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

Hello -

I want to THANK YOU all for this website.  I have been suffering from this pain since 2006.  After countless doctor visits, test, needles and surgery I am finally able to figure out what is wrong with me.  For years I thought my pain started in the front and went to the back.  Then I thought what if the pain is actually starting in the back. Sure enough that was the case.  I have gone to dark places and my quality of life has changed because of this pain.  It is the worst pain ever.  I am calling my doctor tomorrow with this new information.

Thank You again!

I started suffering from PF about six years ago. Scared the heck out of me. I hate that it wakes me from a sound sleep. I'm so tired and just want to go back to sleep but have to deal with the pain. I usually sit on my foot with my heel pressing into my anal area. That helps a little. Or I kneel on the floor and bend over so my head touches the floor. Sometimes that helps. The pain usually lasts 15-20 minutes and sometimes has me in tears.
It happens during the daytime too, but not as frequently nor as intense. Although lately, it seems to happen more often during the day, like almost daily, but at a much lower pain level and mostly on the left side.

I have been suffering from this for many years but never knew other people were too. I get my attacks during the day and usually just after a run or during a long run. It has always just been a drag to deal with but last weekend it occurred during a marathon and sidelined me for 5-10 minutes. It was excruciating pain and took my breath away as usual. I just had to wait it out and then continue running. I have never mentioned it to my doctor but I think I will now. It is definitely interfering with my quality of life.

Wow, SO glad I joined this forum.

The information and discussion on IBS has been very informative, and I think I am going to find some relief following others suggestions.

Also incredible to find others with this bizzare affliction - who knew ?

Mine also is quite intermittent, mostly occurring at night and waking me with stabbing pains. A few daytime attacks that were miserable because there is almost nothing you can do.

I did seem to find some pattern to these though - wondering if anyone else has this same correlation. Usually I could connect having a PF attack around 12 hours or so after having hemorrhoid irritation from a prolonged bathroom episode (I have IBS D).

It got to where I could kind of predict that I might have an episode of PF that night following a painful bm in the morning.

Sometimes the hemorrhoids didn't even seem all that inflamed at the time, and I thought I was home free, but then the nighttime attack of PF almost seemed like a "delayed" reaction to the earlier irritation. The hemorrhoids seemed "puffy" and I associated the sharp pain with that condition - even though it seemed excessive - as hemorrhoid pain is usually more a dull ache.

I did find I could get relief with very warm water and some upward pressure. This was most easily accomplished by saturating a hot washcloth - folding it into a thick square and sitting on it. A very warm to almost hot mini enema also helped as it got the hot water closer to the source of the pain. This usually brought relief within minutes.

It sounds like others have found these two things also bring relief - what I am wondering though, does anyone relate it to hemorrhoid pain or does it occur without that involvement.

PS - 56 years, female, post-menopause, hemorrhoids since childbirth 29 years ago.

Post Edited (PrincessCrampy) : 3/31/2011 10:35:47 AM (GMT-6)

I have these symptoms but i get them before and during my period, not while I'm sleeping. i get a shooting pulling pinching pain that stops me from moving or even breathing. it come and goes every few seconds for about a half an hour or reoccurring for as long as most of the day. Im positive theyre not cramps. this is a way different pain in my butt. do you think i can have this or does it maybe sound like something else?

I've had this incredibly jarring attack a number of times, averaging twice a year. This is the original "pain in the ass" that spawned the well-known term, although I had no clue what a real pain it was until my first midnight attack came about 15 years ago. This is akin to a charley horse in the anal muscle, but it also feels like (in males) acute prostatitis, because it is painful behind the bladder where the prostate gland lies.

The way I handle the pain is to first get out of bed. Somehow the lying position makes it worse, or last longer. I take an ibuprofen (200 mg) and then march in place, knees high. Don't do this in front of your wife/girlfriend; she will probably either hurt you or commit you unless she's also had the syndrome.

This pain has never come with a full rectum; it is an empty rectum spasm involving the anal sphincter muscles and the surrounding muscular connections. Thus is can come after voiding, but usually is not as severe or long-lasting if you're up and about, and can walk out the "charley horse," so to speak. But I find that marching in place helps reduce the pain and return you to almost normal, although you'll probably want to have your entire anus removed the first time this happens. But be of good cheer, this only feels like it will kill you. Most likely you will die from something else.

So I am not alone with this! Sorry to hear that really as I would not wish it on anyone. It is an spiteful condition and most often hits me when sleeping snuggled in bed. There have been 3 - 4 occasions when it occurred at work in the middle of a critical work meeting. I am sure I dont need to described how horrendous it was not being able to leave to seek any form of relief nor tell anyone what was happening. Pain can last for hour or more.

In addition to performing acrobatics to alleviate pain, walking around in agony and hot baths, I have recently tried a standing on a vibration machine at full pulse for 10 - 15 minutes. It certainly seemed to lessen the period of intensity. Have only tried it twice to date but will keep you all posted.

