by mm92599 » 30 Aug 2010, 14:19
when this originally began back in 1999, my general practiioner had no clue why I was hurting. He checked me for hemorrhoids and fissuers and found nothing. He finally sent me to a urologist who suspected some sort of prostate infection. I was given several types of antibiotics, none of which did anything for me. I was also given some different types of anti-inflamatories, which offered very little relief. Now at this time, I was just dealing with the type of rectal discomfort that you describe. The feeling that something is lodged up the butt and it is very uncomfortable to sit, but otherwise I could function. I ended up seeing probably 3 or 4 different urologists from April 1999 until about October 1999 and none of them could find an "actual" cause for my symptoms, but just suspected an infection. I did not even see a CRS during this time. In October of 1999 I made a conscious decision to stop chasing a cure and just learn to live my life in spite of the discomfort. From October 1999 until about August 2000, I did not see a single doctor or take any medications. And, over the course of about 10 months, I actually went from being about 40% healthy to being about 90% healthy, with very, very little discomfort in the rectum. The only discomfort I would have is when I would sit for several hours and even then the discomfort was very mild and was more like a sore muscle feeling and didn't last long. BUT in August 2010, I had a major setback. The rectal discomfort came back with a vengence and this time, not only was it the uncomfortable feeling of something being lodged up there, but I also experienced some burning and just general irritation in the rectal area. Again, it was not the type of "pain" you get with a fissure or thrombosed hemorrhoid and I functioned ok if I didn't have to sit, but I absolutely could not sit at all without being in major discomfort. At this time I saw my first CRS and he did a scope and only found some mild internal hemorrhoids which he treated with some sort of infrared coagulation therapy, but he said that he did not find anything that would account for the level of discomfor that I was feeling, other than maybe my muscles were not functioning properly and causing spasming and irritation of the nerves. It was actually another urologist that I saw during this time who, after many, many different tests and failed medications, gave me the very generic diagnosis of chronic pelvic pain syndrome. CPPS is nothing more than chronic pain in the pelvic region that is unidentified by any specific cause. Once I received this particular diagnosis, I pretty much stopped taking meds and going to doctors to find a treatment and just learned again to adapt to my situation. So, for the next several years, I saw very, very slow improvement, but I was able to learn to function. I wasn't really limited much; I went to movies and restaruants, and worked out every day at the gym, starting running, playing drums, etc. THEN in January 2006, I got my first fissure and that is where everything went down the toilet, so to speak. The fissure healed in a month, but the pain in the rectum since then has been much worse and has not resolved to the point that it had previously. It has been during this time that I have doen quite a bit of research and have been to the Mayo in Phoenix where I was diagnosed with levator spasm and hypertonicity of the anal canal, most likely due to pelvic floor dysfunction. My local CRS agreed with this diagnosis and I went to California to a clinic that specializes in the disorder, where they also feel that I suffer from pudendal neuralgia as well. I've done physical therapy and nerve blocks, etc., but haven't seen the benefits so far. I would like to do biofeedback, but I'm not sure if I can do that with an active fissure. I don't get fissures very often, but I have had about 3 that were diagnosed over the past 5 years. I do feel that I've had others that I just didn't go to the doctor for. RIght now I feel like I have a fissure, but at my last CRS appt. a few weeks back, he did not find one.