IronicTwist wrote:For me, as long as I apply GTN right after a BM I can almost avoid pain completely.

I wish it were that easy for me. I'm on day 5 of soft BM which I assume is helping not to re-injure. But even though I do a sitz bath after BM and then the dialtazem, I still get a good 4 hours of on & off itchy pain from what I assume are spasms.

The only thing that helps is to lay on my side with a small room heater pointed right at my behind. As soon as I get back up, spasms will come back in a minute or so.

I went through that for months. The past 3 have been easier and controllable. Trust me, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Have you considered LIS?

Geez, I can't imagine months of this. The amount of time I am allocating to this issue is ridiculous.

RE: LIS, not really, I'm a newb to this. I injured myself a little over a month ago, so I'm hoping this isn't a chronic situation.

I'm cautiously optimistic that so far, today, I haven't been in pain. This is day 6 of soft BMs, so I'm really hoping that I'm healing and it's just a waiting game. I do feel a weird spasm today, but it's deeper inside and not painful. Really really hoping this means healing is happening.

I just wish I would have learned about the Miralax & MOM weeks ago so that I wasn't re-injuring every morning.

I'm going to take advantage and go for my jog now. :-)

Quick update, it's 5:34 PM and I haven't had any pain today other than a bit of discomfort. I'm also sitting on my bed, cross legged for the last 2 hours as I write this.

I can't friggin' believe I'm not in pain! Holy Cow! I'm so happy I could cry!

I'm really really hoping this means I'm healing FINALLY. Either way, I'm sticking to the diet, supplements and meds until I see a specialist. I am not willing to ever go through this again as long as I can help it. I don't care if I have to eat bird food the rest of my life.

That's great Pita74, glad to hear things are going well!!!

-GG

Pita,

What do you mean by MOM diet? And when you say no pain, do you mean during a BM or no pain ever. I am without pain during BM but I am constantly feeling something not right down there.

MOM is probably Milk of Magnesia. Helps keep bms soft. Good to hear you are feeling better pita. You may just heal with conservative measures. If it persists, ask for a GTN prescription. That should get you healed.

What is a GTN scrip and is it better than dialtazem?

So far I am mostly pain free. Been watching diet like a hawk, lost 5 pounds. Crazy how easy dieting is when you have this as a consequence lol.

I still get discomfort and riding in the car sucks. But I can sit on my bed every night without pain, so something must be changing. Slowly, ever so slowly.

Oh yeah, and I still stand all day to work. Sitting on a chair or in the car are still probs.

GTN is Glycerin Trinitrate. (correct me if Im wrong) It isnt a calcium channel blocker like Dialtazem. What it does is relax the internal sphincter or any hypertonic muscle its locally applied to. Think of what a botox injection would do but instead of 6 to 8 months of effect it lasts a few hours. I never tried Dialtazem but the GTN(rectogesic) I used did help dramatically reduce the spasms giving my fissure some time to heal. GTN does come with a catch. The most common side-effect is headaches but those usually subside within a few minutes in my case. How long have you had the fissure?

Thanks for clearing that up. I have had it since January 10th. I am happy to report that I am definitely healing. I am still on the daily Miralax which along with sitz, eating like a bird and standing all day have helped me. I'm not sure if the Dialtazem has actually helped. Still not 100%, but definitely getting there. As of 2 days ago, I no longer feel that itchy, burning sensation of the spasms after a BM. I'll be continuing the same remedy for another month just to be on the safe side and then I will see a specialist to rule out any long term problems. I'm also holding out for another month before doing any strength training other than my daily runs.