ANAL FISSURE
Posted , 14 users are following.
Hi fellow sufferers. I am new to Patient Uk, I have been reading all of your experiences It is nice to know that I am not the only one. All I can say is PAIN AND MORE PAIN. I have had this anal fissure for 12 weeks, my surgeon is a waste of space. I am unable to sleep, I have had to give working for a while I am an Holistic Therapist and work from home. My muscle goe's into spasms aches most of the time, I am having 5 baths a day, I know that when I wake up in the morning I am going to go through pain, My surgeon refuses to carry out the operation because of the risk of incontinence have any of your guys had a lateral sphincterotomy and become Incontinent. In the moring I am going to see my doctor and I am going to ask for a second opinion and I am going private and hope to get a surgeon that will perform this operation. My surgeon said that the fissure will go in 6 months like I believe that. I have been given so many creams and potions none of them work, so I am thinking surgery is my final option, It would be nice to hear from anyone that is going through this look forward to hearing from you.
Regards Moonfairy :D :lol:
0 likes, 26 replies
jared101
Posted
you sound miserable, as i have been for the last 5 mths. I have outlined what i have gone through to maybe help inform your choices etc.
Firstly i was diagnosed with an abscess after a couple of weeks of 'unexplained' pain- felt like i'd been kicked up the bum! . Then at another doctor (i moved house and hence GP) it was properly diagnosed as a possible fissure, and told i had to wait 9 weeks to see an NHS specialist! I was in so much pain and had been for 3 mths by this stage, so 9 weeks waiting wasnt an option.
I therefore asked my GP for a colo-rectal specialist who was private, but also worked for the NHS- this was so i could get my APPOINTMENTS by an expert sped up, but could always be referred back to the NHS (as i didnt have insurance). Being uninsured meant i had to pay myself, but due to the agony i was in and the fact my life had become 'get to work, try to work, get home from work', and nothing else, i was desperate!
anyway, i was seen the following week- the specialist was expensive (£180 for one 20 minute appt) but was worth it rather than waiting 9 weeks! he continued the rectogesic GTN ointment treatment, but the frequency and timing of application was changed. anyway, nothing happened over the next 3 -5 weeks-it seemed to start to heal, then nothing. i got so desperate, since i go to the loo on average 3 or more times a day (a lot i know, but apparently in the range of 'normal')- so it wasnt even getting the chance to heal. i therefore reduced my diet to one of soup, fibre and little else...it gave me a lot of pain relief (I had become desperate one day after limping home half way thru the day feeling like i'd been stabbed!), and at times i thought it was healing, as i reduced my toilet trips to once a day.
But after losing a stone, 4 weeks later, it was still there. anyway, i saw the specialist again, and he agreed the sphincterotomy was the best solution. the NHS wait was going to be 4-6 weeks, compared with one for private. But after being in pain for 5 mths, i decided it was worth waiting the extra 4-6, especially since the private op was also £2500!
To my surprise, i also got a phone call to say my operation was in one week- this was after being on the list for only 3 days! so i was over the moon. so I went in for the operation last thursday, -and was out of hospital the same day- and am now at home recovering. There has been a bit of blood and obvious pain, but am hopeful things begin to heal now. it's just too early to say, altho after going for the first time yesterday, it was painful (since i hadnt been since thurs), but didnt have the awful dull ache associated with that.
The stats for healing after a lateral sphincterotomy are above 95%, and the incontinence thing is overblown- when you look at the stats, they are higher than they really are as they give stats for everyone...however, older people, esp women who have had children are more likely to have this. I don't know whether you are in these catergories?, but as i am a male 34 year old, i figured that the stats for such complications would be highly reduced (specialist said this as well). I've also ready a study that suggested the vast majority of patients were already suffering incontinence symptoms BEFORE their operation, so the stats gathered on this are over-estimated. finally, the 'definition' of incontinence is quite wide- i was terrified i'd end up pooing my pants, but in reality, a 'skid mark' on your underwear also falls under the same definition, as does less control of farting.
