healing. Anything that helps you relax and divert your mind. Calming music, writing in a journal, warm baths, watching a favorite movie, and even getting a prescription for something to help in the short term if you need it.
Hoping this is just a blip for you, and that things start improving very quickly.

Trying to schedule an appointment with a CRS right now, but it appears none of them have anything in the next 2-3 weeks. I hate trying to get in to see specialists...
I just don't know about whether or not I'll actually heal this time around. I've felt a few muscle spasms already today. What a mess this is.

You have caught it early this time.... Try not to go into panic mode. (I know that's easier said than done)
Start your fissure routine now. Lots of relaxing baths or sitz bath if you have one. Mirilax, plenty of water. Try putting a blob of Vaseline on your anus just before your bm... It really helps to lubricate things and protect the fissure a little.
You could try adding a slug of olive oil to meals to also help with lubrication.
I really feel your pain.... It's just so soul destroying when things like this happen. I hope it's a small blip, and you recover in a super quick time.

OMB x

Had a very small bowel movement this morning that was disappointingly hard (not terribly, but still...) in spite of the fact that I drank water constantly yesterday and took my Miralax. I had applied some Vaseline before going. I didn’t see any blood, and I think I felt some pain, but I was so nervous that - as weird as it sounds - I’m not positive right now how much pain occurred. Sometimes when I freak out my brain sort of just seems to float away, and afterward I’m just sort of like, “Wait. What EXACTLY happened again?”

I had another bowel movement around 3:35 pm today. Didn’t feel any sharp pain and didn’t see any blood. Again wasn’t as soft as I thought it would be given how much water I was drinking. Had some burning mostly afterward, although sometimes when I use Calmoseptine, which can have an intense cooling sensation (that at times can feel “burny”), that sensation acts up during/after going to the bathroom. The burning wasn’t severe. By 3:45 it seemed to mostly be gone.

I don’t feel any pain (yet) when coughing and sneezing, and I did both this morning. Sneezed three times (tried to stifle them as best as possible, though) but no pain. I remember sneezing and coughing could be jarring at times with a fissure. I also remember I used to get little blips of pain when I would sit down as well, but I haven’t felt any so far. I had that fairly sharp pain and spot of blood when I went yesterday, but mainly my issue seems to be a very familiar burning on the left side where my fissure (and LIS cut, I think?) occurred. That’s what lingered for so long after my LIS surgery – a burning sensation brought on by bowel movements, sitting too long, etc. My CRS said it was the damn scar tissue.
Does anyone know if scar tissue can bleed?

Today for breakfast I had some raspberries. Wasn’t feeling too hungry. Lunch was a container of watermelon cubes and some plain iceberg salad with zero toppings, but I barely ate any of the salad, to be honest. For dinner I had vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt, and I tried eating two soft tortillas that I tore up a bit and dipped in plain hummus. The tortillas are a blue corn and flaxseed blend, fairly smooth and not grainy, and they've got about 3 grams of fiber each plus 200mg of ALA Omega-3 fatty acids. What do you guys think? Good or bad? I also weakened and ate a Fiber 1 brownie. 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar. Hope I don't regret that.
I took a very brief 13/14 minute bath this morning before heading to work, and another bath (with Epsom salt and an oatmeal packet this time) after I got home for about 1 hr 45 min. Liberally applied Calmoseptine this morning. Last night I discovered I had some evening primrose oil, so I applied that topically as well (externally, as my bottle says it’s not for internal use). Not sure if that’ll do any good, though.

I really tried pounding the water today. By 11:40 am I had already had a little over 54 ounces of water (1.5 liters). I drank about a total of 105 ounces total today. I sure hope that’s enough…I don’t think I can drink more than that. It’s just frustrating because I hate having to pee every 5-10 minutes.

Does anyone have suggestions on what to eat? Research really seems to be conflicting. Some sources say eat whole grain/wheat breads, some say avoid ALL breads completely. Some say eating any kind of fruit is great, others say acidic fruits and things like bananas are bad. It can get really confusing. I normally eat raw veggies, like carrots, but I’m thinking I may need to avoid those because they’re tougher. I’ll also be avoiding nuts, popcorn (which I sadly LOVE), and chips of course. Severely limiting or completely cutting out dairy as well. R
Is peanut butter okay? Again, I’ve heard mixed things. I know it can differ from person to person, but I’m just wondering what USUALLY is okay/not okay.

I spoke too soon. Had a quite soft bowel movement this morning, very easy to pass - nothing huge, and there were numerous spots of blood. Tiny spots, but numerous. Maybe 5 or a bit more? More than I recall seeing in years past when I struggled with fissures. There was no sharp pain however. If anything, I just felt a mild ache/burning for a very short period afterward, which I found confusing given all the blood. I wasn't too fussed after going until I saw the blood. I was so certain there would be nothing, especially since my harder stool yesterday had no blood on it.
Think I'll be staying home from work again today. I just want to die.
While applying vaseline before I went, I noticed that I felt tight (in my opinion). I should note that in the past (this is 1 year+ after LIS), I had trouble getting suppositories in. They just didn't want to go up.
I'm really starting to think there's a second LIS in my near future.