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Hoping it is over soon. Some sites say it falls off in a few days, some say 1-2 weeks. Wonder what is more accurate.
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It is hell - I had NO idea that it would be this bad.
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How glad I was to find this discussion and read through everyone's experiences. It helps to know that others have experienced the same thing and that you are not alone.
My situation:
I went in for a colonoscopy on Friday 13 November after an initial consultation with a GI Surgeon back in July. He asked me if my hemorrhoids had been bothering me much and I said no, they had been quite settled. He then asked if I would like them banded during the procedure. Well.... very naively (and embarrassingly not having done any research or reading on the topic) I told him to use his best judgement. I should point out that he seemed like a good man and is a very experienced GI surgeon.
So....I woke up in recovery and he told me that I had four banded, three that I wasn't really aware of and one that would make regular appearances outside my anus as if to say hello and I'm here to cause you embarrassment and pain. The early signs were good as I was not in any pain (general still wearing off and a local still having effect). He cautioned me that I would experience some pain and discomfort and they provided me with a bit of information of what to do and what not to do.
Friday evening - the pain and and pressure grew but was bearable. Basically it felt like someone had shoved a baseball up my butt but the last thing I wanted to do was to push. Pain relief consisted of Panadeine Forte (30mg codeine phosphate and 500mg paracetamol) and warm salty baths. The Panadeine was USELESS but the baths did feel nice while I was in there.
Saturday - I slept restlessly but surprisingly I felt better as the day progressed and I actually went out for dinner. Perhaps it was the wine, the Panadeine and getting my mind off it, but I felt pretty good. That is until it STARTED!
Sunday - The pain started to build Saturday night. When I say pain, it's the worst I have ever felt and it was pretty much continuous. No position would relieve it, the Panadeine were useless and I was so dreading my first BM but I knew it was imminent. OMFG, I was in a state of sweaty, panic-filled pain as that relatively small BM felt like it tore its way out of my butt. I was so worried that I grabbed some toilet paper and pressed it up to my ass as if to keep all my insides from falling out. I got up unsteadily and looked into the bowl, expecting to see some sort of spiked ball of death. Instead all I saw was this insignificant little poop and surprisingly no blood. It was straight into a hot salty bath for about 1 1/2 hours, which relaxed things a bit.
Sunday was hell. I kept asking myself what had I done?!? What kind of stupid mistake had I made?!? I never knew my ass could hurt this much and was it ever going to let up? Every fart was an excrutiating worry-filled experience and subsequent BMs made me want to scream and cry at the same time. I think I spent half the day and that night in the tub, on and off, just to get a bit of relief.
Monday morning I called the clinic first thing. I wanted reassurance that something wasn't horribly wrong and I needed some real pain killers. The surgeon listed to my tale (for 10 seconds anyway) apologised (sincerely, I think) saying that he perhaps should have just left them alone. He reassured me that while what I was experiencing is unusual it is not uncommon (if that makes sense). Everyone reacts differently and I was one of those lucky ones, just like many of you on this discussion topic. Lucky bloody us! Anyway, I now had endone (5mg oxycodone hydrochloride) which I hoped would take me to a world of blissful numbness.
Well, despite the endone, yesterday was almost equally as hellish as Sunday. The endone seemed to take a bit of the edge off but nothing more. The pain had changed from Friday (intense dull general ache with that baseball up my butt) to an intense burning, sharp, throbbing pain that only really subsided when in the bath. I started using a hot water bottle when I wasn't in the bath, which did provide a bit of relief (but I was secretly worried if I was doing something bad with all this heat application to my undercarriage... - did I mention that despite drinking tonnes of water, I had stopped urinating sometime on Sunday. This last little treasure was causing me some worry. Was I just sweating it all out in the hot baths or was I blocked up and in need of a catheter!!!
Sometime Monday night the endone seemed to start working or the pain started to subside a bit (or both). Now,don't get me wrong. In normal circumstances, I would have described the pain as intense and horrible. But, compared to what I was going through, it was definitely an improvement. Funny how it is all so relative. I still couldn't sleep without constantly adjusting my position and had two hot baths last night to get me through.
Today - The pain has lessened. BMs still scare the sh*t out of me (pun definitely intended) and I walk around in anxiety when I feel one coming on, often holding a moist wipe on my ass and waiting until the very last second before sitting down. Also, I still haven't peed except in the hot bath this morning - so at least I know I still can pee and I'm hoping that a normal standing pee is on the near horizon.
I think I've got many days left and I'm still very concerned about a full recovery but at least today is better than yesterday, which was a tiny bit better than Sunday.
Summary to a long tale- know what you could be getting into
- prepare for it (mentally and physically) knowing that you may need some time off work in addition to a weekend
- lots of hot salty baths, especially after BMs
- really try not to strain during a BM although I know that this isn't completely possible. Use a small footstool in front of your toilet for your feet as it puts you in a better position thank having your feet on the floor and wait until the last moment before sitting down to avoid undue straining and pressure on your delicate area. Then, immediately into a bath to relax.
- I have been using psyllium husk and eating little solid food to try and minimise my BMs
Good luck to everyone
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for.
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But I will keep you updated - I think Baths, Sitz or normal help, not showers though.
I can confirm, it feels like you want to pee all the time - I think this is just a symptom of the banded piles - I just hope they soon drop off. They have been a problem for me for a long time, so I hope all this stuff is worth while.
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