Anal fissure support

[SadFace2]

I know this isn't an unreasonable debate but I'm posting for traffic because I really need some help here.

Had surgery for piles which is all sorted now but suffered a tear during my surgery. I've been struggling ever since. 5 weeks now. Doesn't sound long but I am starting to go under.

They gave me botox during the surgery and since I'm not doing well I'm assuming more Botox in the future wouldn't be especially helpful. I was using diltiazem cream but that's now started to react badly and really set me back.

I'm being careful with food, barely eating to be honest. I'm on movicol so I'm not constipated and I don't have diarrhea. I'm using a footstool to go to the toilet and I'm having baths to encourage blood flow and healing.

I don't know that there's anything more I can do but I'm starting to lose my mind so had to post.

Even if you don't have a miracle cure I think I'd just appreciate some support at this point. I don't think I've ever been so low.
Thank you.

I just wanted to give you some words of encouragement. I had a fissure about 15 years ago, and it eventually healed up, mainly of it's own accord. I had the cream that can gives headaches, and didn't use it because of the headaches. I started using moist toilet paper at the time, and still do to this day, as I think it helped. Its already been mentioned that codeine can bind you up, so be careful. Ripe bananas are good for softening things up. I hope you feel better soon.

Hello and thank you. I am carrying on with the Rectogesic and do I dare say that things are definitely a bit better? I don't want to jinx it and I know I'm still going to have some bad days but the relief just now at some improvement is enough to make me cry.

I'm praying I'm not updating in the next few days saying it's all gone to hell again.

I bought a magnesium supplement yesterday and took some for the first time last night. Wondering if that's also why I'm feeling a bit better today so I'll carry on with that too and fingers crossed!

Thank you for thinking of me. Honestly means a lot. This kind of "secret" condition can make you feel so lonely.

That's good and I know what you mean about not wanting to jinx it! I will quietly have my fingers crossed for you.

Yes it's horrible, it's not something people really speak about IRL is it, so you just feel alone.

Try hemoclin

I know what you mean about it being a secret thing. I have had “back pain” for a while now. I did confess to my mum and she told me my dad had one when I was a kid, which I had no idea about. It was eventually resolved by using rectogesic, a lot of All Bran and applying Vaseline before and after going to the loo. She said for years afterwards his first question when packing for a holiday was whether he had his spare tube of Rectogesic.

I wish I’d known before because I remember a couple of periods in my childhood when my dad seemed very grumpy all the time. I wonder now whether he was suffering the kind of pain I’ve had.

Ok so going to the toilet this afternoon has led me to believe that I'm not particularly any better, it's just that the oxycodone was really masking the pain. Damn.

Ah lass it's exhausting being ruled by your backside isn't it?
It will be better but that doesn't change things right now.
If you need the codeine then take it but keep in mind to offset it with fibre and some extra laxative you don't want to be trying to pass the lumps of coal when you're sore.
Are you wiping or rinsing?

Well it's the same bloody day and I'm already in a mess physically and mentally. I don't know how much longer I can go on, I really don't.

I'm washing with cotton wool and water and having baths to make sure I'm clean without having to do loads of wiping.

Tmi but I'm still leaking mucus as a result of the surgery. Consultant says it's normal and just all part of healing but I don't see how this fissure can heal if it's constantly being irritated by mucus leaking from higher up inside.

I'm seeing my consultant on Wednesday and it's going to be a miracle if I don't actually kill him. I've been wondering today if I died during the surgery and this is my he'll. Because it's been hell every since I came around from the surgery.

As you can see I really am on a bad place with my mental health. If anybody has any information that could possibly help me, please, please share it.

They don't give enough warning before surgery about the impact, it is fairly indescribable I suppose you couldn't put it into words.
I had mucus for ages and had convinced myself it was infected or a staple had punctured something.
I read all the old threads in general health about ten times to try and reassure myself but I'd still cry and wish I'd had a stoma, dark days.
It's not like you can rest it it needs using every day. I hated the sticky, always some cream or other or it was bleeding or leaking I wore disposable pants for ages.
Rest as much as possible, on your side with a pillow between your thighs and one under your hip so your bum is pointing upwards slightly.
They tell you five weeks recovery but from what I've read and my experience five-six weeks is when the worst of it starts tapering off and you just about notice it's not as bad!
Have a look at some old threads just about every one is OMG it's brutal but it does show it's much worse than expected.

