Hemorrhoid Surgery and PAIN

Guest · Guest

Just thought I'd share my history of Hemorrhoids with you as I love any chance to talk about them!
I'm a 33 year old male, healthy enough and have sufferred from hemorrhoids for the passed 10 years. I started getting them early on in my life thanks mostly to a poor diet and heriditary hemorroids (if such things exist?). My father suffered from them when he was young too. I only hope my son doesn't have to endure the same sufferring.

About 6 years ago I started to notice blood spotting when wiping my bottom after a BM. Horrified, I went to my local GP who said it was from my hemorroids. 2 years agao the bleeding was becoming more apparent. I'd have a bowel motion and immediately afterwards came the drip drip dripping sound of blood. And after wiping away I started to notice clots were being deposited. All this obviously went hand in hand with the weekly typical pain associated with hemorroids.....pain around the anus immediately after a BM and that other pain that just lasts for days. And the triggers were numerous too, it seemed that any activity that was prolonged aggravated it. Too much walking or too much sitting.
Mind you my employment didn't help, being in the armed forces for 9 years, where I would stand on a parade ground for hours on end or sit at a computer for hours. Impacted severley when you think how impossible it is to go to the toilet in the middle of a ceremonial parade? Or during a military operation where every second counts.
My next choice of employment hasn't made the situation any better. Now a policeman I can spend almost 6 hours a day just sitting in a car with infrequent moments of getting out (must be getting lazy!). Earlier on in this career I'd be on footpatrol walking around all day. Again not ideal situations in which to go to the toilet thus enhancing constipation and ultimately making 'our little friends' very angry. You can imagine being in a car chase and in the middle of it just saying, 'hang on, I need to go to the toilet." If only there were a pause button!

Anyway, after noticing the increased bleeding I decided to get something done about it. I underwent a Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy (Pig on the spit) and nothing much was found, except for hemorroids which we already knew were there. I was told if I'm still bleeding to come back in 10 years for a repeat procedure.....go figure.

I'm not a surgeon so i procrastinated on this advice for about a year before seeking a second opinion. Before seeing the surgeon I had bloods taken (which for some funny reason I never bothered with before), the results were frightening. My iron and hemoglobin were at levels bordering on anemia. (IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU ARE BLEEDING FROM HEMORROIDS GET A BLOOD TEST DONE NOW!)
So I started a course of intramuscular iron injections into the buttocks. Hmmm, fun. I noticed the difference immediately. No longer felt tired or lethargic.
Anyway, I visited the surgeon who asked me to get up onto the examination table and assume the position. Believe me, by now, I'm over rectal examinations. So i assumed the position and began my bracing technique, the surgeon spread my cheeks, and as soon as he began to see he said 'we'll book you in for surgery right away.' Couldn't believe my luck, not a finger inserted and I was booked in to get the $#*(^Q things removed.

PAIN PAIN PAIN
4 days ago was H day. I thought I'd prepare the night before by taking a few fibre tablets, however, due to not being able to have my trigger the next morning.....coffee.....I didn't have a BM.
Surgery went well, three x hemorroids, gone gone gooooooone, for good I hope.
I began to wake up and recalled the posts on hemorroids I had read the night before and thought to myself, Pain? what pain? this feels great. I was aware that something had been done down there but couldn't feel any pain. a couple of hours later and a visit to pass some urine and a cigarette (See me in a couple of years on the Lung Cancer Forums!) I thought this is just fantastic. More feel good stuff please. I didn't want to go home but thought the pain wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so I organised to be picked up 5 hours post op. Somehow convinced the nurses and myself that I was fine.
It must've been as I was sitting down in the car trying to get comfortable in the seat when I recalled what the surgeon who operated on me said about the local. ''I put loads and loads of local into your anus, so you should feel fine for the afternoon till it wears off.""
And thus began my descent into the abyss of pain. .........brief pause as I need to sit in the bath as a write this......where was I....pain.

