Hello
I’m a UK fissure-sufferer in need of some cameraderie.
My fissure story? About 20 years ago I got giardiosis (‘Beaver fever’) which wasn’t diagnosed for a long time. Gave me chronic loose stools, which led to an anterior fissure. I was going ‘under the knife’ but my doctor suggested Nitro - which, despite the rocket launch headaches, worked. Roll on a few years - the split reopened, Nitro worked. A few years back it happened again - this time Diltiazem worked.
Fast forward to Aug 2018 - Things were ‘firm’ down there and I eat a lot of nuts... ouch! I felt that sweet spot and on cleaning up could prompt fresh blood from it. So, I went on stool bulker and ate better, bit of nappy rash cream and all good... then a holiday and on return from France (cheese, wine, cycling etc) it has reared up again - around 7 weeks now.
A doc could see no tear and said try steroid suppositories for a week first - I did with no real joy. So I went back on Diltiazem, but itch this time forces me to do about 5 days using it them 3 days to recover!
My pain profile isn’t the worst: with bulkers and now softener plus water and lots of veg, I pass a stool with little pain, then have a ‘latency’ time of no pain (I read once that this is typical of old chronic fissures) but then the pain comes - typically a random prickling/fizzing pain that really jumps about the rim and surround of the anus, sometimes a sharper pain a bit further in - at 11-12 o clock (with anterior as 12) - occassonally a deep tickle. No blood at all except that first tear.
Also visible is a ‘fold of skin’ coming out of anus - tag? And, when I walk, a sense of things not fitting together quite right.
Put all this together with an imminent house move, stressful, and I get low and frustrated with time taken to heal.
Any of this ring bells? Any tips? A way to stop the ‘Dilt itch’ so I can persist with it?
Hello all and sorry for this epic post.