Hi,
I'm new here, but have been lurking for awhile now. I've actually found this site much more helpful than most and it lets me know what to expect when I see my CRS. I have been struggling with AF for about a year now and I recently thought I was close to kicking this thing, but it seems like it wants to come back. Here's a quick history:
- I have suffered from constipation since I was a child - it probably began around 8 years old; I'm now 29.
- I know I have had AF before, but they were all minor and healed quickly without intervention
- I had my first child in April 2011. Delivery was tough; I had an episiotomy and tearing, no hemoirrhoids or AF during childbirth
- First fissure at the end of June 2011 following a rather large, hard stool
- attempted to fix things myself with increased fiber and fluid intake
- after 3 weeks, saw family doctor - he did not do an exam, he simply said to keep doing what I was doing and add colace. He wanted me to do this for 3 more weeks and if I didn't see any changes then he said there was a chance I had colon cancer (that was great to hear, especially since he didn't even do an exam)
- waited 3 weeks, saw the PA instead. She did an exam, said color cancer was not my issue, I had a large, fresh fissure. She put my on Miralax and analpram for 2 weeks.
- did the regimen for 2 weeks, thought I was cured - RETEAR! Went back on regimen only to begin a cycle of pain-free BMs and retears for a couple months.
- Went back to PA and she sent me to a CRS.
- Waited two months for the CRS -finally saw her and the fissure has healed, but she said I had severe pruritis. She told me to continue the diet, miralax and analpram for 3 weeks then come back.
- 2 weeks later, I suffer from a stomach bug so I have to go off Miralax. Retear!
- CRS sees fissure, takes me off analpram and puts me on Nifedipine for 3 weeks. She said she will do Botox if it hasn't healed in 8 weeks.
- 3 weeks later (March 2012), the fissure has healed, but the pruritis is back, possibly from the Nifedipine.
- CRS says I'm healed, she doesn't need me back unless I have a retear.
- Since March, I have only had a few bouts with the pruritis, but no retears until about 1 week ago. I have since called my CRS and have an appointment booked. I've been really strict about my diet and I take Miralax religiously, so I'm not sure why this retear occurred. I'm beginning to notice a trend, though. Every month, about a week before my period, the pruritis flares up, this month, I happened to get an AF. Could this be hormonal? My CRS told me that pruritis can actually cause AFs because it makes the skin so sensitive, but I always thought it was the other way around.
I was just about ready to try weaning myself from Miralax and switching to prune juice, but now I'm afraid to. I really don't want to have Botox or LIS. Can this heal with what I am currently doing? Also, my husband and I would like to try getting pregnant soon. Is there anyone on this board who has had an AF (pre-pregnancy) and has been pregnant and had natural childbirth? What was your experience?
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond. Even though this is my first post, it's been nice to be able to read other posts and find that there are other people suffering from this. It's not an easy topic to discuss with family and friends.