Extreme Pain -- please help!

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Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby vintagegirl26 » 08 Mar 2014, 18:43

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with a fissure a few weeks ago after first being diagnosed with hemorrhoids by the emergency room doctor. I finally went to a colon/rectal surgeon who said it is a fissure. The pain is unbearable and I have been in pain with absolutely no relief for over one month now. I suffered a traumatic event in late January which seems to have triggered all of this. Since then it has gotten so much worse and the situation isn't resolved, so I'm sure the stress is not helping. The pain is like glass cutting through my colon/rectum. Sometimes I am in a store or walking and I get a sudden severe pain/spasm. My face gets redder than a tomato, my heart starts racing, my veins pop out of my head and basically I can't even move. I've become completely debilitated by it. I was given Tramadol for pain but unfortunately I had a severe reaction to it and can't take it. The DR said there is no other pain med he can give me because they are constipating and will make it worse so I am suffering thru this with no pain meds. Now my tailbone is hurting too. It feels like something is pressing on it at times and other times it is just a dull pain. I can't even pee right...my whole body feels out of whack. Does anyone else have this much pain? It just seems so abnormal and excruciating. I'm afraid that it's going to give me a heart attack! The DR gave me a new medicine to try to heal it. It is callled Nefedipine. It is mixed with a numbing med and made into a cream that I am supposed to apply 4x daily to heal the fissure but when I apply it I get joint pain... Oh, and since I got the fissure I've also developed skin tags...like 50 of them. They seem to be multiplying. After a particularly painful BM the other day, it seemed like the fissure blew open even more and one of the tags is huge. These seem to be in the way too when I try to go to the bathroom. Does this all sound like normal fissure symptoms? I know it's painful but these seems extreme and I'm wondering if there is something else going on like colon cancer. I a just really worried and feel like I'm going to die from the pain. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.
:groan:
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby ThroughRecovery » 08 Mar 2014, 22:56

Yeah, I had an external hemorrhoid that was practically blocking my anus. I had that cut off along with an LIS last week and I believe I am on the road to recovery. Your symptoms are exactly what a fissure is. Tell your doctor to give you some Lidocaine cream, I used to rub that inside of my anus and it was the only thing that kind of helped. I know that sounds disgusting but we gotta do what we gotta do. You'll make it through this, everyone does. I went to a general surgeon, I knew my fissure was deep and raw so I told him, forget the creams just do the surgery. I know that most people would say don't do that but I have a very tight opening and my flatus always sounded like a creaking door. So I knew it would help heal me and also help my self-confidence. Use the nifedipene, maybe get him to get you the compound NTG cream, or diltiazem. If you fissure doesn't heal after the far end of the heal time, it's time for surgery. Find a good surgeon who has done thousands of these (very common condition) and just go for it. The median heal time is 5 weeks and it only hurts as bad as the fissure but you most likely won't have the spasms after a BM while you are healing. I don't have spasms anymore which were debilitating to the point I was taking Oxycodone everyday I had a BM. I'll just tell you now, don't get discouraged. This will be a very long journey but life will get better and your butt will heal. Good luck to you.
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby lefthanded » 09 Mar 2014, 18:51

I hit 10 on the pain scale on a near daily basis. I use vicodin for the pain, and medical marijuana to help with the spasms, and ativan to help with the panic that sets in when it hurts so much I can't breathe. I recommend you find the best and most compassionate CRS you can and see if there is something that can be offered to you for your ongoing and increasing symptoms. You are not alone.
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby Scientist2516 » 09 Mar 2014, 21:25

Hi Vintagegirl, your symptoms sound severe and horrible - I am so sorry. However, please don't worry that you might have cancer. Everything you describe is consistent with a bad fissure. The pain you feel in your tailbone and the pain from peeing, are normal. I think it's called "referred pain", it's a pain you get in a different area from the actual injury, and you get it with severe pain. I often felt as though my urethra was infected, but it wasn't.

