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Anismus - Anyone Else? Treatment Options?

I'm a 24 year old female suffering from anismus or "anal sphincter dyssynergia".  I'm looking for other people who share this digestive disorder.

What have you been thru and what are my options?

The only alternative to surgery I can find is biofeedback which isn't working very well for me.  I'm learning about botox injections and possibly acupuncture.

I started a Yahoo Group for people with anismus.  It is located at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/anismus/

If you have anismus, please join and help me.  Share your story and knowledge.
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Avatar universal
Increase fibre slowly, both soluble and insoluble. Decrease caffeine in coffee and chocolate. Eat less meat and try to decrease stress. Drink at least 8 glasses of water. Increase magnesium rich foods, do not take vitamin supplements, especially vitamin C. When I walk regularly I never have a problem with tightness, exercise really helps this condition. When I have a severe episode of the sphincter being so tight that I cannot have a bowl movement, I take a prescription drug that works every time, Anodan-HC 10&10mg Hydrocortisone $ Zinc. I insert one in the morning and one before bed for about 2 weeks. I make sure, when I take this prescription, that what I eat comes out soft so the sphincter can heal. This takes on average 2 weeks for me. Hope this helps. This condition is hell! Thankfully I can manage it and only have an episode on average once a year.

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Avatar universal
https://youtu.be/ZqdNEx81d2Q
This excercise is helping me .
Took awhile to get right !
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Avatar universal
I think have this it just started .
I found out taking non dairy yogurt helps me go .
I go to yogurt place and get non-dairy yogurt . I barely make home go straight to restroom .
I been to hospital has enemas done on me because I couldn't go.
The more a push the angier and meaner the muscle gets .
I also trying an exercise I saw on u tube.
I sit with my legs open ,feet on floor ,hands on my knees arch my back and say mooooo as I pop my belly doing this open the muscle and I go a little.
Instead of straining I pop my belly opening muscle.
I gone to several DR's but been misdiagnosed for having a fissure .
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Avatar universal
Hi, I think I suffer from anismus. I tried home-treatmen from my city. You should take your butt by both hands fingers and push back until it crack. Sorry my english is no good. contact me if u want to know more.
eating clives can help as well.
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1 Comments
Can you give your contact number?

Avatar universal
Hi, I've had this problem for about 8 years and it's continued to get worse with time. I've been diagnosed with anismus but for me it seems a little different than what others experience. I've found that I'm able to evacuate nearly everything with time (spending 45 minutes on the toilet) by stimulating the muscles with my finger. However, my stools are nearly always soft, and as a result of all the wiping I get frequent severe pain from rashes or yeast infection. I see others comment that they can't get their stools to soften while I can't get mine to harden. I've begun using wet wipes almost all the time and that seems to help me get cleaner but nothing stops the pain from the rash. I believe I have hemorrhoids that come and go frequently too due to all the straining and excessive wiping.
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1 Comments
I have had this condition for 30 years.  My doctors put it down to ibs but ins treatment has not helped. Has any treatment worked for any of you ?
Avatar universal
Did you find any relief with "Stanford"?
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Avatar universal
So, how did they go?
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Avatar universal
hey count me in. I am also a pelvic floor dysfunctioner, or non-relaxing pubrectalis muscle.
will go receive biofeedback this afternoon.
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Avatar universal
So great to discover this thread- I was diagnosed with anismus about a year ago. Over the years of trying over the counter laxatives, I found that fiber was the least helpful, making me MORE bloated and uncomfortable. My doctor suggested I try to avoid gluten, which I initially discounted as a fad. After 10 more months of misery She again suggested, gently, I try to avoid gluten for a week to see if it helped. I finally gave in and tried it. To my amazement it helped with the terrible bloating and flatulence I was suffering from. It has not helped with the anismus, but the relief from not looking pregnant at the end of every day, and the pain and embarrassment of passing gas all evening is gone!
  As others have stated, I too feel that not only does my rectum not relax, but that the sphincter higher up in the colon is also "slammed shut".  I am eager to try a Botox injection, and will ask my doctor about it.
  If bloating, flatulence, and gas pains are also a huge part of your daily misery, try going gluten free. No wheat, rye, or barley products.
  
