Patient 67

Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:57:59
To: jack1faf6.arc.nasa.gov

Hello, 'Jack'.

First off, *thank you* for such as informative and useful page. Really changed my life to know that the problem I had COULD be cured as opposed to just managed.

Second: I'm pretty young (early 30's) and all my life I've suffered on and off from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Unknown as to what causes it, probably stress, but the cycle of diarhhrea to constipation and back would cause anal fissures to come and go. I actually thought it was the normal way of things!

Until last year. Two particularly bad cycles of IBS brought me a total of 7 fissures - and no, I am not kidding...when looking down below with a mirror one could see small, weeping gashes at the one, two, four, six, seven o' clock areas and others, three with skin tags. Nasty. It didn't quite hurt to simply sit but going to the bathroom was not pleasant.

Until this point I'd controlled outbreaks of fissures with Laxatives and Immodium AD (stop yourself up for 2 days and the fissure would usually heal up enough). Didn't work this time.

I tried a special wheatgrass juice cream offered by drwheatgrass.com, but it didn't seem to do anything for me over 2 months constant application.

Here's what finally DID work:

• Religiously taking a the Rainbow Light Everyday Fiber System. This particular item had an herbal base and a dollop of bentonite clay that settled the stomach as well as the usual psyllium husks. It's really changed my life, not only contributing to the cure but also eliminating the IBS episodes by 95%. In case your readers are interested, the least expensive place I've found for the supplement is vitacost.com, which is about 50% less than what you'll find in the store.
• That solved the constant bowel movement problem, made things easy so that the fissures would not rip open as much while healing. The second component was to buy pure Vitamin E oil and put this on at regular intervals throughout the day, and certainly after each movement.
  Note: Be sure you get Vitamin E *oil* not cream, which can irritate naked skin. Also, be sure you get pure vitamin E, many products mix the E with other oils. To make sure, read the label and tilt the bottle; pure E moves around very slowly, like maple syrup on a cold day. Otherwise it is probably mixed with other things.
• A final component was to do sitz baths. They actually do seem to work! And of course, drying the fissure off and then applying generous amounts of Vitamin E.

One last note: This whole process took a long time - almost 6 months. But then, my fissures were many, though not as deep as some of the ones on this site. YMMV. And those of you in your 20's and 30's, you're not alone in this - anal fissures are not a problem for babies and geriatrics!

Anther patient read the text above and wrote back with this:

Subject: Thanks to you and Tips for patient 67
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:52:18 +0000

Hi "Jack",

I was researching information on my upcomming AF surgery and found your webpage by luck. I am so happy to have found it because the testimonials really helped me. I feel much better prepared to face the surgery and have a better idea of what to expect. Thank you so much!

I was reading Patient 67's testimonial and this person mentions having IBS (Iritable Bowl Syndrome). I had the same symptoms this person says he/she has for quite a number of years (from age 23 to 27) and was finally diagnosed with Celiac desease. Now this didn't cure the anal fisure that keeps on coming back - hense why I'm finally giving up and getting the surgery - but the diagnosis cured many problems that initially were said to be IBS.

Thank you again for helping people better manage their AF pain!

Ontario, Canada

ps: excuse my English as it is not my first language...