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"PROCTALGIA FUGAX"...Sudden,Sharp Rectal pains?

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Posted 3/8/2006 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
  Anyone suffer from this condition ?

   I would like to know if I'm talking about the same thing here. I'm not sure this is what I have, but it's the similar symptoms that's close to it.

Proctalgia fugax is an infrequent sudden, severe pain in the anal area of short duration" ..... This may be the only name I have ever found associated with this pain.  But it does feel like all my lower extremeities are involved at the same time, but pretty much that's what I feel. I also get the normal everyday cramping and gurgling noises that I feel my intestines are ready to explode. eyes

Posted 3/8/2006 6:06 PM (GMT 0)
I get that too and my doc prescribed me Symax (antispasmodic) and it has helped a lot. The med is sublingual so it works pretty fast. Have you talked to your doc? You shouldn't go through with this pain since you don't have to... I know how bad the pain can get with this.
Posted 3/8/2006 6:13 PM (GMT 0)
Here is a link to a thread that I had a few months ago... as you can see, you aren't alone

rectal spasms
Posted 3/8/2006 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
Dbab,

    Do you take this Symax (Antispasmodic) for your regular cramping too,or just when you get these rectal spasms?   I have far too many of the "other" cramps than I do with these rectal spasms.  Do you think we eat someting that triggers these spasms? For me, they come on about once a week.

 Thanks!

Posted 3/8/2006 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
The Symax does help with all the intestine spasms (cramping) for me. I did try another antispasmodic before this one (Nulev) which hardly did anything for me so don't get discouraged if one doesn't work for you. The rectal spasms I have read are unexplained that its actually the rectal muscle so I'm thinking that it probably gets sore like any other muscle in your body if you tend to wear it out. Of course the spasms are more occurent for us IBSers so I see it as just another intestinal spasm that we are so fortunate to go through UGH.
Posted 7/21/2009 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
I suffered from proctalgia fugax for many years, but I recently found a website that finally offers an explanation of what causes it and suggests a self administered treatment that I tried and it works like a champ. Check it out at http://proctalgia-fugax-cause-and-relief.info/ This is really cool.
Posted 7/21/2009 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
I have this too in short duration, but also longer lasting pain if the muscle goes into spasm. I'm glad to see this, I've been dealing with it for a long time and didn't know there were antispasmodics for this. :( I hope the tablets help

Post Edited (tiedinknots) : 7/21/2009 12:12:43 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 1/5/2010 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
help!!
i am almost 100% sure i am experiencing a PROCTALGIA FUGAX attack and it has been going on for 25 minutes now i can barely breathe.
other than valium is there naything i can do to make this go away??
help!!
x
Posted 1/5/2010 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
Birdinpain, I answered you on your other post. Please call your doctor. They are far better equipt to help you. We are not doctors here and we would be guessing. Hope you feel better soon.
Sherrine
Posted 6/18/2010 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
I have been diagnosed with Proctalgia Fugax today, after 10 yaers of suffering. I tryed to get on the website that catfisherman70 posted, but I cannot get there, is there any other website or some way around that?
Posted 6/21/2010 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
This has even more info, if you scroll towardss the middle

http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/collateral/digest/Spring_2010_Digest.pdf
Posted 8/19/2010 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
I've lived with this condition for many, many years. It almost always occurs within my first REM cycle (roughly 1-2 hours after falling asleep), and the pain brings me right out of my sleep. The sensation is beyond excruciating. I literally lay on the floor and shake all over, and used to think it was some form of epilepsy.

Hot baths sometimes weaken the cramping, but I've often feared that I would pass out from the pain, so I eventually stopped that particular remedy (and in my case, the bath rarely helped anyway).

Recently, I was prescribed Atavan for anxiety, which contains a muscle relaxant. I found that when the proctaglia fugax wakes me in the middle of the night, if I'm able to take an Atavan fast enough, then the duration and intensity of the spasm is cut almost in half.

So, you may want to get your hands on some Atavan, or a generic equivalent. It's the only thing that's even remotely helped.
Posted 8/19/2010 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
PF sufferer, glad you found somethings that help.
Posted 9/1/2010 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
I had my first episode of Proctalgia Fugax 3 weeks ago - it occured during the day and lasted for 8 hours!  Because of the severity of the attack, I immediately made an appointment for a Sigmoidoscopy (an internal examination of the rectum with a camera) and the consultant gave me the diagnosis.  Since then it has been rumbling away quietly - just a very slight discomfort on and off.  From everyone else's accounts that I have read on this site, no-one else seems to suffer after the event - is there anyone out there who's rectum, like mine, is spasming on a daily basis, albeit almost undetectably?

 

Posted 9/1/2010 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
Munro

Do you also have IBS?

A high percentage of IBSers also have rectal hypersensivity.
Posted 9/1/2010 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
 

No, Shaun 12, I definitely do not have IBS.

