Proctalgia Fugax

I do a similar thing to manage the attacks Claudia. I have problems digesting gluten and lactose and how much I digest of either seems to effect the frequency of attacks. I think a vibrating cold ball to sit on would help. Non sufferers must think this conversation very strange!

I hope everyone is getting some relief. I am going to try the upper lip pinching next time. It will take a few researchers to suffer this before anything is developed that really helps. I do wonder how many people found collapsed in their toilets were suffering from this condition and ended up dying in a fall. 

 

It's a weird affliction all right. So painful and yet an embarrassment to discuss in polite company.  I have also wondered about hitting one's head in a fall off the toilet. Really, in the worst of it you feel anything is possible. I'm so happy to have found this website and I'm using the techniques others have suggested with great success. I have not been successful with the pinching technique but I might be doing it wrong. I started to have a bout the other morning and found a good sturdy meat tenderizer and delivered a good whacks which did the trick. I was out of pain in a few minutes.  It's amazing. Thank you to whomever first discovere this technique.  

I find it as painful as birthing contractions but the pain is focussed on a slightly different area and there is no happy ending, just the fear of it happening again. I do take magnesium but often forget. I'm not sure if that helps or not. Some studies would be great.

I have had this for years. Seems to be a bit more frequent as I get older. Though I can go for months without an episode. What I have found to help, as I'm sitting up at night in So. Cali right now with one 😳, is to sit on a heating pad until it subsides! Taking a hot bath is a bit inconvenient in the mid of night with a sleeping spouse, and quite frankly I don't want to get up and take a bath right now!

i am 48, workout hard 4-5 times a week (kickboxing and weights) I don't know if dehydration can play a role? I've read about at possibly causing it on another board.

anyhow, hope this tip will help someone, it helps me.Goodnight😊

Hi Merrymary, 

I have tried hot baths and for me there's no relief. The "cycle" seems to need to finish.  For me it lasts anywhere between 20-30 minutes of excruciating and unrelating pain. I have, as others reported, felt faint and dizzy, nauseous. There should be a study on this condition and what the triggers for it are. When I've gone to doctors they seem unaware of it.  It wasn't until I looked online and did a symptoms search that I discovered what I had.

One guest had suggested punching the area where the pain is. It seemed like an unlikely approach to me when I read it.  This has been the only way I've gotten relief.  The other night I awoke with the beginning of an attack.  The pain was unbearable. I tried this approach and it stopped it in its tracks. Maybe the shock wave short circuits the spasms. Knowing I have a little control over it has given me peace of mind. Since you're a kickboxer you are in good shape and can probably kick box yourself right out of it. 

It is a terrible pain. I figured out what it was a few yrs ago and told my doctor, when I went in for a physical, this is what I think I may have and she said yes. I mentioned that I work out very hard because I didn't know if maybe there was a correlation between sweating so much and dehydration maybe bringing it on. I had read on other forums people thinking it could be dehydration and they drink water for it. It is something I have to ride out for 15-30 mins, but the heat helps. I haven't tried the punching method, but maybe next time I'll figure that one out. I've slso heard of massaging the area, yuck, I know, but maybe that would help. You'll do almost anything in that pain!

That's interesting that striking the area seems to help, wow. I agree there should be some answers for this problem.

Blessings to you,

Mary

Hi Mary,

The first time I experienced this I thought I was dying of some strange malady.  It was so scary and I had no idea how long it would last. It is really fortunate we have this blog to find out it's not fatal and how others have dealt with it. 

Also, it's not something you can easily talk about.  It would be like saying to your friends, "You would not believe the pain in the ass I had last night!" People would think you're talking about a family member or an appliance malfunction. Then you have to clarify and say "My rectum was having spasms for 30 minutes. I almost fainted from the pain." They'd be agog- at a loss for words.  The worst is when it happens at work. I was in a meeting and it started up. I had to excuse myself because I couldn't maintain my composure. 

Anyway, please do try the punch technique. I know it sounds really weird but it worked for me and it might help you. I agree with you. I'll do whatever it takes to stop the pain. I just hope when I'm 86 I can still deliver a swift punch to my buttocks.  Let me know if it helps.

Blessings to you too!

Claudia

Hi Claudia,

I am very glad you tried the punching technique and found out how effective it is. Thank-you also for promoting it. I discovered the technique through experimentation out of desperation to find some way to make the attacks stop. Since I first came up with it  more than 10 years ago I have had dozens of attacks and I've been able to make every one of them stop immediately!  I hope the words spreads quickly so that proctalgia fugax will be reduced to nothing more than a minor nuisance!

