Levator ani syndrome anyone, please???

[realist]

Has anyone heard of this disorder? Apparently it is muscle spasms of the levator ani group (in the rectum) due to an unknown reason. I have been told I have this, even though many of the symptoms don't match. I was scoped during a colonoscopy and initially the doc said he saw scar tissue, now he says he saw nothing. Is a colonoscope the best way to see these things? Things like fissures, roids, etc? I heard an anoscope is better. Any input anyone...Please!? I am soooooo frustrated

[chigs489]

Levator Syndrome is chronic spasms in the colon, sometimes very painful. It can also affect urination, and lead to prostatitis-like symptoms (urgency, pain, etc.)

I don't think any test can really detect it -doctors diagnose it through the symptoms.

What are your symptoms?

I have chronic rectal spasms currenlty, but I also had to have surgery for a chronic fissure. My spasms started after about a month of bleeding from the fissure. 2 months post surgery, and I still get them, although in the last couple weeks they havent been too bad. My symptoms are

1. Obvious spasms and contractions in the colon and sphincter
2. A feeling like I have to have a BM, even when I don't
3. Sometimes it spasms during a BM, and I have to push harder, because everything is clenching down.
4. 3 times in the last 4 months, I had painful spasms, when the colon just goes nuts, and I'm incapacitated for about 15-30 minutes. Twice this happened during the night, and once after sex.

Exercise seems to help a bit. When I'm in the gym pumping iron and moving around, I don't notice the spasms.

I've wondered if I have this condition as well. I even had some urinary problems 2 years ago (urgency and frequency) that mysteriously went away after I took some Flomax and modified my diet.

[realist]

I have had obvious spasms a handful of times. This is where is it difficult to finish urinating or from sexual activity I get like a charlie horse in my vagina (very weird sensation). Other than that, the pain I feel is like an open sore. You know how it feels when a cut is healing...it is less sharp than a knife and often itches (no there's no hemorrhoids). But it doesn't hurt when I have a BM, however, I can feel that something is moving past it. I have 2 sore spots, 1 that feels like a sore at 3'oclock an inch inside my anus and one that feels like a charley horse at 9'oclock the same depth in. The weird thing is that they NEVER hurt at the same time. Anyway, I really wonder what I have because my doc's inconsistency and lack of helpfulness in general has me doubting his diagnosis. He first said that I had a fissure, then after a while that was forgotten about. After my colonoscopy he said he saw scar tissue, then he said he saw nothing. I asked him if this could be a complication of my hemorrhoidectomy from over a year ago or from nerve damage, he said "no" Soooo, just like my IBS he blames it on stress and my IBS spasms (which I don't think I have) and sent me home with a prescription for an antidepressant because this pain really has me down. I am sooooo frustrated and angry. Is a colonoscopy even a good test for seeing in the anal canal? I heard an anoscope is better for this. If I really have levator then fine,I have a number of the symptoms but there is also overlap with a fissure. I think a second opinion is in order. Our health care system really sucks though, I'll have to wait many more months in pain I am sure Any ideas what this could be?

[chigs489]

take it from me, fissures are a real nightmare, and can cause a whole lot of discomfort. I get the spasms, and the feeling that the stool is rubbing up against something when I go.

Go to a colo-rectal surgeon and see what she says.