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Fistula closed up without surgery?

Hey guys,

I'm a 26 yr old male. I've had a anal fistula for probably 2 years, but it's been very active for the past year. It's the size of a pea, swells up every other day, then pops and drains. no Crohn's disease or IBS. The specialist confirmed it is a small fistula and said surgery is the only way. I really don't want to risk incontinence plus a possible new fistula from the surgery. I'm really depressed right now as I've tried many things. Below is the following with the results:

-Juice diet for 7 days... RESULT: no bowel movement for 6 days. fistula was dormant. 7th day, I had had a BM and it flared up and drained in full force. :(

-seaweed soup/pescatarian diet... RESULT: bowel movement every other day. fistula closed up for 2 weeks. once returning to red meats and more solids, fistula returned.

-sitz baths with 10% salt levels by weight... RESULT: fistula continued returning

-3 garlic cloves per day... RESULT: fistula returns, turns into a white cyst, then shrinks the next day. still swells but drains less frequently.


QUESTION - I'm desperate now. I read about some people who cured it by juicing and others who had their fistula close on their own when they swam in the ocean regularly. Has anyone here had their fistula close on their own WITHOUT surgery? Please, no ayurvedic doctors/spammers.
 
All of my fistulas closed up on their own while takeing cypro and remicade. It took like 3 months to do so But it always worked. Hope that helps ssending best wishes your way.
 

Bufford

Well-known member
I required colostomy surgery to correct mine along with a course of Cipro and Aza. Now I am living with a colostomy bag for the rest of my life, thats the easy part. Controlling the Crohn's is a careful balancing act. When life is good its fine, but when it flares... it flares. Keep a close eye on it and be sure to tell the doctor everything, had I done so when I was younger I may have been able to avoid the colostomy.
 
All of my fistulas closed up on their own while takeing cypro and remicade. It took like 3 months to do so But it always worked. Hope that helps ssending best wishes your way.
Thanks for the input. I see several members here saying they took remicade. Does it close up permanently after, or do you have to be on it for the rest of your life?
 
I required colostomy surgery to correct mine along with a course of Cipro and Aza. Now I am living with a colostomy bag for the rest of my life, thats the easy part. Controlling the Crohn's is a careful balancing act. When life is good its fine, but when it flares... it flares. Keep a close eye on it and be sure to tell the doctor everything, had I done so when I was younger I may have been able to avoid the colostomy.
The doc never said anything about a colostomy. All he did was a finger examination, no tools or MRI. He said my fistula was small and he can feel the hole on the inside with his finger. Doc said it's not life threatening and 1% of cases would escalate into something else.

Did your's start off as a harmless fistula and then evolve into something that needed a colostomy? Should I be worried about that in the future? Also, I don't have IBS or Crohn's (to my knowledge, doc never tested for that)
 

Bufford

Well-known member
It started with a bit of blood in the toilet when I was 20. At first the doctor thought it was a minor boil or hemorrhoid. I moved and started a new job my symptoms would rise and fall in an unpredictable manner, Crohn's was not well understood back then.

Through the 1980's I had a few trips to the ER. Back then it was rudimentary surgery for these abscesses on my rectum. They would apply local anesthetic, then have the staff hold me down when the doctor lanced and then squeezed it. It hurt and I would have reached the lights if they didn't restrain me.

They wouldn't always heal up well. I would have to get the wound packed each day to heal up. I got two fistulas from these procedures and I lived with them for another 20 years or so until I had the biggy. The abscess was small on the surface, but they drained a full liter of puss during emergency surgery. I was too infected to do any further surgery. I spent weeks in hospital with further rectal abscess surgery until they got me stabilized enough for colostomy surgery.
I was close enough to retirement that I could take early retirement. Life has been considerably better since then. My disease is managed and I no longer had the life time struggle of holding a job while riding the flares of uncontrolled undiagnosed Crohn's. At one point in the 1980's my finances were so bad, and employment so scarce that I went on the 4-12 shift after going to the ER for an abscess lancing!

There were some difficult valleys of darkness I had to endure, I can only be thankful to have arrived into the wonderful part of life of retirement where the stress is off, I can sleep with out an alarm clock, and wake up with day light in my mornings.
 
It started with a bit of blood in the toilet when I was 20. At first the doctor thought it was a minor boil or hemorrhoid. I moved and started a new job my symptoms would rise and fall in an unpredictable manner, Crohn's was not well understood back then.

Through the 1980's I had a few trips to the ER. Back then it was rudimentary surgery for these abscesses on my rectum. They would apply local anesthetic, then have the staff hold me down when the doctor lanced and then squeezed it. It hurt and I would have reached the lights if they didn't restrain me.

They wouldn't always heal up well. I would have to get the wound packed each day to heal up. I got two fistulas from these procedures and I lived with them for another 20 years or so until I had the biggy. The abscess was small on the surface, but they drained a full liter of puss during emergency surgery. I was too infected to do any further surgery. I spent weeks in hospital with further rectal abscess surgery until they got me stabilized enough for colostomy surgery.
I was close enough to retirement that I could take early retirement. Life has been considerably better since then. My disease is managed and I no longer had the life time struggle of holding a job while riding the flares of uncontrolled undiagnosed Crohn's. At one point in the 1980's my finances were so bad, and employment so scarce that I went on the 4-12 shift after going to the ER for an abscess lancing!

There were some difficult valleys of darkness I had to endure, I can only be thankful to have arrived into the wonderful part of life of retirement where the stress is off, I can sleep with out an alarm clock, and wake up with day light in my mornings.
Man I'm sorry to hear what you've been through... I don't know how I'd be able to muscle through 20 years of flares and liters of puss each draining. Mine usually just pops like a small pimple then leaves a tiny hole, then dries up the next day. I'm glad to hear you retired and can live happily now without a demanding schedule.
 

Bufford

Well-known member
I look back at those dark times and when I do I clearly see that I lived in deep depression and a lot of pain. Around 2005 something truly amazing happened, I didn't know what was happening, but the dark clouds of depression began to depart and the sun shined down on me for the first time since I was young. The feeling of being freed by the dark weight.
My Crohn's is better managed now, retirement mean't no more alarm clocks and starting the day in the dark. I can sleep in now and enjoy rising with the day. Life is now good. The colostomy has been well worth it.
 
I look back at those dark times and when I do I clearly see that I lived in deep depression and a lot of pain. Around 2005 something truly amazing happened, I didn't know what was happening, but the dark clouds of depression began to depart and the sun shined down on me for the first time since I was young. The feeling of being freed by the dark weight.
My Crohn's is better managed now, retirement mean't no more alarm clocks and starting the day in the dark. I can sleep in now and enjoy rising with the day. Life is now good. The colostomy has been well worth it.
That is great.
 
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