Cheers!

Jim

Vancouver

Omgooness, too funny! Yes it isn't something you care to talk about like a headache. You can't tell someone the reason you look tired is that you were awoken in the middle of the night with a pain in your hiney and thought you were gonna die. I, too, had this happen at work a few years ago. Try explaining that one! I take my heating pad with me when I travel, "just in case." I do feel better saying that this is a real thing and it is muscles spasms.

i will have to try giving the area a KO next time, just afraid I might be a little extreme and cause internal damage, lol! If this does work, there should be a device invented that could deliver the correct wallop without damaging results, haha. Kind of reminds me of the old movies when women would get hysterical and a man would slap their face, and they would become calm....hmmm maybe the same idea? We have muscle hysterics going on back there that need to be walloped. Interesting.

til next attack 😳,

Mary

Hi Jim-  Yes, your technique really works!! I am grateful you discovered this and very impressed you thought of it.  

Too bad you can't get a patent on it.  You could call it the "The PF punch - restore tranquility to your keester." people would have to pay to find out about this remarkable concept and how they'd benefit. You would be famous and invited to demonstrate it on the Dr. Oz show. Of course I'd want to make an appearance too.   

Happy walloping,

Claudia

I'm glad we can have a laugh about this awful PF ordeal!  I LOL'd at your remarks.  It really is funny in a maudlin way. I'm sure you're capable of delivering just the right amount of "kick" to knock PF into the stratosphere. The first time I tried this techinque I had a hard time reaching around the corner so I used a meat tenderizer (very heavy and long handled). Of course I used the non-serated side. I was just hoping that no one walked in on me as I was wailing away with a meat flogger.  That worked good too- now I no longer need the meat tenderizer.  Just one deft well-placed punch and relief!! Thanks again to Jim, PF is no longer stalking my waking and sleeping moments.  

Best to all!

Claudia

I've been living with this now for 9 years  told my dr umpteen times ,no luck ,all began after I lost over 4 stone in weight ( illness ) lost all muscle in backside ,now I don't have it when I lay down or stand ,real worse when sitting ,have to sit sideways on hips to get relief ,or make my recliner chair go back as far as I can ,to get relief .This also has given me anxiety over this time  I've now learnt from just yesterday this can be an affect of this condition .few years ago I mentioned this to someone. They then mentioned to look up Levator Syndrome .this matched my symptoms ,along with another called Cyclist Syndrome ,article last year in UK Daily Mail .So same just by another name .Yesterday I done some reading up on this issue ,plus on You Tube ,it gives exercises .people with Chrohns got tendency to suffer this .Its a miserable condition .wish the anxiety from this would cease .Glad I found this site ,I thought it had been menopause all this time .Will try heat first .

I like where you're going with this, Claudia! 

I could have an informercial. Maybe with Ron Popeil as host.

"Just punch it - and forget it!

Haha!

Jim

 

I like it!  You need to design a device with a large boot and a pullie device for those who are challenged to execute the punch. The infomercial can say:  "Got PF? Give yourself the boot today!" 

I can see it now. T-shirts, maybe even a soap opera in which every actor deals with PF !  :-)

The punch technique is guaranteed to work or your money back. :-)

Every since I discovered it around 10 years ago, it has worked EVERY SINGLE TIME!

To help others who might have difficulty picturing the "punch" technique, let me go through it again for you. This technique is very simple. The idea is to interrupt the spasms by sending a shock up the colon. You don't have to hit hard - just firm enough to stop the spasm that's causing the pain.

Hold your arm behind you, make a fist and turn it slightly so that when you swing it forward to hit your behind, you are only hitting your bum with the first knuckle. Remember you are NOT hitting your bum cheeks; instead, you are finding a way to deliver a light but firm blow to your actual bum. I hit with my first knuckle because doing so allows me to hit my target without hitting the padding of my bum cheeks, which would soften the energy and defeat the purpose. 

Hitting with your first knuckle helps to focus the energy. If making a fist is awkward for you, then try striking your bum with the knife edge of your flat hand, contacting your bum with the base of your thumb because it is solid enough to deliver a firm enough blow.  Anything to deliver the necessary shock to stop the spasm and the pain. 

You are not hitting hard, just firm enough to to send a little shock up the colon. You'll have do it a bunch of times to let the spasm know who's boss!  I'll hit about 25 times or so. If I still feel the spasms trying to starting back up, then I'll do it another 25 times. The whole process takes less than a minute.