Well the ride home was just excruciating, with every moment that the local began to wear off, my pain and expectation of it was increasing.
I got home an hour later and began preparing a sitz bath. Followed by 2 panadeine forte. Weary of constipation, i ensured that everything I ate was full of fibre and each pain killer was followed by fibre tablets.
An hour after the pain killers and nothing had changed, so I took another. 2 hours later still no change so I took another. My body was loaded up with codeine and all I could feel was my anus pulsating with every heart beat. Another hour passed and I began to call the hospital where I was treated. They gave great advice i think (told me take another panadeine forte ....we're up to 5 now!) but couldn't take me back in as I had discharged from there as a surgical patient earlier. I then decided to go to a closer larger hospital and visited the emergency ward.
I had all my discharge papers in hand so that I didn't have to explain the situation over and over again. By now the pain was so bad that my legs were hurting, a dull all over kind of hurt.
Fortunately I didn't have to wait long but what followed made the whole trip a waste of time.
I was seen to by a large Indian doctor. His opinion was that he couldn't localise the area with an injection due to possibility of infection. Instead he applied some local anaesthetic cream in and around my anus, and advised me that that was the best he could do. Hang on a minute, I AM SUFFERING FROM PAIN AND I LIVE IN A DEVELOPED COUNTRY!!!!!!!!. Then told me how silly I was for taking 5 panadeine forte and then gave me one fibre table (laughable as I had already had about 10) and some laxative liquid and an injection of god knows what (glucose) because it did absolutely nothing. And with some Lignocaine gel sent me on my merry way with the advice that I should put up with the pain and there is nothing that will ease it. The nurse, on the other hand, advised me to go to my doctor the next morning and get some Tramador to help relieve my suffering.
So began night 1 of no sleep and continuous sitz baths...and pain. It doesn't matter how your body is positioned, laying down, sitting up, on its side, upside down. The pain just doesn't go away, except when you're in the bath. The only problem is, is that after 45mins the pain creeps back in and then the bath becomes unbearable, so you hop out to remind yourself of how painful it really is and ten minutes later you're back in the bath again.
Day 2 blended in from night one. I got no sleep at all and my doubled from 15 to 30 smokes. I assured my sister that I would be okay and would recommence taking my panadeine forte and that if I needed a lift to the doctor I would summons my father. However, here was my dilemma. As the pain worsened during the morning I started to call my doctor to see if I could get onto her before she started and get an early appointment. My dad lives 45mins away, so 45mins plus 25mins equalled over an hour before I could get some relief. And because my doctor is so busy I had no guarantee I could see her as soon as I wanted or whether she would prescribe me Tramador. (although my relationship with her is pretty good I'm sure she would have.) I then called the hospital again and sought advice from them, they said to ask for Oxycontin and that a doctor should prescribe it to me in my circumstances.
Still plagued with the dilemma of how long it would take to get some relief, I took the chance of calling a clinic that was closer and they said they could see me straight away.
Now against all advice I got into my car and began my journey to relief. A short 2 min trip later and I had arrived. Fortunately for me, the doctor I saw was unsuspicious of my request of Oxycontin. I found out that Tramador was the same as Tramil which I have had previously and didn't work well with my grey matter. Also, the doctor explained that his brother, who he thought to be a strong man (arabic origin) had cried like a baby for days after having his hemorroids removed. So script in hand I hobbled to the chemist, I looked like something between a geriatric and the hunchback of Notre Dame. Whilst in my state of delirium I bought a donut cushion in the chemist when I picked up my Oxycontin.

I then returned home, took 2 Oxycontins and returned to my bath. An hour later I felt great, floating, warm. Those Oxys were great. But you know what....MY ARSE STILL HURTS!!!!!!! The lignocaine was absolutely useless, felt fine for the first 2 seconds and then began to sting.

By this stage I had a system set up where I had a plastic laundry tub filled with warm water sitting beside the bath tub which was also filled with warm water. The plastic tub was for immediate relief and the bath tub for extended relief.

So day 2 migrated into night 2. I managed to pass a very small stool in the morning. In the afternoon my sister came home and presented me with my Post op Hemorroid Treat Prize. A block of Nu-Lax, Anusol and Proctosedyl (as recommend by the chemist for being the best hemorroid treatment cream). So I took the Nu-Lax and returned to my bath. I had been drinking loads of water so I was well prepared for the Nu-Lax.

I think it was about 3 hours later. I could feel the pressure building on my anus and the pain oh the pain how can one small area produce so much of it and be ammune to pain killers. I tried to sit on the toilet but the pain was excruciating. I thought the bath would be a bit messy so I decided to concentrate on the tub. I had the temperature set right and then BANG night turned into day as my bowels emptied. The strain and pain of this action was exhausting but it was finally freed. Sitting in a tub of water with your own faecies is not an enjoyable experience, doing ten times in a row and you get used to it. I then picked up the tub, hobbled over to the toilet emptied the contents and refilled the tub with warm water and salt and began the cleansing process. about 10 minutes later and my anus had returned to a more comfortable state and I was ready to walk around.
About half an hour later I had returned to the bath again. And so it went on. At about 4 in the morning I had a double bowel motion, one straight after the other. Day 3 was the day of excruciating bowel motions even with all the fibre, and still no sleep.
No relief from the pain either.
Night 3 was the worst ever, by now I was in pain killer heaven (with no pain relief) and was extremely exhausted. I couldn't sleep on my bed because of the pain and sitting in the bath only made me fall a sleep.....not a good thing. I be woken up by the kettle boiling, which ran continuosly, or by my breathing which became raspy because my head had fallen over and my airway was obstructed.
Finally I had what I believe was my last bowel motion to really clear things up this morning. And afterwards there was no more pressure on my anus and minimal pain. Sleep......2 hours, then up for 1, 3 hours then up for 2 and finally 2 hours this afternoon and I've been up since.
Bottom still hurting. I ran out of Panadeine Forte last night and started taking 1 Oxycontin every 12 hours this morning and feel, well, kind of ok.

