Hi guys, I'm new to this site and have just got back from the hospital.
I had an external abscess around Christmas time which my doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics rather than drain it. The abscess popped after 3 days and I assumed I was on the mend. However the abscess bursting has caused an anal fistula.
Since the new year I have been to the doctors 8 times, spent 8 days in hospital had and MRI and finally day surgery 3 weeks ago.
The surgeon took out 2/3 of the fistula but could not take out the rest due to it's position within the muscle and fear of incontinence. Completely understandable. he placed a cutting seton in (I think that's what it's called) but this came out 5 days after surgery. I called the hospital and they said to wait for my appointment 2 weeks later (today).
My surgeon says the seton shouldn't have come out already as there's no way it could have worked so quickly. He's also not sure why it came out. I did barely anything for the first week after my surgery so there;s no way I caused it to come out.
Anyway, I'm back on the waiting list to have it all done again. No idea when that will be though so quite frustrating.
What I'd like is some advice from anyone if they are able to offer it. My life has been pretty much put on hold all year and I've not done most of the things I normally would. What advice do you have for living with a fistula? Should I change my diet? Can I drink alcohol? (haven't touched a drop since Christmas just in case), How much can/should I do physically? My sex drive and confidence are out of the window since all this has happened. With the leaking from the fistula and having to wear pads, I've also lost my dignity.
I'm really down in the dumps and could do with some help. I'm a 38 year old male business owner. I'm usually very outgoing, socially and work wise. I usually love meeting new people and doing all sorts of things but now I spend my days working from my bedroom. My wife and daughters forget I'm here.
Any help or advice will be very, very welcome.
Thanks so much for reading if you got this far 
I sympathise totally with your situation and I understand howlonely and demeaning it feels. I'm a 39 yr old working mother of 2 and have lived with anal fistular since the birth of my 9 yr old son. First off I would deffinately say yes to the alcohol! its not going to make it worse and you absolutely need some release from this nightmare. Just dont go overboard! Eat healthily keep stools soft, Dulcoease is amazing for this and is not a laxative. pop a few drops of Tea tree and lavendar oil in hot baths as often as possible will help to heal as well as relax. try 1teaspoon ghee in a glass of warm milk twice a day (only read about this not sure about its effect) more than anything you really need the support from your family. My partner is very supportive emotionally but helping out physically is a problem for him. Let me give you some hope though and tell you that mine did eventually heal by itsself although I have just realised to my horror that its back! which is why im on this site. So I'm again having to try and figure out how Im going to deal with this and carry on day to day life all over again. Mine first appeared after having my firstchild nearly 9 years ago. I suffered for ages petrified of surgery but also working and having 2 young children leaves no time for recovery. I just got on with it but in agony 24/7. I know how much it hurts to walk, sit, even sleep - at worst I didnt sleep at all for days. I couldnt play with my kids, sit on the floor, bend over, ride a bike or horses (my passion) All my muscles would ache from holding my body and walking differently, constant high doses of antibiotics make you feel awful, i was scared to eat to go to the loo I started to get depressed and felt really ill until I could take no more and decided I had to have surgery. They told me they would either have to 'lay it open' or insert a seaton but they wouldnt know which they would use until I was under. I did alot of research and found out the low sucess rates, horror stories, incontinence etc and healing time and bottled it! I really cannot be layed up for any amount of time. I was at my wits end. I just had to get on with and deal with the depression on top. Anyway long story short, it eventually healed by itself. I cant remeber how long it took (years) but it did heal up. Until this weekend when messing about with the kids I strained awkwardly and opened it up again! aargh!! I cant beleive it. I can feel the stress building up already just the thought of what the future has in store.
Its been a while since your post (with no replies until now). I would love to hear how your getting on and hope you have moved forward and recovered.
HI SMILER , I HOPE YOU ARE DOING BETTER , ME TOO I HAD HAVE SHPINCTEROTOMY WITH 3 SKIN TAG REMOVAL AND AFTER 11 DAYS I DEVELOPED A FISTULA THEN LAST TUESDAY I HAD A FISTULOTOMY. TODAY 5 DAYS BUT I STIL HAVE PAIN GOING TO THE BATHROOM AND VERY DEFFICULT TO CLEAN AS I DONT WANT OTHER INFECTION , ANY ADVICE PLEAESE ??
