Proctalgia Fugax - acute attack of rectal pain (Prevention)

The information below could help those who suffer from Proctalgia Fugax (PF) (a brief attack of rectal pain). This is from my own personal experience and observations over the years. If I had known about this earlier, it could have saved me from years of pain. Up until my early 40's I didn't know what it was, I sought help from doctors but, no one ever told me about PF, until I started researching it for myself.

I believe PF started in my early 20's, and possibly earlier. At first the episodes were infrequent, but they got more frequent and the intensity increased as I got older. They usually occurred during the night, but at times during the day, especially when I was stressed. The intense pain generally persisted from 20 to 40 minutes on average. Typically, there would an early warning sign of mild discomfort in my rectal area (like a spasm) that would last a few minutes, just before the intensity increased dramatically.

I eventually noticed that gluten was a trigger and that it caused the delayed pain. The pain would typically occur several hours after (e.g. at night 2 am) I eat gluten or any wheat related products. I tested this over and over again (over the years), and from my experience, gluten or wheat related products have always been the contributing factor for me. There were those times that I got an episode and I believed that I had not eaten any gluten, but only to find out that I had. For example, I didn't know that there was gluten in packaged gravy sauce (clubhouse). There is gluten is almost everything ! So, I started reading every food label, and I eventually was able to stop the episodes just by truly cutting out gluten. Sure, stress can make the episodes much worse, but as I mentioned, gluten was the main culprit (for me).

When I got an episode, I found that taking ibuprofen “immediately” help a bit, but it had to be taken as soon as the warning signs occurred. The issue is that the warning signs are often short, and it might not be enough time for the ibuprofen to take effect, but at least it helped if the episode persisted longer.

I also found that “immediately” getting into a hot bath was very helpful and reducing the intensity of the pain. Perhaps it helps your system relax and reduces the effects of the spasms.

I hope this helps,

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