Anal Fissure for 6 months, scared and sore

[MissTulipan]

Hi

Despite having a teenage daughter and having looked for words of wisdom from mumsnet many times in the past, I have never posted, until now...

I have had a sore bum on and off since a few slightly painful poos back in May brought about by eating a load of peanuts (never ever again) Having had mild piles after birth if DD2 I assumed I had piles and self treated for internal piles.

Had sore times and ok times all summer but more sore in recent weeks and noticed external piles appearing and feeling generally sore. Went to GP last week and she looked and said I have piles on the outside and thinks I have a fissure. She offered to refer me to hospital or to try a stronger piles cream. I said I would do what ever she felt was best. She prescribed a stronger hydrocortisone cream, Scheriproct and said to go back in few weeks.

Having now read about anal fissures (gone Google mad) I am now realising that the symptoms match what I've been experiencing but just not to the extreme as some people have described. But I relate to the nagging pain and soreness on and off all day. I don't have issues with constipation and am an active 42 year old. I am going to go back to the GP and ask for the cream that increases blood flow to bum area. I cannot see a tear in my bum but it feels like it is inside above where the tight muscle bit ends.

As it's obviously been there for 6 months and not cleared up I have got myself into a really silly state of thinking that it will be with me forever causing chronic pain (if it gets worse) or I will end up having the surgery that cuts the muscle and i will end up soiling my pants. I'm an anxious person generally but this has made me feel panicked reading about the difficulties treating these things!

Can anyone offer me some words of wisdom and hope as I've spent all evening crying on and off as the family are out. I've been on my feet all day with work and I feel scared and sore.

Thank you

I have considered private consultation but would rather stay with nhs as if I need further tests, surgery etc it can rack up into the thousands. I work for a charity so lost my private health insurance when I left the corporate world. I will see how long the wait is once my letter comes and reassess. I am def not ready to share with the kids just yet, they are very outgoing and may announce it over Xmas dinner! I have many medics in my family so it would be very understood but they will make a fuss which I don’t want right now!

MissT, I'm sorry to read how difficult you're finding this. I've had a fissure(s?) on and off since I was a child. Other than when I had truly horrendous constipation after childbirth, when it was agony, it has only been mildly painful in flare ups. I have taken rectogesic with fairly rapid success on more than one occasion (although obviously it hasn't permanently resolved it, but got rid of symptoms quickly) and DH had a one-off fissure which rectogesic knocked on the head straight away. I have been offered Botox in the past but it's never bothered me enough.

I guess what I'm trying to say is not to worry that this will make you miserable forever. There are solutions and the symptoms are really unlikely to last forever.

Hope you continue to feel better MissT

I am still waiting on a letter about my referral 🙈! Seeing dr again on Tuesday, so will ask her then!

I am feeling much better today, it's so up and down!

I am trying to be positive now, this is a level of pain that I can deal will 😀! I have to remind myself that as you can stay says the pain is nothing like the horrendous pain at the beginning! Think it will be an ongoing thing for me and hopefully if I'm sensible the periods where I don't have pain will get longer!

Thanks for listening and replying! Nice to feel like there are others to talk to as I'm sure my husband is very sick of listening about it!!!!

Ash

That’s great news Ash, I’m much better today too (so weird isn’t it!) Maybe the relief of knowing that I should now be in the system to see a specialist has reduced my stress levels slightly.

Keep me posted on how you are doing x

So today has brought a new batch of piles!! To add to my soreness. Just when I thought my Fissure was starting to feel slightly better. Got the steroid cream out again and have about 2 days left of Rectogesic left. Awaiting my referral still.
So want to have a normal feeling bottom again!
How are you Ash?

Hi missT

I've been doing ok over xmas which is surprising because I haven't been controlling what I eat so much! I stopped using rectogesic as well and I almost felt normal for a while

I drank too much wine last night though t a pub quiz and forced myself to go this morning, definitely felt a niggle in the fissure so I'm really scared that I've set myself back again! Want to panic and cry lol but trying to reign myself in

Have hospital appointment for the 19th!

How are you feeling? I hope you had a nice xmas!

Hi, glad to hear you are doing ok. I went to a different GP last night who was so much more helpful and knowledgeable. Did much more in-depth examination than previous GP did. He said I have 2 cuts, at 12 and 6 o’clock but looked like they are healing and he said the fact that the examination didn’t hurt was a good sign. He said to not worry about piles as very small and to use Rectogesic for 3 more weeks. He said there is another cream that can be tried after this one, diltiazem, and he says the hospital may try Botox.

Hopefully my letter from hospital will arrive soon with a date. Change of routine being off work, sleep and food routines not great but trying to maintain healthy lifestyle.

Let me know how you get on at hospital

Glad to here the other dr was much more helpful!