That's it ! Seriously, try it. Since I began using this technique around 10 years ago, it has stopped the pain EVERY SINGLE TIME!

I feel for every single one of you who suffers with PF. I know how painful it is. Take control of Proctalgia Fugax. Don't let it control you.

Jim

Vancouver

It could be a good reality show!  A documentary-style camerman follows PF sufferers around and narrates. "Oh yes, it's clear Bob's having a PF attack." Bob gets to say, "Oh this is gonna be a bad-un!" Then it pans to Bob executing the "Jim cure" and voila, pain gone. 

Jim thank you for the excellent information on correct execution of your technique.  I tried it just a few nights' ago and only had to whack 4-7 times. I delivered a deft and timely punches to the, ahem, "area." I'm trying to be delicate here for anyone who might take offense at the word "arse", for example. In any case, it went away. It was magic!!!   I thank you for sharing your amazing cure.  I would wear a T-shirt but it might raise too many questions I wouldn't be prepared to answer!! When you start casting for the soap opera, please let me know. I'd like to audition. 

Just completed a bad one which lasted ages, untill recently I thought I was a alone with this torture. How can their be nothing to cure but the punches are enough

Hi there

I have suffered from PF since my early 20's and I'm now 42.

It is really is comforting to hear some of your posts as I assumed it was something I felt no one else in the world experienced. A few months ago I had such a terrible attack I got up to go to the bathroom as I didn't want my wife to wake up hearing me in such pain. This was such a bad one, sweating, going white and feeling sick, the next thing I remember was my wife standing above me screaming as I had fainted hitting the shower and smashed my teeth and hitting my nose in the process.

Thankfuly I have now had my teeth repaired and only my pride hurt and only had one attack as severe since. I will try all the techniques people have posted on here and hope something works.

I would just like to give everyone some advise on here that if you have a 10/10 attack , and are in such pain you need to get out of bed - lay on the floor but don't walk around a bathroom or you could suffer in the same why I did.

 

The gastroenterologists gave me a prescription for Canasa.  It is a suppository and it does take the pain away.  It is the only thing that has ever worked for me.

The 1st time I ever had the pain, I was in the fetal position in bed for hours and my husband took me to the ER and they treated me like I had a VD......very humiliating. 

I have had colonoscopies and vaginal ultra sounds over the years, but nothing ever showed up. It does help to know your not the only person in the world like this....even it it is only 8% of us.

Good Luck and I will take your advise and not walk around.

Hi Claudia - what do you mean by rectal pulses? Have you found it to be as efficient as the punch method? I have 6yo daughter with PF.

Havent tried punch method with her yet, hoping it will work or maybe rectal pulses??

Regards

Jo

Jim, thanks SO much to you for suggesting the punch technique.  As I stated in my earlier post, I've been dealing with this menace for 30 years and a rotation between a scalding hot bath and the toilet has been my only, not very helpful, routine.  Last night was horrendous and one of those attacks that involved tears and praying.  Lol.  The physical weakness that accompanies my attacks makes me wonder if I'll even have enough strength to employ the punch technique without fainting but I'm certainly going to try.  Many thanks to you and love to everyone here dealing with this monster.

Massaging doesn't have to be the traditional method.  I sit on the edge of something hard, such as the footboard of the bed, the edge of a counter or chair and move back and forth until I find the right spot. When I locate the pressure point I continue moving back and forth until the pain is gone.  Pressure on the exact point GREATLY reduces the pain to a simple annoyance until the episode is over.  Without doing this the episode can cause pain even to the point of tears.  On occasion it happens while driving so I carry a tennis ball in my truck and sit on it while driving still moving back and forth.  Good luck.

I've tried both of those methods too and they do help some...  Only thing that ever really relieved pain is warm/hot bath but that's not always possible.  The frequency of my attacks has gotten much worse as I have aged...now 73 and started decades ago.  

Glad I found this forum !!

I want to thank whoever suggested quinine. I have a bottle of tonic water in my fridge now always. A glug of this and the pain subsides within a couple of minutes. I used to pass out with the pain and this has been amazing. I am convinced it is some kind of internal cramp and I know I carry tension in my stomach/bowel area most of the time. 

If I cannot access tonic water pinching the skin under my nose as suggested by someone else, targeting the vagus nerve (not sure that is correct spelling), will reduce the intensity and length of the attack. Hope you all find something that works for you.