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Fistula Treatment

mikeyarmo

Co-Founder
While I do not suffer from these, I was curious as to what are some of the known treatments (not surgery) for fistula's. I know that Remicade is supposed to work well on them, but what other treatments work? I do not think any other drugs work well against them (except perhaps some anitbiotics have success for some), so I was wondering if there are any other known treatments to lower symptoms.

Thanks for your thoughts on this!
 
Hey Mike I was bored and cant sleep so I found out some medicines that help out fistulas and now I wonder if I ever had a fistula because of the meds prescribed. Other meds beside Remicade can be flagyl or 6-mp, both of which I was on.

Another method would be to go on a liquid diet and take a nutritional supplement such as TPN or boost/ensure type stuff.
 
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Skinsfan1229

Guest
flaygl and 6mp are really just trying to get rid of the disease in your rectal area, which in turn clears up the fistula.

Hyperbearic Chamber is probably the most widely unknown and un-used way to close a fistula, it introduces extensive amounts of oxygen which is supposed to speed up the healing process of the fistula.
 
Wow cool I have never heard of that before. I guess the oxygen allows the cells to regenerate faster allowing them to get rid of the bad cells and replacing them with new ones so therefore it would heal up the fistula. Is it like a cream or something else Skins.
 
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Skinsfan1229

Guest
Its an ACTUAL chamber, liek an enclosed CT scan...that is full of oxygen
 
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Valentina

Guest
very interesting and cool sounding. do they have good results with that treatment?
 
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Skinsfan1229

Guest
Supposedly they do have good results, better then remicade I hear, the trouble is getting insurance to pay since its not run of the mill well-known treatment.

Surgeon brought it up and said he heard about it from a teaching hospital, sounded like it would work pretty well with no pain at all.
 

cookey

Mama Crohnie
They treated me with was a Special cream, once again there was not much on the market for Fistulas in the way of medications..exceptions antibiotics. The name of the cream escapes me now, sorry to those who may be looking for a good cream. Important to remember, that the creams just seem to ease the pain, at least in my case they did. Antibiotics really didn't work for me.I
 

Kev

Senior Member
Hyperbaric chamber for treatment of fistulas... Hmmm, another one of those things that, at face value, seem completely non-sensical.. But if you ponder it for a while, it seems to have a grain of good old fashioned common sense behind it. OK, my understanding of fistulas and how they form & grow is very limited (I may be completely off the mark) but as I comprehend it.. they start at a weak point, and fueled directly/indirectly by bad bacteria, balloon out from there. creating a corridor that the bad bacteria flow into. thus growing & providing area for further bad bacteria growth.. becoming self sustaining.. Gas pressure from normal digestive process or the bacteria by product itself promotes the distension/extension of the growth.. So the lil buggers tunnel.. You think that's a fair analogy of the process? But, ask anyone who has kids,
or ever had a yeast infection, diaper rash or jock itch, and one thing is clear.
Bad bacteria don't thrive in oxygen... Keep any of those things dry and allow air to get at it, and the bad bacteria bite the dust, and the good ones revive.
Maybe that's why ASA works against inflamation? you'd think that it wouldn't because it thins the blood and can actually promote bleeding & ulceration.. If you doubt that, ask anyone with ulcers what they think of ASA products.. But if you promote blood flow, and thin the blood, one thing that does do is provide a means of getting more oxygen to area... hyperbaric chamber or not
 
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Skinsfan1229

Guest
I get mine after having abcesses kev. I've had 16 rectal abcesses in about a year and a half or two years maybe.

Several doctors have brought this up to me. Doesnt seem all that weird to me, seems logical extra oxygen would help you heal faster. My surgeon is the first to bring it up. I actually had an appointment scheduled at University of North Caralina where he went to school, but couldnt wait.
 
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pinkylee

Guest
North Carolina

Skinsfan1229 said:
I get mine after having abcesses kev. I've had 16 rectal abcesses in about a year and a half or two years maybe.

Several doctors have brought this up to me. Doesnt seem all that weird to me, seems logical extra oxygen would help you heal faster. My surgeon is the first to bring it up. I actually had an appointment scheduled at University of North Caralina where he went to school, but couldnt wait.
North Carolina has a more sizeable chamber for people who can't lay down. This is a great option for many wounds. I would think it should work. I f you can get a Dr. who is willing to try!
 
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Skinsfan1229

Guest
Actually pinky, my doc that brought it up is a surgeon from north carolina, he went to UNC so thats probbaly what he's talkking about.
 
I know this topic was brought up sometime ago but I just started Tacrolimus (FK506 or Prograf). I asked on here if anyone had much or any information on it and Jan seemed to know alot about it from her line of work. I was also doing some more homework on it and the information and studies I had read said that they had good results with fistulas and this medication. I am not using it for fistulas so I don't know personally about it's effectivness with them but I thought I would throw that out there if anyone else could benefit from it...
 
i've tried everything without much succes for the fistula, im waiting to have a chat with my doc about trying the hyperbaric chamber:depressed:
 
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