Posted 02 May 2006 - 01:34 PM
Okay, here's my "fistory," finally. First I'll summarize, then I'll get into some details after.
In November 2003 I got a rectal abscess which burst and turned into a fistula. It happened "for no reason" (I don't have Crohn's that I know of, wasn't pregnant, etc. I do have celiac disease and a lot of food sensitivities.) I had a draining tract for 7 months, with a couple occasions where it briefly closed, but the abscess re-formed immediately and burst. I was about to have surgery -- and then it cleared up spontaneously. The abscess didn't come back for 2 weeks, so we cancelled the surgery. Well, almost exactly a year went by, then the abscess suddenly came back, with the draining fistula soon following. Without knowing what I know now, I hoped it would clear up again. I went around another 9 months with this thing draining. It was annoying, but didn't cause me pain. Then one day in April it suddenly got worse -- the tract had NOT closed up, but it was suddenly giving me pain, was swollen, was draining more, and my internal sphincter muscle was clenching all the time (ouch!) So I went back to the surgeon and scheduled surgery for May 22. This time he gave me an info sheet that informed me I wouldn't be stitched up, and I was all, "How is THAT gonna work?" So that's how I ended up here.
So now here's some additional info that some might find useful.
INITIAL MISDIAGNOSIS: I find it comforting that I'm not the only one here who didn't get proper diagnosis or care at first. I was uninsured when the abscess first appeared, so I had to go to the walk-in clinic. Well, that was a complete waste of my time and money! The doctor:
1. Failed to see or mention that it was a rectal abscess, and not just a "boil" like I thought. She did not drain it, or send me somewhere to get it drained, like any reasonable doctor should have done.
2. She gave me inappropriate antibiotics (since they virtually never clear up abscesses) and told me if I was lucky, it'd go away (probably untrue).
3. Then she gave me the completely contradictory advice to hot compress the site, which would encourage the abscess to burst (although she didn't tell me that part!)
I've spent a lot of time angry about this, and wondering whether if it had been drained properly at first, whether I would have still gotten the fistula. But I've concluded, it probably has to do with how it forms inside, not what happens on the outside, so I probably would have gotten it regardless.
I did eventually go to an M.D. who referred me to a colorectal surgeon, so I feel I'm in experienced hands now. I thought that I was some very rare case that I healed up for a year like I did, but now I realize reading this thread that many people have had similar experiences -- where the abscess goes away for a time, and the tract may close, but it all eventually recurs. The surgeon never told me people have this type of appearing/disappearing abscesses all the time.
NATURAL REMEDIES: Rewind a bit -- here I was a couple days later with a burst abscess, which I had no idea had the potential to turn into a fistula. I thought everything would be cool now that it had burst. But then it just didn't clear up as quickly as one would expect. So over the time that I've had this, I tried a whole bunch of natural remedies. Obviously, none of them worked, although acupuncture DOES produce a healing response in the area (but did not heal the tract in my case). For the record, here's what I tried:
1. First I tried internal immune-stimulating and/or antibiotic/antiviral herbs like Echinacea, Goldenseal, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Oil of Oregano, etc. Well, since antibiotics don't clear up abscesses, it's unlikely that natural antibiotic agents would do anything either. And they didn't.
2. Then I tried going to bed with bentonite clay compresses. The idea being it would suck the infection out of the wound. This caused some initial improvement (I think it did draw some infection out) but obviously didn't heal the tract. I got tired of going to bed with mud pies in my panties and gave up after a month or so.
3. I tried some kind of super aloe supplement which was supposed to heal your digestive tract. It was insanely expensive and I pretty much knew it wouldn't work (the website was a big tipoff), but I was desperate.
4. I tried an ayurvedic herb blend called "Ulcer Heal," which was also pretty silly, since it was for stomach ulcers.
5. At some point after finding out it was a fistula, I tried Silicea, a homeopathic remedy referenced on the old thread. (I found the same page another poster did). No effect on the fistula.
6. One thing that MIGHT have had an effect is a supplement called Healose, which contains a blend of things including "glyconutrients," sugars which are used for the cells to communicate to one another. It stimulates the immune system and the rebuilding of cells. It's a good supplement, but I couldn't call it a cure for fistulas. When I experienced my remission, I'd been taking Healose at high doses for almost 3 months. But, I tried Healose this time around with no effect. It's also extremely expensive. Maybe I should have saved it for after the surgery!
7. Acupuncture is the only thing I know for certain has had an effect on the fistula. I started seeing an acupuncturist last August for other reasons, but at times I have had her treat the fistula. The point she treats is called "Du 1" (it's right between the anus and the tailbone). Every time she treats this point, I have a reduction in swelling and drainage, and this last time, it took away the pain and spasms I was experiencing. However, it's never caused the fistula to actually heal. On the other hand, we never tried treating that point for 10 days straight like they do in China.
So in summary: As you can see I'm very into natural medicine, and I exhausted every avenue that I knew of. But I don't seem to be able to heal myself, and obviously my condition is getting worse (it never caused me pain in the past). So I'm going into surgery knowing that I tried what I could, and this is my last resort. I'm pretty much convinced of what they say, that this condition requires surgery and nothing else is going to do it.
I would say that if you are having pain, and you are waiting for your surgery, and you can get in to see an acupuncturist to get Du 1 done - go for it! Because I would be in agony without it right now. I may also have her treat this point after surgery, because it obviously promotes a strong healing response in this area of the body. So I'm thinking it may promote faster/better healing afterwards.
If you are absolutely set on trying an alternative treatment before resorting to surgery: acupuncture is the only one I would recommend. Don't waste your money on supplements or external treatments. Go in and have Du 1 done for 10 days straight, then reassess. I would warn you that this might be a very expensive road to nowhere, but out of everything I tried, it's the only one I'm SURE had an effect. Everything else? Is pretty much useless. Also, the acupuncture is very relaxing (I LOVE my treatments!) and the practitioner may be able to clear up some other health issues for you, so it won't be a total waste.
Whew! Well I think that's enough for now. Hopefully some of this information is useful to others who find this thread. I am sure I've forgotten things I wanted to say, and I still have a bunch of questions, but I'll post those later.
Best of health to you all --
Jenn
EDITED: To correct the name of the acupuncture point.
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