I was doing really well until this morning, I was even going to cancel my hospital appointment! But it was sore and there was lots of blood this morning, too much wine and food over xmas! Just hoping that I am not back to square one! Feeling a bit annoyed with myself for not taking better care of myself over xmas!

Sorry to hear that Ash, I think routine is something that is needed.
I’m sore today and felt quite down this morning about it all. Just have to deal with it and whatever comes next.

I wouldn’t cancel your hospital appointment, even if you feel good prior, just go to get it checked. Even to be told it’s all fine would be worth the trip to hospital.

I’m mentally preparing myself for Botox now although I’m not quite sure what that entails.

Please let me know what they say/do at your appointment. We sound in a similar place in terms of how long we’ve had it and ups and downs, creams etc x

Hey missT

I think routine is definitely needed! I would say it took 6 months for me to heal properly, but I definitely hurt myself pretty badly yesterday, so today hasn't been a bundle of laughs either!

What a horrible way to start the new year!

If I ever have another baby I will be steering well clear of codeine!

Spent a lot of yesterday in tears, so trying to be more positive today as I feel sorry for my poor husband and baby

These really are horrible things! Not nice when your bum hurts a lot of the day!

I'm hoping if they healed once (I think I have 2 as well) they will heal again! Might just take a few weeks

I think Botox will probably be the next step for me as well although I don't know much about it! Here's hoping they offer it and I don't have to go private!

Have a lovely New Years! Hope you are feeling better!!

Xx

Happy new year to you too.

I so understand how you feel. Fingers crossed all will turn out ok in the end. Keep me posted on your progress and your appointment. I still haven’t had my letter.

It’s good to have a cry sometimes, I do to. Still can’t believe it’s still all going on the same as it was months ago x

MissT, did you ever try coconut oil? (Realise it’s suggested for everything lately so might be annoying). But it can lubricate and help healing. You can mold it into suppositories: community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topics/775918

I’m more of a lurker than a poster but when I saw this thread I had to extend my sympathy!

I had my first fissure the year I got married (stress induced said the Doctor!) but with a few sachets of Laxido and drinking plenty it healed up pretty quickly and I thought no more of it.

Then the past 2 or 3 years I’ve suffered on and off with new fissures, each new one even more painful. I’ve had a stressful few years for various reasons and developed anxiety, which unfortunately went straight to my stomach and I was eventually diagnosed with IBS. As you can imagine, this just served to make my fissures worse!

Over the summer, I got my worst fissure yet - I did everything I’d normally do (laxido and upping my water intake) but it just didn’t help and the throbbing pain would develop a couple of hours after each bowel movement and last for about 12 hours. It was so bad that I literally couldn’t sleep at night, I’d be writhing around in pain and keeping my DH awake as I just didn’t know what to do to ease it.

In the end I went to see my GP who prescribed Rectogesic. I wasn’t keen to use it simply because I’d read about the side effects and with suffering from migraines, it put me off using it. Thankfully, it did actually heal up on it’s own in the end and I didn’t need to use it (although I keep it in my bedside table just in case...!) - I eventually got into a routine where I would have a bowel movement just before bed because I found that lying/sleeping in bed for the duration of the time my bum would normally start throbbing alleviated the pressure and helped with the pain and healing. I am also permanently on Laxido, for a combination of prevention and also to try and regulate my IBS.

I really sympathise with those of you suffering - it really is amazing how such a small tear can bring you down and make you feel like you’ll never have a ‘normal’ bowel movement again. I hope that the New Year brings you all some much needed relief and healing

Thank you for your posts. igotdemons - It is always nice to hear of healed people out there.

With regards to coconut oil. I have a large tub but as using Rectogesic now which itself is lanolin based making my bum constantly ‘oiled’ I’m not sure when I would use coconut oil. I am scared to do anything off track for now and am just sticking with prescription meds. Thank you for the suggestion though.

Oh I feel so down tonight and sorry for myself. Pooing has become a sore experience again today after not being too problematic for sometime. I was mainly just sore throughout the day on and off but not whilst on the loo. I’m doing everything I’ve been advised, day in day out, I just see no end to it and feel miserable. Been going on since May... Why is this happening to me?

Hey MissT,

I'm not having a great time either! These bloody things are a nightmare to heal! I'm also doing everything I can, still sore and bleeding again today!

BUT I am definitely better than I was, I think it's just a case of time! Time will have to heal it! It's the fear for me I think that I will get worse instead of better!

But chin up! Have you heard from the hospital yet? I'm scared to go incase they make it worse!

Hi Ash, It’s just so disheartening I think. Today’s feelings took me back to how I was feeling during the summer. Definitely the worst day in a long time.

I went back to work today which took my mind off it at least. No letter yet from the hospital. I guess the troubles with the NHS this month will have delayed it.

