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Diltiazem cream & rectal fissure- advice please

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kirstyeb
kirstyeb

I saw a colorectal surgeon 3 weeks ago who diagnosed me with a rectal fissure, he said it was tiny which was a massive relief but didn't correlate with the amount of pain i was in! He prescribed Diltiazem cream for 8 weeks and alongside Fybogel and plenty of fluids my fissure healed really quickly. It barely lasted a week though before it re-opened and I'm back in a world of pain. I'm still applying the Diltiazem twice a day and using Lidocaine in between. Ive stopped the Fybogel as it was giving me diarrhoea. I'm still drinking plenty but not eating much. Is this a normal healing process? I can tolerate the pain (just) if I know its going to get better.

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  • rob1978
    rob1978 kirstyeb

    Edited

    Hi Kirsty, sorry to hear you're having to go through this nightmare as well. From what I have read from here and other forums, your healing experience and subsequent reoccurrence seems fairly "normal". On the plus side, it is definitely nice that your body responded well to the cream and healed. But that's the difficult part with fissures, is the strong likelihood of reappearing. To be conservative, I would probably continuing using the cream or even try a different cream depending on you and see if you can sustain your healing. Try using the sitz baths too, they are generally helpful to promote healing.

    Unfortunately for me the creams never worked and I had to deal with my fissure for around 5 months in which time a fistula also developed. I had to have LIS and a fistulotomy done to help with my situation.

    So far, 5 weeks post op, Im still healing and have definite soreness and sometimes pains but its much better than before. My CRS says im on the right path to healing it will just take time. I see him again in September just to make sure Im getting better.

    Its a horrible problem to have. I would suggest not to force yourself to deal with the on again off again issue of the fissure. Consult with different CRSs if you have to, but dont feel like you have to live with the pain forever.

    Wish you the best!

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