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Avatar universal
Botox is the best treatment out there right now. I'm going to go that route.
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Avatar universal
Bulking fiber supplements increase the size of your stool, so for people with difficulty relaxing, controlling, or coordinating the various muscles involved in defection, a larger softer stool can actually be counter productive.
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Avatar universal
My question was for ltb343, new here I thought the questions would go right after his comment.....
Cigarretes help me a little, have done 1 round of biofeedback and didn't help.  Dr. sent me to a different nurse to try again, starting it again in a month, hope it works this time.
Thanks to all for sharing what helps you, we can all try different things that may be working for others.  Wishful thinking, been living with this for 10 years and I'm tired of it.
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Avatar universal
Hi,
Did you ask the nurse why fiber would be worst?
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Avatar universal
Hi Guys!
Let me share my success story. I am from Bulgaria, so excuse if my English does not look so clear.

When talking about relaxing the puborectalis, let's remember some basic anatomy. The puborectalis sling is the one that holds the rectum tight (look at this illustration http://academic.amc.edu/martino/grossanatomy/site/Medical/Lab%20Manual/Reproductive/images/rectal%20sling.jpg) How is the loop relaxed? Only when we squat!
So imagine, how can you relax, while sitting on the toilet with the rectum bent and tightened up by the puborectalis sling??? See the difference http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/anorectal-angle.jpg

You know what I did? Modified the toilet like this: http://www.vitalitymassage.net/naturalproducts/squattingtoiletplatform.html

Yes, I switched to squatting. Now when I squat over the toilet, the body rests on the thights, which on their side massage the colon and seal the ileo-cecal valve. The rectum is straightened, the puborectal sling is fully released so things go out much easier. Once you try it you will never thing of going back sitting on the throne. This way you can fully relax.

This is the position our body was designed to deffecate in, and people did it so for millennia. They knew no rectal and colon diseases that plague our civilization today.
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793180 tn?1379796260
Hi. I am also diagnosed with this. Report says "obstructed defecation due to spasm
of the puborectalis sling". But I believe I have internal prolapse. I had defecography test done. But the doc didn't do it the way it is supposed to be done. I mean I didn't even try to strain on the commode. Anyway, what is the operation that you are undergoing?. Please reply. Thanks.
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Avatar universal
Wellbutrin (or Zyban) may be a healthier alternative to smoking for you
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Avatar universal
Hi there
I also find smoking is helping me - sorry to say. Keeps trying to quit. But the anismus is a cloud over the effort. I have tried Anurex with some positive result. It is a cooling stick that, in my opinion, works as well as biofeedback. It is easy to handle and not expensive.
Leif
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Avatar universal
Hi,

My gastroenterologist has prescibed me Sulpiryd for anismus. He wrote a PGD on anismus, so he must know a lot about this condition. I have been taking it for 3 weeks so far and I noticed  a small amendment. Sulpiryd is a medcine for schizophrenia, depression, neurosis and psychosomatic ailments.Maybe it will work better for you.
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Avatar universal
I have just found this forum and have read all the comments. Unbelievable! I have all of the symptoms of anismus, my doctor sent me for a colonoscopy and it was fine of course. I have been struggling with this debilitating problem for 2 years now. I am a 52 year old woman and have thought that this must be some cruel symptom of menopause! Just finding this forum has given me some relief. I will be contacting my doctor this week and discussing my treatment for anismus. Thank you all for sharing.
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Avatar universal
My daughter has had this condition since she has been in diapers, although she stayed in pull ups until the 6th grade and still has problems today at 15.
I give her two tablespoons of Muralx daily, in am and pm, and a gummy fiber in morning with her other vitamins. I make sure she gets 6 glasses of water daily, plus other liquids. In addition she gets a certain amount of fruit and veggies daily. Still we get the leakage of watery stool and at least once a week where she still is constipated. Walking, although tiring for her, she has hypotonia but has gotten better with age and OT, is good to put into a daily routine. Patience, love, and a good schedule will help a lot, good luck.
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Avatar universal
Hi. I also have anismus. I suffer from mild constipations and I have problems in releasing gas silently, Does any of you have problems with releasing gas too? my doctor has advised me to massage the sphincter with dilatator after having a hot bath.  
Goha
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988168 tn?1297401446
Hello to everyone on this thread. Please check my story on this thread: (if anyone wants to ask further questions plz send me on my inbox. don't hesitate!)

