Proctalgia fugax?

[Vger]

I'm wondering if anyone here is dealing with this condition. If I can find others, maybe we can get the moderators to give us a separate forum, since there are none on the web that I can find.

If you don't know what PF is, basically, those affected are occasionally awakened at night by attacks of severe upper rectal pain/cramping that last about a half hour or so.

[joy]

i am sorry that this has gotten any answers. maybe copy and add call to attention of moderator or something like that. i am glad you joined us. please dont' give up. ask the same question in several places including new visitor.

this sounds very painful and i hope you get some help from others here somewhere.

[joy]

thanks for the link. i have not sent for it but will mark this discussion in case i find i need it. and for free, now you can't beat that these days for sure.

[Vger]

SWCharles,

Thank you for the info. I requested your free information, and I see that its main point is to recommend this product: http://analcleaner.info/orderpromopfrelief.htm

I don't see much a description of the product on the website, though. Can you describe it a little more? And is this a product that you developed for PF and are selling, or what is the product usually used for?

Thanks for any further info.



Joy,

Thanks. I've actually had this condition for about 25 years now, and am bothered by it much less than I used to be, as I have learned a lot about relieving attacks. I'm interested in a discussion forum mainly to help those who are still suffering, mainly in silence. I think just having this thread here is a good idea, since people may find it with an internet search, as I'm guessing SWCharles did. And if more show up, then I might request a separate forum. Anyway, thanks again for your good wishes and advice!

[JoeStrange]

I have had this problem for 10 or more years now. Im just getting over a really painful attack right now acutally...It woke me out of a sound sleep (its 4am) and lasted longer than normal tonight at around 25 minutes.

Tonight is a good night because I decided to get on the computer and try to find out what this problem really was, And it IS Proctalgia fugax.

I found the wikipedia on Proctalgia fugax and it describes my problem exactly!!!

My attacks are almost always directly following orgasm. If an attack doesnt directly follow an orgasm,It may come later at night while im sleeping but night attacks are pretty rare for me.

Tonight my wife and I were up late and wound up having sex at around 2am, I fell asleep afterward and two and a half hours later here I am typing this....God did this one hurt bad.

Im 31 years old and I can remember having this problem in my early 20's, Possibly even in my teens. Im really curious if there is a correlation between Proctalgia fugax and me having hemorrhoids...Which I have had sense I was 14 years old.

[Vger]

Hi Joe,

I'm glad you found some answers - and found this thread!

I have definitely read elsewhere that some people's attacks are set off by orgasm. I myself have had that happen rarely, but I have also found that sexual arousal without orgasm (or with only a "small, incomplete" orgasm - I'm not sure if males experience this) is even more prone to lead to an attack.

Have you found things that relieve the pain? If so, I'd like to hear. From what I've read, some people find that firm, upward pressure on the anus (sitting on a fist or on the bathtub edge) will help. Others find relief from putting on a latex glove and inserting a finger as far as possible up into the rectum (or having an especially patient and caring spouse who is willing to be woken up to perform this maneuver at 3:00a.m.!). These sometimes help me, but it's unpredictable. A person who posted on this thread and got deleted was advocating some disposable thing inserted into the rectum that he says works for him (it's kind of expensive, at over $40 for a package of four and I haven't tried it, but it sounds to me like the same idea).

There are two things that help me the most. First is to stand up and start walking as soon as I wake up with the pain. I walk around and use some self-hypnosis techniques (which I could explain further). If I ever let the pain make me collapse on the floor as it used to when I was young, I know it will only make it much worse, so I fight that urge. I also fight the urge to strain to empty my rectum, because the straining definitely makes it worse.

The other thing is to gulp down a glass of ice water as fast as possible. I discovered this by trying to take pills to relieve the pain, and I noticed that the pain sometimes went away right after drinking the water - too fast for a pill to work. I believe that perhaps ice water (or, in the winter, very hot water) stimulates the gastro-colic reflex (see Wiki), moving stool from the colon down into the rectum, thereby stretching out the levator muscle and relieving the spasm. (I had previously noticed that my rectum was always empty or almost empty at the time of an attack, which supports this theory - along with the fact that some people say they are more prone to attacks when their colon has been emptied by diarrhea). I also eat a high-fiber diet, which really seems to help.

I tried an albuterol inhaler, which you may have read about, but I don't think it helps me much. I haven't tried any of the other meds.

Like you, I've had hemorrhoids since I was a teenager. I haven't read about a correlation, but who knows.

If you have any questions or can let me know about anything that has helped you, I'd love to hear it!

(Wow, right before I posted this, I re-checked the Wiki article and I see that others now have also noticed that drinking water helps!)

[JoeStrange]

Yea, I have not found much that helps.

I assume that the reason behind sexual arousal or orgasm itself within males has to do with all the blood that rushes to the pelvic region and when that happens, Everything tightens up.

Im a smoker. So when this happens the only relief I found is to just go outside, Walk around and smoke. If I walk around for long enough the severe pain eventually goes away. But oddly enough, I can still feel it even the next day. It feels like the onset of an attack but the pain never comes...Weird.

I have started paying more attention to when the attacks occur and its always after sex, I dont remember anything else ever setting it off. I felt an attack coming on last night and I just jumped up and gabbed a glass of cold water and walked around. I was still awake and it was shortly after having sex.

It didnt set in last night so maybe the water really does do somthing, I know walking works because thats the only way I have coped with this through the years.

[Arrow]

This problem is caused my a nerve inflammation or picnch to a nerve bundle that moves through the scaro-iliac joint I have been told.