This hit me twice thirty-some years ago, when I was stressed and overworked as a young lawyer, and once quite recently. I woke up in intense pain, made it to the bathroom, and fainted dead away. It scared the hell out of me. My old general practitioner located it in his medical reference while I looked over his shoulder and I had to laugh. "Proctalgia fugax" translates from the Latin as "fleeting pain in the rear end." Nothing more was known, but having the name was a comfort. His advice, however, worked: Keep a suppository handy; it gave me instant relief.

Wow ... am I relieved to find this site!
Been dealing with this for at least ~15yrs (since 30s) on what seems like a monthly basis 30-45 excruciating minutes at a time. Some times it goes away, then comes back for another round the same night!! So sorry other have to deal with this, but thankful for the fact I'm not alone.
This originally scared the heck out of me!!

Anyone else have this effect the scrotum/testicles too, at the same time or seems to "move" front/back/back/front and/or left/right/right/left sometimes alternatively sometimes all at the same time between
scrotum/testicles/perineum/rectum?
Night time seems to be the favorite time, other wise I've never found a pattern to this.

I've also never found ANYthing that actually seemed to shorten the episodes.
But, walking the floor focused on breathing and sometimes digitally applying pressure (try THAT walking half awake at 2:30am with fingers where they ought not be doing childbirth breathing hoping no one wakes up and asks what in the world you are doing when you stub your bare feet on a chair by accident!) and simply changing physical positions/postures at least gives something else to try to focus on.

 I had same condition
mike

had to edit your post due to forum rules

Post Edited By Moderator (**tori**) : 5/24/2011 12:09:24 PM (GMT-6)

Hi all
Had another attack of Proctalgia Fugax last night and I feel wiped out this morning.

Can I recommend a few things to try (bearing in mind that I am not a doctor and nor do I have IBS)

Have a whisky (alcohol is a vasodilator and the positive effect of this can be very quick). I recommend a double!

Ask your doctor to prescribe Ventolin (Salbutamol Sulphate - asthma medication) - it also has been known to help. I unfortunately ended up hunting around the house last night for mine as I have just moved!

If you can handle this (it is often the only thing that will work) - lubricate your finger and put it into the rectum and try to pull/massage the muscle that is contracting - you will be able to feel how tightly it has gone into spasm and you may need to do this for a few minutes.

Not a great thing to have and to do!

I have just been diagnosed with the dreaded Proctalgia Fugax by my doctor.  To be honest, I found this forum yesterday and I could have told her everything that she told me just from the information I had got from this site!  So Proctalgia Fugax (fleeting pain in the rear end).  Here's my story:-

It all started about 2 years ago during the middle of the night and I woke up thinking I had a bowel movement developing.  It felt like a mild tighening deep inside my back passage.  After I was awake I went to the bathroom for a bowel movement but nothing happened.  The tightening quickly got worse and I found myself panicking because I did not know how to stop it getting worse.  In the end I went dizzy and nearly passed out with the pain and ended up on the bathroom floor in a fetal position thinking I just could not take the pain anymore and oh my god how much worse is this going to get.  I was sweating and panting rapidly.  After about half an hour, the pain started to subside quite quickly and I went back to bed not knowing what on earth had just happened to me.

Now I can remember the exact details of the next episode but I think some months had passed before the next one and when the feeling of needing a bowel movement came again and I realised what it was I really panicked and ended up making it a whole lot worse for myself and the tightening continued to unmeasurable pain!

After a few episodes with gaps being in months rather than weeks, I felt at the time that stress had brought it on as me and my husband had argued before an episode.  At this point I had realised that they would only last about half an hour and that I wouldn't die from it!  I learnt to try to calm myself down and breathe in deeply through my nose then out through my mouth this really seemed to help and also helped my concentrate on something else rather than the pain.  By trying to block the pain out of my mind the muscle seemed to gradually relax.  This is the only method I have used to date and it seems to work if I catch the feeling quickly and don't let the muscle get too tight because then I start to panic with the pain I am in and it only makes things worse!!

Recently I have taken up running and have managed to increase my distance to around 6 miles on average and twice now I have had that feeling whilst running, that I need a bowel movement and then I think uh oh!! here we go!!  The tighening doesn't come until I get home and have rested for a while then it comes later.  Yesterday was my 'straw that broke the camel's back' and I had an episode after running, I concentrated for ages on my breathing then for some strange reason I started to look at my wedding ring and was concentrating on looking at the details of the ring and suddenly the tightening started to let go, so I continued to look at my wedding ring until it had passed.  This is a new technique! Don't know how medical that is though!!  After this episode I was so frustrated that I started to research this condition and found myself on here.  Thank goodness, I found out all I needed to know and am now reassured I am not alone, unfortunately for all you other sufferers, I do sympathise.  Very scary pain!

My doctor gave me a patient leaflet with lots of different website addresses and said to try the salbutamol inhaler (blue one) which I will try next time.  Cross fingers this works as it will be easy enough for me to carry an inhaler around with me when I am out and about running or in my handbag.  I shall let you know how I get on.