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Not sure what's going on

I haven't been on here much in the past few months, but I've been doing really well with my Crohn's. I've been on Remicade since April and it's helped me tremendously. I've gained my weight back, I'm having normal BMs 1-2 times a day, no pain or anything. I feel great! I've even changed my diet and started exercising and I've never felt healthier in my life. But of course, things can't always be perfect. I'm just going to warn you all now that this is somewhat of a sexual issue I've been having.

Well, I'm gay and my current boyfriend and I have been trying to experiment with anal sex lately. In the past I've never been able to do it because it hurt too much, but none of the other people I've been with have been as patient as the guy I'm with now. I've made a lot of progress from where I began, but we've kind of hit a wall.. literally. Apparently there's an area inside my anus/rectum that we just can't get past. When he tries to I end up screaming out in pain. He says when he feels around down there with fingers he feels what he describes as a "ring of tissue that's more narrow and feels rougher than the tissue around it". He says it's about 2 inches deep and the tissue before/after it feels normal. And this is the spot that hurts like hell whenever he tries to get past it. He said he's never felt something like that with anyone else so I'm convinced it's something abnormal most likely caused by.. you guessed it, Crohn's! Oh what a wonderful disease this is :ymad:

The only thing is, I'm not sure what this "ring of tissue" could be. It doesn't hurt when I have BMs and I don't have to really strain when I have them. I don't have any bleeding or anything. The only time it bleeds is after a while of us *trying* to have sex. I always thought that was just normal with any anal sex but I guess not.

So my question is, does anyone know what this could be? Could it possibly just be scar tissue from something else that was there that's cleared up? Does it sound like a fissure or anything else of that nature? I did some googling and it sounds like it might be an anal stricture, but I'm not sure. Any advice would be really appreciated. I just really hope this is something that can be fixed. I would hate to not even be able to have a sex life even while I'm in remission because of this godforsaken disease. I've really been feeling down about it lately

[sorry if this post was TMI, I didn't know where else to go]
 
First of all congrats on feeling better!

Also, from what everyone has told me here there's no such thing as TMI. And if anyone has a problem with your issue, they should take that problem elsewhere.

I wish I had an answer for you. I'm newly diagnosed myself, and I'm going to my very first GI appointment next Thursday, so I'm no expert on anything. But I am interested to know what you find out!!!
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
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SLO
Agreed I'd get it checked out. Bleeding with anal sex is not normal. True the area can be damaged easily but there's obviously something in there and is says stricture to me. Now even though you're not having any other problems the fact of the matter is that this is affecting your quality of life. Contact your GI and ask them what your options are (besides just not having anal sex). I know that there are procedures for stretching scar tissue so that's the first thing that comes to mind. I don't know if a strictureplasty is possible but everything is worth asking about. Let us know what your GI says. :)
 
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