I would consider a private consultantion but as I haven’t finished the 8 week course of Rectogesic yet I see no point as that is first line treatment. It would be really good to know exactly what is going on up there though. Not sure what they use to see right up your bum but I really want to know. I think I have an internal pile that is not helping. I’ve tried looking in mirror but hard to get good close up angle! Tried taking a photo and that didn’t help either as not clear enough. What I can see in mirror just looks red and unpleasant (not that I ever studied what my prior healthy bum looked like as never had need to!

Did your doctor prescribe anything else after Rectogesic? There is another cream one can use after my gp said. Begins with a D.

Do you worry about surgery if it got to that? I know many mums have reported having had the LIS op and no problems after but it still totally freaks me out the thought of it. There are so many worse things one could have so I feel stupid even having started a thread on Mumsnet but I just feel so powerless and moany. I am such an upbeat person usually but since this I really feel like I am losing my lust for life x

I know, it's really disheartening when you feel bad again!

Dr just told me to go with rectogesic again for another 8 weeks! But I had stopped it over xmas as the pain had gone, so going to start properly again as have only been using it once a day!

I think it's fine to start the thread 😊! Sometimes it's just nice to know that other people feel the same as you!

I was reading about LIS and a lot of things said they don't do it on women who may have more children, and I hVent really decided about that yet! So I'm worried I am just going to be stuck like this!

Have to say I very much miss being able to eat and drink what I want!

Keep going with everything you are doing! Hopefully this is just a minor blip and tomorrow will be better!

Chin up! It has to heal at some point!

Xx

Hi Ash, got my hospital appointment through and it’s on Valentine’s Day! How charming a way to spend the day...
Did you get referred to a surgeon? I’m seeing a general surgeon with special interest in colorectal surgery. Feel very nervous now. But cannot wait for an expert opinion of my behind. On close inspection 2 days ago it seemed I also had a small thrombosed pile as well which I think was where the pain was coming from. Seems to have shrunk a bit today. Now I can’t tell whether it’s piles or fissures causing grief. My bum must be a mess.
Can’t wait to hear how your appointment goes, not long to wait.
How are you feeling generally?
Onwards and upwards...x

Anyone else suffering out there?

How charming 😂! Maybe you will get a nice present to cheer you up!

I'm off to colorectal surgery clinic? I'm actually quite scared about it because I don't want them poking around and making it worse! It's definitely a fissure for me, which hurts each time I go to the loo really, and bleeds every other day 😂!

I was feeling great with no pain or anything, until last Saturday when it was really bad all of a sudden and there was a lot of blood! I'm just hoping if it healed once it will heal again!

I'm pretty down about it and it's pretty much all I talk about so I'm sure my husband is really sick of hearing it!

I miss going out for dinner, and eating spicy food and takeaways and white carbs!

Sorry for the moan! Just hoping t will get better! When I try to look I genuinely can't see anything, but it's definitely there 😱

Hey Ash, how you doing? Not too long until your appointment now.
I’m feeling much calmer knowing my appointment is in sight too. I’m feeling a bit better but it seems piles has become more of an issue of late so not quite sure where the soreness is coming from at present
I think the colorectal team will be gentle and not make it worse.
My husband also regularly updated on my bum too!!

I'm not too bad thanks! Still a bit stingy but still using still softeners! Think I will be on them for life 🙈!

Not sure it's ever going to go away, but for the pain now I'm not sure I would risk an op! Will have to wait and see what the colorectal people say! I really hope they don't make it worse!

I can’t imagine they will make it worse? I am not entirely sure what they will use to examine you/me. They are going to be used to people being in some degree of pain.
Explain your fear of that to them.

I miss spicy food too, I find it causes a bit of a flare up of soreness. I was taking milk of magnesia and lactulose, alternately each day but lactulose made me windy and uncomfortable. The last, very helpful gp said to try and just stick to figs and prunes and lots of water. I have been doing this, snack on prunes all day, at least 2.5 litres of water and some figs in morning. No more softeners and eating normal food, but I’ve always eaten pretty healthy. I have eaten less than usual. Seems to be keeping everything moving!

Yeah I'll definitely tell them about the fear lol!

I eat really healthily and drink lots of water, maybe prunes will do the trick! I would like to stop taking the softeners, but I'm a bit scared that healthy eating won't cut it for me!

Total nightmare!

Hey Ash, how are you feeling? It’s your appointment this week isn’t it? Mine is 4 weeks and I cannot wait, I so want a full explanation of what is happening down below and hopefully some hope of a normal non sore bum one day. I’ve not been too bad but still problematic.

Bearable

How are you feeling?
Can’t believe I’m still writing on this post...so want to write the final post with good news to anyone who stumbles upon it one day. Fingers crossed. X