I really feel for you jhon: Hot hot hot baths, as aften as possible and after every bowel movement with tea tree and lavender drops. this will really help you, trust me. youll have no pain whilst your in there and also help you to relax/chill out cause i kniw how stressful this is.Tea tree is a natural antiseptic and will help to stop infection same as savlon in baths. Also take Dulcoease (my best friend) 1 in the am, 1 in the afternoon and 2 before bed as well as cod lier oil capsules and constant water 3 ltrs a day (room temp is easier to drink) will make going to the loo much easier and much less traumatic. Im affraid I have not had surgery and so glad I didnt as I hear more and more horror stories. This time I have healed again and back to normal (pretty much) within 1 week. try and stay off the painkillers as these will make you constipated. Try not to have any more surgery its worse that dealing with the fistula in the first place. Good luck, let me know how you get on.
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No fun at all fistulas!!!!! Mines been around for two years two mris camera up bum 6 months of seton and three ops later I'm now waiting for another op!!! I enjoy the good days and stay in for bad days it's really hard to plan stuff around it x but least we still here I just keep thinking it's bad but could be oh so worse x I wonder how u getting on now??? Please feel free to message me for any real details x it's hard to talk about it cause unless u have one u just don't realise how awful it actually is
Hi
I know it's been a year since you left your message but I was wondering how you're feeling now, has the fistula gone? I'm also going through the same nightmare as you and it would be great to hear from someone who has experienced the same problems.
Hi, just read your blog, I'm having the same problems and nightmare as you, I've been living with a fistula for nearly two years and just wondering how you are getting on. Are you feeling better now and has the fistula dried up.
Hi there X no still waiting for op!!! Gonna be in four weeks X although I do feel a lot better actually than I did X still having symptoms that need to be fixed but least I feel more human at the moment X how are u doing with yrs???? They are tricky things to fix and it all seems to take so bloody long??
Hello again, it sounds like yours is a bit worse than mine, I had
Surgery a year ago but it didn't work, now I have a little bit of drainage and leakage after I go to the bathroom, waiting for another procedure where they will use a seton, my surgery has been cancelled three times this year, hospital has no empty beds, it's incredible, I have no pain only a little pus which can be a nuisance.
Did you have problems with a seton stich and was it painful, I appreciate your quick response and wish you all the best
Seton was slightly annoying and painful if u catch it but u learn to live with it X takes a little while to settle though X I only had mine for six months X they seem to take forever cause the surgeons all wanna seem to pass u on elsewhere and then make u wait forever! Frustrating!!!! Nearly been a year since my last surgery!!! And I've been basically waiting to get sorted again since then!!! Due to retiring surgeons junior doc strikes bla bla X
I do wish u luck X is it rv fistula u have??? Glad u not in pain I had awful fatigue n muscle cramps too but they finally seem to be subsiding now X all the best with yr surgery X make sure u rest up X x
Seton was slightly annoying and painful if u catch it but u learn to live with it X takes a little while to settle though X I only had mine for six months X they seem to take forever cause the surgeons all wanna seem to pass u on elsewhere and then make u wait forever! Frustrating!!!! Nearly been a year since my last surgery!!! And I've been basically waiting to get sorted again since then!!! Due to retiring surgeons junior doc strikes bla bla X
I do wish u luck X is it rv fistula u have??? Glad u not in pain I had awful fatigue n muscle cramps too but they finally seem to be subsiding now X all the best with yr surgery X make sure u rest up X x
Seton was slightly annoying and painful if u catch it but u learn to live with it X takes a little while to settle though X I only had mine for six months X they seem to take forever cause the surgeons all wanna seem to pass u on elsewhere and then make u wait forever! Frustrating!!!! Nearly been a year since my last surgery!!! And I've been basically waiting to get sorted again since then!!! Due to retiring surgeons junior doc strikes bla bla X
I do wish u luck X is it rv fistula u have??? Glad u not in pain I had awful fatigue n muscle cramps too but they finally seem to be subsiding now X all the best with yr surgery X make sure u rest up X x
Seton was slightly annoying and painful if u catch it but u learn to live with it X takes a little while to settle though X I only had mine for six months X they seem to take forever cause the surgeons all wanna seem to pass u on elsewhere and then make u wait forever! Frustrating!!!! Nearly been a year since my last surgery!!! And I've been basically waiting to get sorted again since then!!! Due to retiring surgeons junior doc strikes bla bla X
I do wish u luck X is it rv fistula u have??? Glad u not in pain I had awful fatigue n muscle cramps too but they finally seem to be subsiding now X all the best with yr surgery X make sure u rest up X x
Hi guys, apologies for not responding before now and thanks for getting in touch.