 

Posted 12/27/2010 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
I too have had this condition for far too many years. I have found that lying on a hard, cold surface (i.e bathroom floor) will relive the spasm in 5 minutes...be careful not to get up too quickly because it may re-occur.
Posted 12/28/2010 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
I've been suffering from proctalgia fugax since my son was born 9 years ago. i have these episodes at least 8 times a year. I experienced an episode last night and the only thing that seems to work for me without medication is doing kegels squeezing the rectum area as hard as you can and hold it for as long as you can until the pain subsides. i also use a heating pad in that area and rock back and forth to put myself in a meditative state.

i wish there were something to prevent this from happening.
Posted 1/6/2011 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hey all, ive been dealing with this since my late 20's now in my early 40's. I've dealt with hemmoroids around the same age, I always suffered through the pain and just figured it was an internal thrombosed hemmoroid. The thing that always bothered me was that it only happened while I was asleep, very rarely during my waking hours. Like others here have posted, I would wake with severe pain in the rectum..the pain is so bad that all I can do is lay and wait for it to subside..sometimes its brief, other times has lasted on an off for hours..I would have the urge to have a bowel movement or pass gas..but almost never able to. I've had a colonoscopy and met with a couple proctologist and GI specialist...finally was told I may have this syndrome..I've tried muscle relaxers and hot baths, Ibuprohen..you name it;ive tried it.
A year or so I stared making notes after an episode. I wrote what I ate, drank, my stress level..what ever I could think of tp draw some common thread. the only thing I came up with was my irregularity..seems that if i had very loose stool, or was very gassy or if i was mildly constipated..I might have an episode that evening..it didnt matter what I was eating...I try to eat more fiber and live a very healthy lifestyle, Im in good physical condition work out and run at least 4 times a week..sadly though, it hasnt changed the frequency or severity of my episodes..however, recently, I did find something that helped me decrease the pain...one time, when i was having an episode, i was also dealing with some hemmoriods..so I used some preperation H when I pushed the applicator inside of me..i could actually "touch" the pain..if i kept it there for moment or two..the pain wouldl subside shortly after...Sucks having this but at least we all know what it is ..and sharing these things might help!
Posted 1/20/2011 4:41 PM (GMT 0)
I am a 47-year-old male in good shape. For the last four months I have suffered from proctalgia fugax after most bowel movements. The condition, which occurs 1-4 hours after a BM and lasts about an hour, only occurs when my anal fissure is inflamed and causing me pain. Two weeks ago I had surgery (lateral internal sphincterotomy) to take pressure off the fissure and it has helped immensely with BM pain, but the fissure has not healed yet and the PF has not gone away. Some days 400mg of IBU knocks most of the spasm out; other days 800mg can't kill it.  In that sense, the pain is manageable, but I do not like having to take IBU so regularly. My surgeon recommended a muscle relaxer, but they, like many medications, harden the stool, so that is counterproductive for me (prune juice is the only laxative that doesn't irritate my wound). My GP prescribed Anuspaz (sp?), another type of relaxer, which worked, but not as well as IBU. Hot baths really help. Today I tried a natural relaxant that a friend gave me called Valerin (Wonder Lab's; White House, TN). The first 90 min. have been fine, but I still have three more hours of testing to go. I read that stretching -- knees to chest, and pulling (up?) on the buttocks -- helps some sufferers, as do many other remedies. There is a LOT out there on this topic. Google proctalgia fugax -- and be your own doctor.
Posted 1/25/2011 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
This is so scary the first time it happens. I had a colonoscopy to rule out anything serious but it didn't stop the fact that when this little creeper wakes you up in the middle of the night it just is nerve rattling anyhow!! I almost always feel as if I have to get up and have a bm or to relieve the pressure somehow but I never do have the BM but it feels better to push(gross I know) and to relieve some of that pressure. There is no rhyme or reason to it either, It can happen if i am very active all day or if I have been sitting all day, and it doesn't matter what I have eaten either. I would like to know what cause this little monster!
Posted 1/26/2011 12:03 AM (GMT 0)
I can't believe I finally hae a name for something that I have suffered from for almost 40 years, since being a teenager! I have also suffered from IBS symptoms on and off during that time. Again, with me there seems to be no rhyme or reason why these spasms occur but have noticed I will often have an attack after a loose bowel movement. Again, the pain usually occurs during the night waking me from sleep, but I have also had occasional episodes during the day. I have never met anyone who has suffered similar symptoms and it is impossible to describe the pain to someone who has not experienced it! The only thing that brings relief to me, (as others have mentioned) is to sit on the loo, push down and wait for the pain to subside - no other position works for me!
Posted 1/26/2011 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
I originally thought it was part of my menstrual cycle since it often accompanied it, however, there are many men with this as well so I guess it can't be the case at all.
Posted 1/26/2011 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
i get this Proctalgia Fugax usually in the middle of the night after sex earlier in the evening; or after an erection that was not properly addressed :-(

Am glad to find out that this is neither uncommon nor serious. It is however very annoying.

To those who continue to have these PF episodes, you might want to try these things that work for me:

Prevention: try to fully discharge any remaining semen as you urinate after sex
Cure or Remedy: while remaining in bed, massage/stimulate scrotum and penis. pain gradually disappears within seconds after an erection

Good Luck.
Posted 1/26/2011 4:33 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, they also do occur after an orgasm, occasionally, if I am lucky or maybe not so lucky if I end up getting the PFugax!!
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