Survival Story - 11 years on

Hemorrhoidectomy (x3), Fissures, LIS, Hypertonia, etc

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Survival Story - 11 years on

Postby RioSurvivor » 21 Mar 2018, 12:02

Hello everyone,

I was an avid reader of this forum when recovering/suffering from all the surgeries, non-healing AFs, etc. The tips and the encouraging words really helped me go through my ordeal, which started with my first hemorrhoidectomy 11 years ago and got worse with the latest one in 2016. But now thing are under control again.

So now I want to "pay back" a little whith my story, hopefully it can help someone through some personal lessons learned (not always the easiest way).

I will try to focus on the things that helped me heal (and get by) during the difficult times; perhaps if your situation is similar, you can try some (in my case I adopted a trial and error strategy after doctors couldn't really solve my issue and I suffered for a whole year isolating myself and going almost nuts with the lack of progress and chronic pain). Of course there is no silver bullet here, but a few things are worth a try at least...

In summary, my main cause of (chronic) suffering turned out to be hypertonia + spasms (aka overly tight ass). Following my last hemorrhoidectomy + LIS (which came as a surprise bonus without my previous knowledge), I would be in daily pain after bowel movements lasting for at least 4-5 (normally it would also bleed no matter what I ate or tried). This lasted for over one horrible year, but hopefully now I'm back to life.

Looking back, these are the main lessons learned in my specific case:

1. If your doctor never took the initiative to discuss/see pictures of your feces and devise a strategy to "optimize its consistency"(disgusting but unfortunately essential in this case), ditch him/her and find someone else.
2. For hypertonia/spasms, the only thing that worked for me was Isosorbide 1% (but you could also try diltiazem, etc) - this can help break a little the vicious circle of an overy tight anus, spasms, pain, more fissures, repeat).
3. Polyethylene glycol (eg miralax) was a life saver stool softener (+Psyllium Husk Powder and plenty of water).
4. Play around with your food, water and "supplements" like the ones I mentioned in item 3 above until you find the 'perfect consistency', then STICK to the routine for as long as you can (I even spent around a month eating the same things at the same time.
5. I also lubricate myself with KY or similar everyday before heading to the toilet, never use toilet paper again (shower instead)
6. Seek a psychiatrist if you feel hopeless, in my opinion trying to tackle the problem from different angles helps.

7. Go for long walks daily.
8. Before going through any surgery make sure your doctor is duly specialized (colorectal surgeon, not a more generic gastro person) AND experience.
9. Once you start feeling better and the fissure heals, DO NOT fall back into old habits - if you lower your guard chances are you will get in trouble again (eg, keep eating, exercising, taking supplements daily and try to have one healthy and smooth bowel movement every single day, even if that entails waking up much earlier, having tons of coffee, tea, etc to 'trigger it').
10. In summary, focus on the basics (ie, how to perfect your bowel movements) and on your mental strength until the worst is behind you, and try to be patient and hopefully one day you will almost be able to joke about this :)

Be strong, you will prevail.

Best regards from Rio de Janeiro!
RioSurvivor
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