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Fibromyalgia/Fibromyalgia--Rectum-spasms--nerve-pulsations/show/1013658

Just wanted to check if you've found-out solutions for your "Obstructed Defecation Disorder" & your persistant rectal spasms. Again, my story is i was about to die because of this medical condition, as at one point i was unable to pass out for about 10 days! Then I had this BOTOX injection in my anal muscles, & my problem is almost totally solved. Especially, it was followed by psychological treatment, i took "Effexor" anti-depressant & really helped with the relaxation needed. Although, I around the same time of the healing-up process, i coincidently developed a new rare condition called "Visual Snow". I'm not sure if it is relevant in some way though.

Hope you all heal from that soon & feel better. God bless you all =)
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Avatar universal
Hi all...I'm a 30 year old female who like the rest of you was diagnosed with anismus not to mention colonic inertia as well.  I had been misdiagnosed since the age of 19 up until now with IBS.  My quality of life ***** as many of you can relate.  Fiber...laxatives..ememas...none work.  Surgery is not an option and would leave me with a terrible outcome.  Biofeedback has been suggested as the only possible help. Havent heard much sucess with that it sounds like.  SOOOO...I'm begining to realize this is probably going to be a lifelong struggle and there is no complete "fix" for it.
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Avatar universal
Hi everybody, I am also suffering constipation since i was a child. But 2 years ago, i just found out the reason from a bowel check why i always got constipation as I am suffering anismus. The awful doctor said it is due to my bowel size which is much more smaller than normal and ask me to have a certain surgery that i don''t remember anymore which name it is to make my bowel return to a normal size, but it won''t last long, around 2 years after that it becomes the old size. Perhaps I get this since birth. Now, i think i did make the right choice to refuse that surgery and share with everyone this little thing that it helps me stay away from constipation.A CHEAPEST WAY.
Everybody knows that we should drink more water a day to prevent constipation, but we forgot the most important thing that is how much water and when is the ideal period to drink water.

- Once you wake up, ( it is even better if  you havent brushed your teeth) drink approximately 1,5 liter of drinking water that could help your solid waste food away out of your body easily. But it won't be that easy to drink that much water at first. So practise everyday, it takes me 3 months to get used to it. Remember to brush your teeth before going to sleep then tomorrow it will work. Tell you that this little thing i knew from a doctor who said that our saliva early in the morning is helpful for our body. Just like animals, they never brush their teeth. Notice dogs, their teeth are always white.

- At first, you should try to drink around 0,5 liter of water and then increase the amount of water as quick as possible until you get 1,5 liter water for morning, but it would be still working if you drink before breakfast. The aim is try to drink 1,5 liter amount of water during the morning before you have breakfast. For example, you wake up at 7 am and have breakfast at 9am, so you should drink water between 7 and 9am. You are sure to feel terrible when drinking that much water. Stop to do other things or your work and then keep on drinking. But in a long run, you will get used to it. You can brush your teeth after breakfast.
--->It;s worth a try, you don;t have to pay a fortune or anything, and it is still good for everyone because drinking water in the morning when your stomach is still empty is a good way to cleanse your whole inner body.
Hope this will help everyone.
Have a nice day and stay good health.
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