Oh lovely I am so sorry. It felt like two steps forward and 1.99 steps back for me for quite a while after starting the Rectogesic. Please persevere.

@JustTheOneSwan thank you. How long would you say "ages" is in terms of the mucus. It'll be 6 weeks on Monday since I had the surgery. And while the constant pain is bad I think it's the fear that's getting to me now. Fear that I'm not improving and I'll never be ok.

I honestly feel like I'll never be ok again. I want my life back so badly. I'll be the happiest person in the world if I can just not be in pain all the time. I'm really scared now.

I didn't do a normal poo for a few months but I had complications. I ended up having to eat to a strict schedule so I could predict when I would need to go otherwise I'd be trying twenty times a day, it constantly felt like I needed it urgently I would sit and marvel that drug mules could go through a flight with something up their arse yet I couldn't make it across the bloody landing.
it's absolutely miserable and every single person I've read about feels the same.
You know when they say it's darkest before the dawn, this is what they're talking about.

I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel anymore, I'm as low as it gets.

This surgery was supposed to help me get better and I'm worse than ever. I'm not able to go and visit my parent who is literally in the hospice. I'm not able to take care of my children. They are fantastic and are missing out on so much. I feel like I'm losing my marriage. I just don't have anything left to fight on with.

I'm now counting down the hours until I see my consultant on Wednesday evening. I wasn't even that bothered for seeing him, thinking there's not much more he can do except fob me off and tell me it takes time. Now I'm determined that he will do something to help me. I won't leave until he does.

I am so sorry you are still finding no relief.

Do bear in mind when you see your consultant that you had an operation to cure piles which has caused another, severe problem. That is not an acceptable or, I assume, expected outcome of your pile surgery (if it were, nobody would ever have a piles operation). Basically he has been negligent.

I am not saying that you should go in there all guns blazing saying you will sue him. Far from it at this stage. Your focus must be on how he can fix it, and if he does then I imagine from your perspective that’s probably the end of the matter.

But his focus should also be on fixing what has gone wrong. Don’t be fobbed off. You should be reminding him (whether subliminally or overtly!) that this is an additional problem caused during his surgery, it was not an expected outcome/side effect (or I assume one you were warned about) etc etc. You are in severe constant pain that is affecting your day to day life at every level. What is he going to do about it?

Well this is part of the problem. He is claiming that I had this fissure before I had the surgery. I am adamant that I didn't. I had no symptoms of having a fissure there whatsoever.

No pain, no bleeding, no spasms, no swelling, nothing to see. But he won't admit to being the cause of it and just keeps telling me I'm doing really well and it's healing.

I'm not doing really well.

Hm. Did he mention before the operation that you had one or that the surgery might make it flare up? I bet he didn’t.

You can still say, whether or not you had a fissure, about which you disagree, you had no symptoms whatsoever from it and the operation has made it have symptoms, so what is he going to do?

I would also point out, if challenged about not having symptoms before, that this is completely different from your piles symptoms and you know the difference (which is pretty clearly described on the NHS website. You don’t get deep burning pain that lasts for hours from piles).

I had a fissure 13 years ago so I know the symptoms and I had none of this going in. He examined me at a consultation before my surgery and agreed with me that there were no fissures visible. How could he have missed it then? It's very much on the outside, we both would have known it was there.

The only risk he told me about was temporary incontinence from the botox which I agreed to. I'm not incontinent, it's not poo that's leaking, it's mucus. I was told there wouldn't be anything like that because I just had the arteries stitched up, nothing removed or cut.

He didn't tell me there was a risk of fissures or this kind of pain. It's honestly unbearable.

