This is my first time posting in a forum for this issue, so please bare with me. I am seeking homeopathic advice, I just wish to convey any possibly pertinent details first.

I have been suffering from an anal fistula since October of last year (2005). Not nearly as long as many here, but long enough as far as I am concerned. The problem began as a fairly mild pain after stool that would last for anywhere from 10 minutes to 4 hours. I began treating it as a hemmorhoid, decided that I thought it was a fissure instead and ultimately ended up having it diagnosed as a fistula (just two weeks ago). The pain is becoming unbearable and is bound to become embarassing as I can't avoid work for this issue. The history and the symptoms, for those who might be able to find a clue in them, are below.


About two years ago I had a small boil form at the base of my spine/top of my crack. It grew and eventually became painful enough that it was causing me some nerve control issues in my right leg. I went to a MedCenter (which is a local walk-in physicians office) and had it lanced. I had no other problems with it after this time, other than occasional swelling with no discharge, and do not know if it is related to my fistula. Shortly after this I started having some marital and employment difficulties, which lead to heavy stress, which lead to poor eating habits (as in I didn't, more often than not). Shortly after this, my wife left me and the store I was working at closed down. I went through about six months of further stress following this period, including stress due to a short bout of homelessness (about two months) and a new girlfriend leaving me. Pretty much the day my girlfriend left me the pain began. This was in October, 2005. Since then I have been doing everything I can to try to deal with the pain including ingesting pain killers, prep. h ointment, warm sitz baths, drastic change in diet to include more fiber... I tried using Tinactin on it as I had read of some other success cases with fissures in which this was used. While it did relieve the majority of the pain for the first couple days use, it eventually came back and the Tinactin was no longer effective. I finally went to my physician two weeks ago and she administered a basic rectal exam, but was unable to determine much. She did not state why as to whether there was too much stool or swelling or what, but she did say that it appeared to be a fistula. She has scheduled me for a sigmoidoscopy in July (A. WAY too far away, B. Ugh... I don't want this procedure) but was unable to advise me as to anything else that might help relieve it until then. Further complicating things, last Sunday when I got home from work, I was using the restroom and I felt a kind of tearing sensation that seemed to go from the top of my anus to the top of my crack. I had had a small lump at this point on my anus prior to this and it now appeared to be gone. The only problem with this is that there seemed to be food particles coming from where this lump was, leading me to believe that the lump was probably actually the distressed skin covering the surface opening of the fistula.

There is bleeding occasionally, but very rarely. When it does occur (usually once every six months to a year) blood will dye the toilet water a dark red. This has not happened for about 5 months now. Recently there was some spotting on the toilet paper after I had a movement, but it was minimal. The blood never seems to be in the stool and the stool never has streaks or is dark in color. Furthermore, despite this being diagnosed as a fistula, I have never noticed any pus discharge from my anus. There is a constant feeling of pressure as if I need to have a movement, but I've learned my lesson about straining and just have to deal with this. After a movement, there is a short period of calm for about 5 - 10 minutes, then a horrible aching pain begins and typically lasts from 3 - 12 hours depending on my activities of the day. This will dull after the first hour or so, but it throbs and I have to adjust every two to three minutes when sitting. Driving/riding in the car seems to aggravate the condition greatly, more so than most things actually.

I have been researching possible homeopathic remedies for the last week or so now and was planning on trying silicea, but I can't seem to find anybody with quite the same issue as me and I've seen other remedies suggested, so I'm a little confused as to what I might try. Any practical advice will be greatly appreciated and I will be happy to answer any further questions.

Oh, I have never been diagnosed with depression, but it's rare that I don't feel like I carry the weight of the world with me. I don't know if this could aggravate the condition further or not, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Thank you very much to anyone who took the time to read this, reply or not.

-DL

Forgot to mention a few things that might be important:

Age: 26
Height: 6'
Weight: roughly 250 lbs.

Also, I've found myself urinating a lot more than usual, but I've been intaking a larger amount of water as well. Also, the pressure sometimes seems to cause random erections.

No known allergies of any kind. No current medicinal regimen other than fiber supplements and topical ointment with the occasional pain killer (which I only started taking recently).

At first onset of the problem food was difficult to come by, and nutritious food even more so, so I wasn't eating much. Soon after my social position was bettered and I had better access to more and healthier food. My appetite started off relatively slow (stomach shrinkage, I assume) and then became quite voracious until last night. My appetite had declined significantly last night and I'm not sure why. Will keep this updated if my appetite changes.


Thank you again.

-DL

I've had an anal fistula (diagnosed by local physician) for almost 9 months now and it's getting to be extremely painful. I've tried every remedy I could find, short of surgery (which I may end up scheduled for anyway). Most of the cases I've found online of people suffering a similar problem seemed to suggest that Silicea would be my best option. Could anyone possibly confirm or deny this for me and/or offer any advice on dosage and application? I'll be happy to provide any other information you might need, please just ask me.

Thank you very much to anyone who takes the time to read this.

-DL