Hi everyone, I've been using the nitro cream for about 10 nights now, I think. The bleeding and pain with BM stopped on the 6th day which has been great. The BMs just slide right out. The CRS's directions were to use it in the evening if that morning I had pain or bleeding. But, I called and talked to the nurse to ask her if there was any problem with continuing the nitro cream for awhile longer because I wanted to make sure things were healed. She said the CRS was on vacation, but that there should be no problem with using it at my discretion. I go back to see the doctor on Jan. 8th.
I have still had an irritation and burning when I sit flat down on my rear, so I've been sitting on my side. Yesterday, it was really irritating me so I asked my husband to look and see what was going on. A few weeks ago when he looked, he saw a wet looking split in the butt crack right above the anal hole. He says it's still there, but not wettish looking anymore. He said there was something white in it and asked me if I had used any kind of cream. I told him I had finished the 2 weeks of antifungal cream the day before, so it shouldn't have been that. Unless, it's sticking in there. I would think the sitz baths and showering would have washed out any cream. The only other thing I can think is the nitro cream getting in there because it's kind of whitish.
I kind of wanted to try to go without using the cream for a night, but I think I'll wait awhile longer because it's not healed yet. I'd hate to open it up and have it start bleeding again.
Any ideas on what the white is in the cut? He said the cut doesn't look as deep as before, but I guess that's because of this white stuff. Anybody know if that's something that comes with healing?
Oh yeah, he said above the little cut, higher up the butt crack is alot of flaky dry looking skin. So, that's probably what's feeling irritated. It's not terrible, though. I think part of the reason I'm sitting on my side is I'm afraid to sit flat down and spread my cheeks and have the cut pop open again.
When I called the nurse to find out the correct dosage of the nitro cream a week and a half ago, she said the doctor said it should probably be pretty much healed in a couple of weeks. So, I think I'll go till at least Wednesday with the nitro and see how my butt feels. Then, maybe cut back on the dosage for a night or so. Kind of scared to go without it, but I guess I'll have to sooner or later. I wonder what the CRS would say if I just stayed on it until I go to see her. I just don't want her to say I was supposed to stop using it and get on me about it. But, it's so nice to not have any pain or bleeding!

On another thread, Bernard mentioned about white streaks in skin tags which were a sign of infection. Thats what happened to me, but I would have thought your CRS would be aware of that? They must know infection if they see it!
But keep an eye on it just in case-you don't want an abcess.

The white stuff could be also scar tissue forming. Ask your husband to gently touch it with wet q-tip. If it is easily taken off, it is probably some kind of discharge that should be checked by doctor. It can also be leftover of a cream- even though you take baths it is "in the crevice" and could easily just stay there. If it does not stay on Q-tip it is part of your skin. I don't think staying on the cream can do any harm whatsoever if you don't have bad side effects , like bad burning or headache. Your CRS was not
available to give you advice so he /she has no right to lecture you about anything. If you feel more comfortable using it for a while longer - I don't see why not ? Better to prevent opening f. again !!!!!
All the best : )

That would be great if it's scar tissue! Not sure if my husband will want to mess with it, but we'll see. It could be nitro cream in there because I'm being very careful about wiping and not messing with the cut much and that stuff is sticky. I use wet TP or a Tucks very lightly, and then take a sitz bath, pat dry, and blow dry. And in the shower I've just let the water run down there to keep it clean. I'm so afraid to irritate it anymore.
I am getting the headache and some burning with the cream, but I do it right before bed. I usually wake up in the night to go to the bathroom and the burning and headache are gone. So, they don't last very long at all. Nothing I can't tolerate, that's for sure. I'd rather have that than the pain and bleeding with the BMs in the morning. Everything just slips out now. I hope she keeps me on the cream for a little while longer because I'm so afraid that the cut will pop open again.
Thanks for all the help!! Just having you all to talk to is helping alot.

I don't think there is a rush to get off of it. I was on a different cream (diltiazem) for 4 months. I still use it from time to time. So you need to do what gets you through the day and make you more comfortable.

