Digestive Disorders Community

I've had this problem for a full year now, so I was wondering if anyone else shares the same problem. I have yet to find anyone with the same exact issues just by searching.

Basically I have rectal discomfort 24/7 (I am 27 years old). At first my doctor thought it was a fissure so I was sent to my first doctor. He gave me a colonoscopy and said everything looked perfectly normal inside and saw no signs of there ever being one. Next I went to a rectal surgeon as the first doctor couldn't do anything else for me. The surgeon said everything felt fine inside, except that my muscles were very very tight inside. He eventually went in with a camera and said everything looked fine as well. His next course of action was going to go in and make a tiny slit in my muscle to releave the tightness, but when they put me under and he went in, he said it was no longer tight and he did not do the procedure. He thinks it may be pelvic floor muscle tightness, and thats where we left it.

I have many symptoms and they change all the time. I generally ALWAYS feel pressure/discomfort in my rectum. It usually feels like someone put a tiny rock / shard of glass in my rectum. My bowel movements have remained "normal". I've not really noticed any change in my habits. Sometimes I am fine during/after one, and sometimes it burns or is painful for hours after. It actually seems to bother me more then my stools are medium soft. I took the psyllium (sp?) fiber for a while but it didn't seem to help that much as it tends to make the stools softer. Once and a while when my stools are soft (not diarreah) I notice a groove in my stools. (I think this is because the muscles are so tight, its just the shape of my clenched rectum). Again, no one saw or felt anything wrong inside. Sometimes when it is bothering me, using a little bit of vasoline on the outside/just inside and it sometimes makes it feel better. Another thing that makes it feel better sometimes is to just stretch my cheeks apart and release. I do this for a few minutes and it sometimes helps.

What makes me think that this is just a muscle thing is that it is much better on the weekends. On the weekends I get much more sleep and I am not as stressed as I am at work. Sometimes on the weekends it barely bothers me. When i lay down perfectly stull flat on my back I can feel the muscles relax, but when I move at all I can feel the muscles tighten up like a rock. I think the discomfort comes mainly from the stools coming out while my muscles are so tight...possibly.

Sorry if this sounds lime rambling, but theres so much to it. Ive sorta learned to live with it. I still do everything normally, but once and a while it gets really bad and I just need to lay down for a while. I have been emotionally strong with it since it started. Any help or shared experiences would be great!
Thanks!
Nick
(No, I am not the real Tom Brady)