Nifedipine is a good drug for fissures, and has very few or no side-effects. It you think it's not helping after three weeks or so, ask for one of the others that ThroughRecovery mentioned. Diltiazem and nitroglycerine are both very effective but do have more potential for side effects. Still, it was nitroglycerine that cured me.

If you end up having to have surgery, don't worry too much. For most people, recovery from surgery is not nearly as bad as the fissure itself.

I know this is horrible for you, and you can't imagine living through the next weeks. However, it WILL get better. Learn how to have soft stools that won't traumatize your fissure. Experiment with stool softeners and laxatives. Improve your diet, drink a LOT of water to keep those stools soft and moist. Try moderate heat, in a heat pad or hot water bottle. Sitting on a hot water bottle for hours, and tucking it under my bum at night, relieved the pain for me.

Can you take ibuprofen? It won't kill the pain, but it could take the edge off.

You can get through this! I did, and others have. It takes time, and it's hard to keep going sometimes. When things are rough, come here and vent. You can ask questions, people here know what it's like and will support you.
Good luck!
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby dent1 » 10 Mar 2014, 12:04

Just wondered if you could have some sort of pelvic floor problems as well such as rectal intersusseption/ prolapse/ rectocele. I had a rectocele and had a lot more issues with peeing - discomfort, urgency etc before I had my repair surgery.
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby leanne27 » 11 Mar 2014, 03:54

So many of us can relate to your symptoms, really hard to understand how something so minor (on the scale of health problems) can cause this degree of misery. The initial thought is often that you must have something life threatening if the pain is so bad, fortunately this isn't the case but the misery is still there.

A lot of us have been weeping messes at the relentlessness of these symptoms and dream of having a nice normal bum! I believe this will come but it's going to take longer than you want. YOu aren't alone and I've found the validation of the level of discomfort here on this forum really helps. I've contemplated that I must be a huge baby to be in so much pain by a little cut until I came in here and felt the relief that my feelings were typical.

Come in and vent and try to go back to your CRS to ask for more help if you can.

I hope things start to improve, or at least you know that they can.
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby PIMA » 11 Mar 2014, 08:31

VintageGirl26, the pain you are describing could be an infection on the fissure. I just had urgent surgery on my fissure that caused similar pain to what you are describing. My CRS said the fissure was dime size and infected all the way around. Pain like what you are experiencing is not normal. Please consider the sphincterotomy procedure! And keep us posted. My heart goes out to you and I will keep you in my prayers. Living in pain is no way to live!
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby vintagegirl26 » 11 Mar 2014, 13:33

Thanks for all the replies. It helps because some days I feel like I'm suffering all alone and it's too much to bear. Today for example I'm getting spasms every 5-10 minutes. It's unbearable. I also noticed today some dark looking blood in my underwear. I've only had bleeding once with the fissure and it was bright red. This is very dark, almost blackish. I've also got at least three swollen lymph nodes on the left lower abdomen near my hip bone. Anyone else have any of this?


Sadly, I think this was all caused by stress. I went through a very traumatic situation mid January and am continuing to go through it still. Currently, I'm homeless which is making it even harder for me because I feel like I need to rest in a bed. My body is just so worn out and walking or moving makes it worse...

I'm going to try some of the things you all mentioned and hopefully I can find some relief somewhere, somehow.

Thanks again!
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby Scientist2516 » 11 Mar 2014, 22:33

Homeless! You poor thing, my heart goes out to you. I can NOT imagine dealing with a fissure without a home to retreat to.
I think you should call your doctor and tell him/her about the dark blood and lymph nodes. The lymph nodes could be a sign of infection. I don't know about the dark blood, but it sounds serious enough to ask a doctor about.
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!
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Re: Extreme Pain -- please help!

Postby owmybum » 12 Mar 2014, 16:09

Yes, I agree with scientist... Get yourself to a dr.... Better safe than sorry.

All the best
Xx
fissure after hem banding and tag removal feb 11
Pelvic floor therapy
Diltiazem
Botox June 13
Nitro
Internal flap July 14
EUA and polyps removed Nov 14
Diagnosed with neuropathy Jan 15
Diagnosed with HS EDS type 3 (causes poor wound healing )
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