I'm sorry to hear that you're going through similar to myself, we all no how horrible it can be.
It sounds like I may be in a similar boat to you danny56909. I had 2 lots of surgery last year and improved a lot but last time I visited surgeon in November, he wanted to do an MRI as there may be something still there.
I has the MRI in December and am going to see my surgeon at 2pm today to find out the score.
I haven't been in any pain at all for a long time and to be fair, I can't even remember any discomfort.
I can feel a little something there. You know, when you just know something is there which probably shouldn't be. Other than that, the only symptom I have is a small amount of blood after using the bathroom (sorry) but that is very rare now. And also a very small amount of discharge now and again.
My surgeon said in his letter that he may need to do 'explotitory surgery' depending on my symptoms so I'll see what he has to say this afternoon and report back to you.
Thanks for reading guys.
M
Hi
I too have a drainage seton since December, op on 12 Dec and my 3rd op on 12 Feb to review the seton and clean out the fistula as close to the shincter muscle as possible without causing incontinence. The first 2 months the seton was so uncomfortable, since this surgery which has made the wound bigger (ouch) the wound is painful but the seton is ok. Still have daily dressings and packing, which has been incredibly painful each time!!
Its just not good, cannot work so not earning, its been a nightmare.
Going to see the surgeon on Friday to see what is the next step. I think it will be to remove the seton and insert a plug in the fistula, but this will be discussed with the surgeon.
From the last op the surgeon would have inserted the plug then but he said the fistula was still too long. so I am hoping this next op is the last.
Is this ever cured completely? Does it ever NOT reoccure?
Hi, just wondering how it went? It's been four months since you wrote this so hopefully things are looking positive.
I had a perianal abscess drained last week in an emergency op. At the same time, they put in a seton thread to keep the fistula drained. I've now been worried that I'll be spending months in constant pain if I have to have several operations to resolve the fistula. I think they intend to do the lay open method but I'm really scared about risk of incontinence. I'm hoping I can persuade the surgeon to try other methods that don't carry that risk, even if they're quite new methods.
I had surgery in November to remove a cyst. The surgical site would heal over than fill up and rupture. I went through this from December until May. The general surgeon just kept draining the site and giving me antibiotics. Finally in May I had an MRI done and a fistula was found. I had a seton put in by a colon/recutal specialist 4 weeks ago. Since then he has tightened the seton twice. The only thing that has given me any comfort is a sitz bath especially after bowel movement. I've been told the seton should work (cut) it's way out in the next 2 weeks. I was told that this was the best way to go. I've heard that this is only 80% effective so I'm worried. I was wondering if you have had success with your latest surgery?
Did u go for surgery??? Or left it as it is???
Hi, I left it and all fine now. I have had a few recurrent episodes over the years due to straining/ heavy lifting or constipation. I must have damaged the muscles there and can cause it to flair up again if I get constipated or strain. But if I manage it properly it heals pretty quickly each time now. PETRIFIED of surgery and it just seems to cause people more problems in the long run. I think every situation is different but I have learnt how to manage mine and am for the most part happy and comfortable. Antibiotics, epsom salts and hot hot baths seem to heal me up sometimes within a week! how long have you had yours and has it ever healed?
I had an abscess, had it drained and then packed every other day, but it healed too quick on the ouside and i was left with a 0.5cm hole so had to have it done again, now a year later, a ting hole has appeared on the middle of the x shape incision that was made to drain the abscess. I thought it could be a fistula but at checkup all ok. I am scared of surgery due to incontinence. I am sooooooo worried.