Hi - I'm new here!

Subject: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 11:07 am

Hello everyone
My name is Beccy - I'm new to this board - I can't tell you how glad I am I found it by chance - it's comforting to know there are others in a similar situation!

I'm 21 and live in sunny England. I've had a fissure for the last two years and it has been giving me absolute grief. I seem to be getting better but it's early days. I use anoheal for a cream (brilliant name!). I was on a sachet solution called movicol but I was getting rather upset on that, and I noticed here that a lot of people use MOM - that seems to be working nicely for me at the moment. I had healed up a few months ago but unfortunately the fissure came back with a vengance. If I don't heal again my consultant is going to use botox injections.

So sorry about the lengthy essay I've appeared to have written!

xxxx

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 11:34 am

welcome to the forum beccy flower

2 years and you haven't tried anything but creams?! i don't know how you've survived!! are you taking warm baths, using stool softeners, eating a healthy fiber diet - lots of water/veggies/fruit, etc? this is all pretty necessary to getting a fissure to heal.

when you healed up what routine were you following then? what caused the fissure to come back? it's so monotonous and annoying, i know, but you need to stick to whatever regimen seems to be working and don't change things up at all. MOM is great! it helped me to nearly heal a few months ago, but an anoscope exam and silver nitrate application retore me so it's taken awhile to get back on track. i'm using about 2 tablespoons MOM a night now, plus stool softeners and that really softens things up for my morning bm. a hot shower after is really soothing when you don't have time for a long soak.

how long is your dr giving you before you try botox? there are a couple people on the board who have had some success w/ botox, i'm sure they can give you some tips.

sorry you have to be here under these circumstances, but now you've found a safe place to talk about all things butt-related! hugs

VIP Joined : 23 Apr 2008 Posts : 803 Mood : good

Beccy,

Welcome to the group, and I am still fairly new here myself, but have really appreciated learning from others experiences. I am using the Diltiazem ointment for about 5 weeks. Feel free to PM me and ask me any questions.

All the best,

Cheryl K.

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 11:39 am

Hi Beccy,
welcome aboard! I'm from not so sunny England too! Sorry you're suffering- two years is a long time for this misery!
Hope we can help!

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 11:52 am

Welcome Beccy!

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 11:57 am

Well, compared to some folks' inroduction, that was a breeze, Beccy!

I f you have had this thing for two years, it's time to move on from conservative treatments -- I hope the botox helps if you have it!
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Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 12:24 pm

Hi Becca,,
Welcome to our forum! You are a trooper to have suffered like you did. I hope that you can get the botox. I didn't know that had it over the pond but that would be wonderful news if you could get that.

We have kind of a goth thing going on, but really we are mostly normal people!!!
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Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 12:25 pm

Hello Beccy

Welcome to this forum I am VERY impressed that you have managed to live with a fissure for 2 years. I have had mine since september and I have tried Nitro cream and Botox*3.

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 12:42 pm

It definitely hasn't been an easy two years that's for sure! I feel sorry for my lovely mum and boyfriend for many episodes of me being extremely moody!

When I'd healed up (apparantly it was only a superficial heal) - I was taking two sachets of movicol a day, but my consultant wanted me to start coming off them and my GP agreed. So I went to one a day, and things were fine. The fissure came back all of a sudden and I don't know why it did, but I think my consultant is hoping it can heal again. Fingers crossed! I think if it doesn't heal up within another couple of months the consultant wants me to have the botox treatment. It's so frustrating though because some days I'll feel great, but others, after a BM, it's very painful! It's worrying as well because I have university finals in a few weeks and I'm just hoping things are painless for then!

I do think the diltiazem is working - most days things have been okay, just had a couple of quite painful days in the last week!

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 12:53 pm

Have you tried hyper-managing your food intake for short periods of time?

Whenever I have important dates upcoming, I revert to a super soft, bland boring diet. I will have green tea in the morn with baked apples. For lunch I will have beans or peas and more green tea or just water, and for dinner I will have beans or peas with another steamed veg and a tiny bit of meat. for snacks I will have tea and honey, usually peppermint tea or chamomile tea. Other than that I will not eat. But I will take 3 magnesium supplements a day (750 mg total) and perhaps a little mineral oil.

You cant do this for too long and expect to keep on weight, but it is a healthy short-term diet and a fissure-friendly one. I still rely on it and start it 2 days before the important date and keep it up until whatever I was supposed to do is completed. Perhaps this will help during your exams.

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 1:06 pm

Remember that stress (finals, anyone?) can sometimes wreak havoc on your digestive system, and it seems like the stress of just having the fissure sets up a vicious cycle, so try to get your chin up and stay as relaxed as you can!
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Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 1:16 pm

Welcome Beccy Very Happy

Sorry to hear you are suffering, so young too, how very unfair !
You have found the perfect place to be this forum is soo wonderful Smile

I am from the UK too Very Happy

I have been dealing with my fissure for over a year now, i use anoheal and movicol only one sachet tho Wink

i am studying too so can relate to the stress of it all....
That is fantastic you can have the botox sunny

when i mentioned this to my consultant he look at me as if i had two heads !!
Goodluck with the botox and the studys Very Happy

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 1:22 pm

Buttgirl - thanks for the tip about the diet - I'm definitely going to give that a go - anything for an easy life!

I really think stress has made my fissure worse. Though I've had it for two years, it got a lot worse after my father passed away last summer and then with coping with a beast of a dissertation and getting stressed because of the fissure has really taken it's toll! so here's hoping that the finals won't be too stressful!

My consultant is brilliant - really pleased I found him, but he is private and not on the nhs. He didn't want to do the other operation - I'm not sure what it's called - they cut the muscle or something because he said he refused to do it on girls of child bearing age just in case of complications... to be honest, I looked at him like he had two heads when he suggested botox - I'd never heard of it for healing fissures before - i thought it was just for wrinkles!

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 2:26 pm

Welcome Beccy,

It is great that you found this group, it really helps to talk to others with the same problems we have. I know my husband gets tired of hearing about my butt, so I try to give him a break.

Hope you can get through finals without much worry and stress. It's good to hear you have a good Dr., sometimes they are hard to find.

hugs

Good luck and take care.

Jo

Subject: Re: Hi - I'm new here! May 16th 2008, 4:12 pm

that's interesting that your dr refused to do the LIS surgery (that's lateral internal sphincterotomy, and i'm sure it's what you were referring to where they cut the sphincter muscle to release the spasm pressure) just b/c you're a young woman. i'm 25 years old and i've had 2 of these operations in the past 12 months. i've never had children and my dr said i should be fine to have them in the future.

if botox doesn't work for you, you might want to look into LIS w/ another dr. it works for a lot of people, although it didn't solve my problems. as you start researching more about fissures and reading posts on this forum you'll probably find lots of ideas that you never would've heard of from everyone here