My body has been battered all over. Apart from where my Hemorrhoids were removed, I have bruising to the left and right outer thighs and left and right rear hips from sitting/straining in the laundry tub. My right elbow is bruised from getting in and out of the bath so many times. I have an unexplained bruise on my back from where I was leaning against the bath tub during one of my bowel movement moments. And I had a lump on the back of my neck near my skull where I was resting my head on the bath tub during one of my soaks.....Fortunately that useless inflattable donut came in handy and I now use it as a head rest.

RECOMMENDATIONS
We all know that a Hemmorhoidectomy is going to be painful, but we have spent days on end putting up with Hemmorhoid pain, surely one last bout of pain, however excruciating, is worth the relief in the end. (Excuse the pun.)

PAIN RELIEF
I'd take the pain killers that are prescribed, obviously don't abuse them, and don't get addicted. If you find that you are exceeding the prescribed dose or have quickly reached the 24 hour maximum, seek medical advice.
Make sure you have plenty of towels available in your bathroom because you will need them.
Get an inflattable donut, you'll need a head rest in the bathtub.
Have lots and lots of sitz baths, loads of warm water and salt.
If you live in a big household and your hot water system won't take the punishment of providing enough water for your pain relief make sure you have a hot water kettle in your bathroom. I would even recommend investing in 2 more so your supply is readily available.
Get a laundry tub or similar for quick soaks and bowel movements. As undignified as it may sound, your bowel movements in the tub will be less painful than sitting on the toilet seat. It isn't as messy as you think it may be, infact it is hardly messy at all. And if the messiness is concerning you, remember you can always wash it off.
Make sure that after a bowel movement you have immediate access to another sitz bath. (from tub to bath tub). it will provide you with immediate relief and clean the area.
Drink plenty of water and stay away from Carbonated drink during the first to second days. I found that passing wind due to these drinks was painful, however, now that it's not pain I find it relieves pressure which relieves the pain.
Stay positive and keep your insane thoughts (pain does weird things to us) to yourself.
Jump on a forum like this and let it all flow out. The passed 2 hours and a bit has taken my mind off the pain.

For those of you considering the surgery or about to undergo it, remember, It's not painful until you experience it yourself.

Tham · Newbie Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 45

Years before I had my surgery (done in December 2003),
I read in an old library book about hemorrhoids, and the
author wrote that his surgery pain was comparable to gunshots
suffered by wartime soldiers.

I had the newer stapled method, but one of the hemorrhoids
was too large (the surgeon said it was huge) to be grabbed
by the staple. The PPH device cannot be used on hemorrhoids
which are too circumferential. So he had to use diathermy to
excise it.

Well, the pain that night in the ward was excruciating, but
managed not to yell ! I had to call the doctor, who asked the
nurse to administer a jab of pethidine, which dulled the pain
for just ..... an hour. I had to hold on till the next morning, after
which the pain luckily subsided somewhat, by which time the
surgeon came in to give another pethidine shot.

After I was discharged the next day, there were a couple more
episodes of pain at home, but luckily the sitz bath managed to
reduce it somewhat.

And now one or two external hemorrhoids have recurred .....

Guest · Guest

Pain is something i was no stranger to as i have broken both my tib and fib in my right leg, survived a horrific bout of Necrotizing Fassiitis better known as the flesh eating bacteria that left me with a gapping wound from hip to hip. But nothing prepared me for the demonic pain of hemorrhoid surgery.
It feels like a hot dagger being brutally twisted in your anus that never stops in fact it gets worse while and after a BM.
Doctors are so bloody cruel as they have no idea the pain it causes and are not very liberal when it comes to pain meds, the only pain relief that worked was the morphine shot i got at the hospital on day 4 after my blood pressure reached 184/90 and i had an official panic attack, due to the stress of he pain.
I don't know if this is fortunate or not but it took me 11 days to have a bowel movement BM it felt so bad that i nearly passed out, and since then i dont think my anus knows exactly what its doing as when i go it feels like im pooing even when im not, which can make social situations very uncomfortable. surery
Im just hoping the outcome outweighs the cause, if not i will be slapping my doctor in the face screaming LIAR!!
Im day 8 of the operation and still my butt is on fire, yes its alittle/alot better than previous days but by no means comfortable.
If considering surgery remember these pearls of wisdom:
Heat packs help a little when your lying down
Make the siltz baths as hot as you can stand it really helps
Ask your doctor for sleeping tablets as it can really help sleeping it off for a little while. but make sure someone else has control of them as you will be tempted to scoff the lot in a moment of maddness.
Apple and Guava juice is the nicest tasting form of laxitive and works really well combines with fiber pills, it keeps stool soft but not runny,
And last but not least have someone who can be your gofer for at least a week and use them for everything, you can kiss their butts when you recover Smile

Good luck and im so bloody sorry you had or have to have this done.

Hemorrhoid Surgery and PAIN

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