Well, everything was going good until yesterday. I had a few days this week of going to the bathroom 2-3 times in the morning and they were getting looser and looser. That was worrying me because that's how this all started. Too many loose stools and then a harder one that tore me. Well, that's what happened yesterday morning. It was a little hard one and it didn't hurt, but there was a little blood on the TP. This morning, the poo was softer again, but it stung and bled a little. Bummer! I took your advice, Lecia, and just stayed on the nitro cream this whole time and it really seemed to be helping. Can't figure out what I did to cause a small, hard poo. I go to the CRS on Tuesday for my follow up appt. I was really hoping I would be going in with things being healed, but I guess that's not going to happen.
I know the CRS said she didn't actually see a fissure. Still not sure why the feeling of passing glass then. I thought that was a symptom of a fissure. I really need to get some better info from her when I go. The bleeding is in the midline 12 o'clock still. So, that same cut must have opened up again. I'm pretty sure it was healing, but I still felt a little irritation everyday when I would sit too long.
If she changes her mind and does say it's a fissure when I see her, I have a question for you all. From what I think I've been reading on the board, a good number of people have opted out on surgery for fissures. I really think I can live with this if I have to unless the symptoms would change. I don't have the spasms that alot of you talk about. Just the sharp sting or cutting feeling when I go and a drop or so of blood. Then, maybe some burning or irritation through the day that makes me sit on the side of my rear instead of sitting flat down. Is having a fissure something that has to be fixed because it can cause more problems later on? Or is surgery or dilation because the symptoms are causing so much pain? What I'm getting at it is can a person just live with a fissure and try their best to take care of it with fiber, sitz baths, creams, and be okay? I know I worry about it too much and think I wouldn't worry so much if I thought it was just something to live with. At this point anyway. If the pain and bleeding became much worse and I had the spasms I've read about, I would probably change my mind. I'm going to ask the CRS about this when I see her, but being she's a surgeon I wanted to get your input on this. Thanks!

I went back and read some more posts on the board. It looks like there's been a few times that a doctor has told some of you that you had to have the surgery without much treatment beforehand. Is that because they are just pushing surgery because they're surgeons? Or is there a reason that fissures have to be healed? I thought I read somewhere that fissures don't cause cancer or anything serious like that. But, with so many people having surgeries I just want to make sure that's because of all the pain these stupid things cause or if there was another reason to need to get them healed. Like I said earlier, I think I'd stop worrying about it so much if I thought it was just something to live with. It might even make things better because I wouldn't be so anxious.

Hi,
Yes, you can live with a fissure as long as you aren't losing a lot of blood which is usually never the case. I managed mine with conservative treatments as the surgery is not recommended for me because I have pudendal neuralgia. If it were an option I may have done it because I wouldn't want to live with something I don't have to. But I understand where you are coming from and people can get better on their own but it takes time, diligence and patience. If the surgery ever becomes an option for you, you will know it when the time comes. You may be just fine though as your symptoms are manageable. So put your mind at ease, no harm will come to you for waiting.

I don't want to frighten you, and obviously everbody is different, but I healed up my fissure with time, patience, diet and hot baths and then it got infected, but healed over it, which has caused me a fistula. Of course, this probably would never happen to you, but I just would like to say that it could happen, and just look out for any signs of infection. I was told to have an LIS in July, but decided to wait because I was getting better,and then this happened! Now I've got to have it done!

I'm so sorry to hear that, Val. :-( I'll be sure to look out for anything that looks like an infection. Was there any certain symptoms that you noticed with the infection? Pus or extra redness or anything like that? You've probably mentioned it before, but I don't remember what you said about it.
Thanks, Lecia, for helping me. I was hoping that was the case with fissures. Of course, I'll take Val's advice and watch out for problems. But, it's good to know not to get too crazy worried about this. Boy, it's weird how your mind can go worrying about stuff. And that just seems to make things worse for me. I'm better when I try to take my mind off of it as best I can, which doesn't seem to be very easy. :-)