Hi, so sorry to hear you are suffering, I went through this too last year and also have some relevant medical knowledge. In the end the things that helped me were 2 sachets of movicol daily, constant application of vaseline to the area every time before attempting to move bowels, and low volume anal irrigation.
This can be taught by a bowel specialist nurse. It involves gently inserting a small cone attached to a squeeze bottle of warm water and washing the rectum out after a bowel movement. Although it can be uncomfortable to insert past the fissure and you may need pain killers initially, washing the area well from just inside can mean it heals more quickly. It sounds wrong, but can really help.
Then ultimately it is important to be able to really relax your anal sphiñcter muscle and the whole of your pelvic floor, to allow the fissure to heal, try slow breathing exercises and consciously letting go of tension even in your vagina and tummy.
Would your consultant refer you to a specialist nurse?
Thinking of you, hope you can get some relief soon.

So sorry you are suffering. I went through this for 8 months after giving birth. Awful experience.

What cured it for me eventually was lactulose 3 times a day, 6 litres minimum of water (think that was the most critical thing) and a barrier cream called Cavilon which I got off Amazon (on the recommendation of one of the reviews that mentioned fissures!)

I tried rectogesic but I don't think it did anything for me - but the above combination did work. I also thought that I would never be cured!

While it's still terrible - painkillers 20 mins before a poo, numbing cream before you go (eg vagisil) and if you're getting the searing sharp pain when you poo - literally submerge your bum in a sitz bowl of really warm water (before you then shower!) Helps take the edge off. I also used the breathing exercises I used during labour to get me through the pain.

Agree with another poster that it felt worse than labour. At least you don't have to give birth to a baby every bloody day!!

Wishing you the best

I have a swelling externally that is causing all the pain. It's not a full on sentinel pile yet but it's swelling associated with the fissure that is trying to protect it I suppose. If this painful swelling will settle down I know I'll be feeling a lot better. Don't have the searing pain of an open fissure at the moment but still can't emphasize how sore it is following a bowel movement and then for the rest of the day.

Still using Rectogesic, having baths and getting way too used to the oxycodone. But I can't worry about getting addicted to oxycodone right now. I need it for the pain or I wouldn't be coping. It's hard enough to cope even with the strong painkillers.

Hi,

I've had a fissure since I had my first son in 2020. I tried the diltiazem cream and it never worked for me. I got used to experiencing pain and bleeding when going to the loo. I found that steroid suppositories and cream helped take down any inflammation and pain. It got to a point where I was mainly just feeling pain when going and I'd have a deep ache in my bottom when sitting on the loo to do a wee. Occasionally I'd have discomfort in general when sitting. Anyway, I finally saw a colorectal consultant recently after waiting 15 month's. He prescribed diltiazem again and put me on a waiting list for botox. The cream seems to of caused irritation after using for 10 day's. I've had to stop using it. I was feeling a horrible burning pain. To be honest I wish I had never tried it again. It seems of made things worse, when it was tolerable before. I got offered botox the other week, but I cancelled the app, as I wanted to give the cream a second shot. Sods law. Think I'm going to ring the hospital tomorrow and see if I can get another app. Honestly wouldn't wish a fissure on anyone. They're horrible and do affect your quality of life. I'm feeling rather fed up currently. When I got my pregnant with my second son it healed up. Unfortunately as soon as gave birth it was back.

@Chlobob27 Maybe you could ask your gp to prescribe the Rectogesic. It does the same job as Diltiazem but I haven't had any irritation from it at all. People don't like it because of the associated headache but mine haven't been bad and it's worth it short time if it helps your fissure heal in my opinion. The Diltiazem made me worse and I've read about this happening to a lot of people since then.

I have started taking milk of magnesia the last two nights as well as the movicol and that seems to be really helping. Going to the toilet is a lot less painful when I've taken it and that must help things settle down and heal.

Gp can prescribe Rectogesic, you don't need a specialist consultant for that. Milk of magnesia can be bought at pharmacy or supermarket near the laxatives and medicines.

You can have them repaired, I had an operation to repair mine

I really don't want any more surgery if I can help it. I had Botox 6 weeks ago so the next step would be something more invasive. But ultimately if I can't get it to heal I will go down that route.