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Proctalgia Fugax - Rectal Pain

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Posted 10/7/2010 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
Another thing I've learned from the Doctor OZ show....I've asked a couple doctors about this and got the ol crossed eyed look...Now I know what I've suffered with off and on for several years.

Proctalgia fugax (or levator syndrome) is a severe, episodic, rectal and sacrococcygeal pain. It can be caused by cramp of the pubococcygeus or levator ani muscles. Presentation It most often occurs in the middle of the night and lasts less than 20 minutes, an indicator for the differential diagnosis of levator ani syndrome, which presents as pain and aching lasting twenty minutes ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proctalgia_fugax

Wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Posted 10/7/2010 1:28 PM (GMT 0)

Steve...I have, and still do. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it gets your attention. Usually strikes me about 3-4 AM-------it's tough to stay in bed and wait it out. I get up and pace for the 15-20 minutes it takes to subside. Had it before PCa treatment; still experience it occasionally after. Finally a name to my pain. Any doctor I questioned didn't have a clue either...........

Arnie in DE

Posted 10/7/2010 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
Yep...You sound just like me...I do feel better knowing its a real and known condition.

A couple of the tips in the link sound promising too..Not that I look forward to having to try them smhair

Posted 10/7/2010 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you have to have additional issues to deal with, never heard of this before, but in the land of OZ for medical possibilities we cannot not possibly know all these things, let alone the fugax'in latin words or wherever these medical terms originate. (LOL) When I saw the posted words I wondered what the proctalgia fugax is this thread about, never seen those words in PCa before. Learned some new words and things, now can I use them in a sentence??? Best to you if you deal with this ailment.
Posted 10/7/2010 2:49 PM (GMT 0)
Steve, I have had this condition for about 18 years.  Comes and goes, sometimes months w/o occuring but when it does, it gets your attention.  Happens at night after I fall asleep.  A doctor told me years ago it was Proctaglia Fugax.  Best thing is to get up and walk around about 20 minutes and take two tylenol.  Then its sweet dreams again.   The Old Sailor

Posted 10/7/2010 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
This is a very interesting thread. I have fought this condition frequently for several years, and was only able to put a name to it last year.

Interestingly, I have not had a single occurrence since my RP. Wonder what that means?

Is this condition caused by, or exacerbated by PCa?

Are the nerves that influence this condition cut or disturbed during the surgery?

Thanks for the post Steve
Posted 10/7/2010 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
Besides the guys here - my boss and brother have also mentioned having this condition. Bro said that he once passed out due the pain..It in turn freaked his wife out.

kbota - I and the others here have had this long before we knew anything about prostate cancer.

And part of the reason I started the thread was others here having "rectal" pain due to prostate issues...Thinking the ol process of elimination thingie might help.

Posted 10/7/2010 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
Amazing to  me,

I, like so many of you have had this for several years, both before Robotic RP, and after.  And, again, like some of you, I asked my Uro Doc. what the hell was going on there, and he no answers.  

It is nice to know at least that I'm not the only one that suffers through this during the night.  And, now I know, thanks to my HW buddies that I have to get up and "walk it off".

Thanks for sharing this information with all of us.

Dallas   tongue

Posted 10/7/2010 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
When this condition first started bothering me, I thought it was hemmorhoids acting up. I had recently had a colonoscopy which identified a single internal hemmorhoid. This is what made sense to me at the time. I discussed with my dr who prescribed hydrocortisone acetate <25 mg> suppositories.

When this acted up in the middle of the night, I got up and inserted one of these, and within a few seconds the pain went away, and I went back to bed. It might be weeks or months before another episode.

In the months before my RRP, these incidents were getting more frequent, more intense and more resistant to the suppositories.

I have not had a single episode since my RRP.

go figure
Posted 10/7/2010 8:35 PM (GMT 0)
I've had it on and off for a number of years when I rode a motorcycle. Doctor once said I had a sensitive anus. I had a session just the other day after I started Kegel exercises.
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