Anyway, as i'm still healing, it's hard to know, but i have been breaking wind a bit, but i've been in full control of it thus far!! haha. it's too early to tell how it's going to turn out, but i would definitely seek that second opinion, if you havent already. and dont rush into paying privately, unless you have insurance- once put into 'urgent' on the NHS the wait was supposed to be 4-6 weeks, which isnt that long, a
pookie64 MOONFAIRY
Posted
then seen another colorectal specialist who said he would give me a Botox injection and a examination under aenethetic, in between I have had to wait on the nhs list
and I had a letter to say attend for Botox and exam under a different specialist because the one I saw wasn't available to do it for a while
this other specialist didn't bother coming to speak to me as he should he send his young sidekick , I explained things to him , he said not to worry himself or this specialist would come and speak to me about finding afterward
was in agony when I came round, nurse in recovery said they have found a chronic fissure, why didn't you get it treated when it was acute ? !!
told her why, , was informed that the specialist and his sidekick were busy and that I wouldn't be seeing anyone , he was just signing me back to my g.p
is em though the Botox has loosened my tight sphincer muscle I am in terrible pain and am very limited what I can take for it, I feel like throw ing the towel in, I just don't want to live anymore , as I feel I don't live I just exist In a crying weepy mess due to pain
fredoooooo1 MOONFAIRY
Posted
lesley29959 fredoooooo1
Posted
Which area of the UK are you in?
What is the name of your surgeon?
I go to Prof Scofield in Nottingham-you sound very enthusiastic for the lateral ectomy op: I'm at the end of my tether-tried a lot, thinking about Botox or op now-Botox seems to have very few enthusiastic experiences
Would you still advise the op?
Cheers
Lesley
jennifer46383 MOONFAIRY
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jennifer46383 MOONFAIRY
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Ja22m3 MOONFAIRY
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Zen95 MOONFAIRY
Posted
LIs is a double edge sword... u may and you may not heal thats the big Q... another research says that after 40 tone of Sphicter also decreases so you may end up incontinent once growint forty and naughty that haunts me...
How about keeping stool soft ( low calorie liquid diet ) and keeping tone down of Mr.Sphincy by Ca channel blockers or nitrates ???
Had anyone tried MEBO ?
Teallach MOONFAIRY
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karen43603 Teallach
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T2231 MOONFAIRY
Posted
Drink 2-4 glasses of miralax and 2-4 glasses of water daily and you'll heal in about 2days to a week. It softens your stool to the point that your bm no longer hurts.
I just healed myself from a fissure of 2+ months.
Teallach T2231
Posted
lesley29959 MOONFAIRY
Posted
I have a very high threshold to pain. I am a very tough cookie!
The pain has been so utterly intense over the last 18 months: had bouts of crying. panic attacks (never before)
I’ve had severe fissure for several years, had motility assessments,
Diltizam cream: horrible itch: unbearable: had to stop.
Rectogesic : painful contractions in anus.
Have very religiously tried every solution suggested: but creams will only ever take the top off the pain, never cure…
Without being a drama queen, my mistake was always being positive and cheerful for my consultant appointments: you have to remember that most doctors have NEVER had the pain of a fissure.
Pain initially like a broken glass bottle, twisted round: as this eventually ceases, (by 4.00pm!)As this settles, lasts in left buttock for a long time: could sciatic nerve be affected???
Whole buttock aches like been kicked very hard
Now every morning after first BM, or even wind, get intense unbearable pain
Shower after every BM, hot bath, then heat pad until , takes until 4.00pm until able to do anything at all
Draining, angry at frustration of being unable to find any relief or cure
(As a SRN neonatal nurse, I was used to always finding a solution…)
Very depressed at inevitable next day/every day pain
It has stopped my life.
Ithe great difficulty was finding a patient who had had the operation, and could give an opinion on the results.
I had a great random stroke of luck, in that the Nurse Practitioner at our Health Centre has had the operation, and requested that the operation be carried out. on balance, recommends the op-_much better comfort now
At my last consultant review, he readily agreed, after years of pain…
This time, really want to know
Does the op have a realistic chance of success-reduce pain
Seems to me that any complications-wind/staining/rush to toilet must be better than pain
How long NHS waiting list, please?
About 3-4 months
How much privately-about £3-4k
How soon-two weeks
Fairly severe pain for three/four days after, but pain will go! Hurrah!!!
My surgeon, for the first time after years of conservative approach, said that “the chances of success are high, complications minimal. For years, they did the lateral sphyncterectomy on most patients, but felt pressured to reduce the frequency of operating.
(I had even thought about a colostomy for six months to let the bowel/anus rest & heal???)
Report will follow after the op.
claire406 MOONFAIRY
Posted
I also hears of someone else who is now incontinent following this op. Please get all the pretests done first and make sure your surgeon is very experienced xxx
lesley29959 MOONFAIRY
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no contest!