First things first. I am new here and have read a few topics and seriously appreciate the admins and moderators for putting this together, you guys are awesome!
Now here is my story:
Have been struggling with AF since 2009 on and off, between summer 2009 and winter 2012 i had them 3-4 times but each time they were pretty minor and went away with the use of either proctosedyl or diltiazem. My eating habits werent that great throughout that period and there was a fair amount of stress but they didnt bother me much other than a little bit of constant discomfort with the occasional flare up.
IN November 2012 I had a cosmetic surgery due to which I had to take pain killers and other medication or may be it was the anaesthesia.....but something caused my BM's to swithc back and forth between constipated and loose. That opened up a pretty bad fissure.
In the beginning I thought it will go away with proctosedyl which is what my doctor gave me, i used it diligently for 2-3 weeks but the pain was getting worse day by day, for some reason this time it wont budge and the pain got so excruciating, it was like broken glass passing through and then for approx. 8 hours afterwards BM.
I went back and asked for diltiazem, it fixed the problem in a week and i thought ok im back to good but one bad BM a few days later and boom its back and back with a bang, this time even worse. So i go back to using diltiazem but to no avail this time....
At this point I was sent to see a specialist, this specialist is not a CRS, he is a general surgeon but has colon related issues as his speciality and very well recognized in the area I live in. This specialist got me using Nitoglycerin which gave me some comfort within 2 weeks. This is the Christmas holidays time and I had a lot of time to rest so I was feeling good. However as soon as I had to go ack to work it started going back to being really bad - by this point I am into January 2013 but the there still is considerable pain and actually pushed me to take time off work.......Another thing Id like to mention is during January 2013 work was crazy stressful!
Since then I have been using nitro religiously and constantly increasing the number of times i use it in a day to 6 right no and also taking sitz baths every day - 2-4 times. Also I have been very good with my diet since then, avoiding coffee, alchohol, drinking lots of water, metamucil clear, eating lots of salads and whole foods. However, its healed to a certain point and then plateaued, it just wont go the final lap. I wont lie it gives me a lot of stress not being able to do what I want with my life for like 4 months now and being dictated by a stupid AF!
Also, I had 100 units of botox approx. a month ago which helped temporarily but has seemed to worn off......
Though the pain is under control now and I can do most things, here is the part that gives me a lot of stress and actually pushing me towards anxiety and major stress. I am scheduled to undergo surgery for one of my kidneys to be removed in approx 4 months. Now I am not sure if I should go for the LIS now or let it be. Because my last surgery which was pretty minor caused this to flare up, what would a much bigger surgery do? But on the other hand, I dont want to go through LIS unless I really need to......afterall there is a risk of incontinence and how life would suck if one got that??
Also, with the AF I cant exercise much which is something I should be doing to get in shape before my kidney surgery. So I am just confused, whether let it be and go through with my kidney surgery or to have LIS done and my colon in good shape? Another thing that I keep thinking about is that if I get the LIS done now, is there a chance that the AF will reappear anyways? Maybe I should just get more botox close to the time of my kidney surgery so that my sphinctr isnt going nuts even if I do get constipated...
So between the AF and my big surgery coming up, I am so uncertain, confused, stressed, helpless......
My specialist says that surgery is a last resort and in my case we dont really need it and that even having used nitro for 3 months, that is the best way to go ahead. He also said that the AF will likely get worse when I go through with my kidney surgery but it should improve relatively quickly afterwards with using nitro. But honestly I am scared of having to deal with two major things at once, I dont have enough confidence in my body to do that......
Let me know what you guys think. I really appreciate any replies and good luck to all the fellow sufferers!