Therapy for it may be found in yoga exercise. Some Proctologists recommend yoga as the best therapy. Essentially, its a structural problem, not a disease.

The homeopathic remedies of Arnica, Hamamelis, and Auescules Hip., all in 30c potency in dilution together, dose size one drop every 15 minutes is very helpful for some people

[sayeda]

Hello,

its interesting, i found out the same reliefing like you, the best is not to let us taken over by the pain, cuz if i let it, its getting just worse and the pain get unbearable, i could hardly breath and just cant move from the ground. so as soon as i feel its coming must stand up and walk and empty my mind try to meditate during walking :) convincing myself that its already passing. sometimes firm pressing the anus is also help, like i would feel the muscles inside relaxing. sometimes doesnt want to pass, or return so need painkiller, something, anything just let me get rid of it.

as i observed there are 4 occasion which evoke the pain, but not always happen: 1.orgasm, 2.period pain, 3.big size and very urge defecation,
4.swimming (specially in cooler water)

i never have it at night during sleeping

inspite of the fact its very uncomfortable and stupid situation also - cuz i cant tell the people around me who is asking whats wrong with me, that my *** hurts - im happy to find this forum, cuz finally i know whats happening with me and find out its not leathal (insaallah) :)

[DarrenB]

Hi-

I started having (what I know now as) proctalgia fugax episodes in the early 90s. I was having horrible episodes at night. I asked the DR. he said it was likely gas. I remember buying an at-home colon cancer screening kit- I was searching for answers. For years I suffered intermittently- sometimes I would go months without an attack- then I'd have 2 or 3 in 1 week.

THEN THE INTERNET CAME OUT. I found out 1) I wasn't crazy and 2) I wasn't alone. At least then I knew others were suffering in the same way. Misery loves company- that's for sure. I continued coping with these episodes. It really wasn't a big deal- UNTIL they occured- then it was like- Why Me? And I would just have a half hour or so of my personal hell.

NOW TONIGHT I AM ENCOURAGED WITH A LIKELY BREAKTHROUGH! I decided to lookup Proctalgia Fugax (Yes, I was having an attack) on Facebook to see if there were any support groups, new info, etc. There wasn't much. BUT what I did find was substantial. Under "Proctalgia Fugax Relief" a gentleman offered his 18 page report. All I had to do is give a name and email to access this report. In a nutshell- I'll summarize the report. Warning: some of this is graphic, but we're all adults:

The cause of PF is small fecal matter just above the sphincter in the rectum. The muscles in the rectum are meant to push larger stools through the anus- very small stools (smaller than an olive) are problematic and cause the PF spasms. The author said he used to just strain dangerously hard to eventually push out the small feces- and that would provide relief. But then he developed a "Totem" device that supposedly cleans out this material easily and conveniently- and that is what he is selling.

I took this new information and sat on the toilet as my PF attack was still in full swing. I strained very hard for about 5 minutes and defecated two small olive-sized pieces into the toilet. My PF attack subsided.

Now I don't know if I'm going to purchase this Totem device- I might try to find what it looks like and see how it would actually clean this small fecal matter out of the rectum... but I DO think this gentleman is on to something and quite possibly has uncovered the cause of these attacks. This is the most significant information I've found online- and I've been looking since 1996.

I just wanted to share in hopes of helping someone out like I was helped earlier tonight. If you are suffering these attacks- check out the Facebook (PF-Relief) page. If you do get the "Totem"- post what you find out here!

Darren

[joy]

a problem shared by many it seems.

[klaing]

I've been suffering from PF for about four years (I'm 39), and it became noticeably worse after the birth of my third child almost three years ago. When I first noticed it, I would be awakened in the middle of the night with the PF pain, and it would take up to 20 minutes to subside.
But after my third pregnancy, it started to flare up every time I have an orgasm. My Ob-gyn thinks that my pelvic floor muscles are involved, and that as they get stretched/weaker with childbirth then they have more interaction with my sphincter muscles and somehow set off the PF. It sounds reasonable to me as whenever I do my pelvic floor exercises it feels like a very mild PF spasm.
A couple of years ago when I researched PF online, I couldn't find any links between it and orgasm, and when I went to a proctologist, they had also never heard of the link between the two. I'm glad that on my recent searches, I have found more people with the same initiator as mine.

[joy]

welcome to you as well. pain never far away is it, it seems anyway. not something to look forward to for the rest of natural lifetime at all. i have not been diagnosed with this myself but do have a lot of pain for various reasons.

[blamejane]

I am so glad to find this forum after having an episode last night. I decided to see if anyone else was experiencing the same problem and here you all are! I'm 45 and have been experiencing the problem for about 2 years.

I felt like my pf came on after sitting on a wood chair for long periods during the daytime. That is, if I spent too much time quilting or on the computer (even with a cushion on the chair) that I would invariably have pf during the night. Anyone else experience this?

I haven't experienced it after an orgasm at all.

I'm a little afraid to push hard during an episode, thereby testing the small pea-sized defecation theory. Anyone else try this lately?

I can't wait to try the walking/pacing while keeping the pain "at bay" idea. I think this is really smart as I do believe this is like a charlie horse. I can control a charlie horse in my foot from even coming on, by hyper-flexing my foot. If I can do that for my foot, I'd like to believe there's a way to stop pf from a full-blown episode.

Thanks again for being there!

[joy]

welcome blamejane. seems I am not the only one that has had to come up with ways to handle charlie horse type pains. must say i've had some muscle type sensations in more than one place that i did not know just how to handle tho.