Haemorrhoids without a cause... help me!

[MorningFlatWhite]

I have recurrent haemorrhoids (since second pregnancy) which plague me on and off. I am experienced at alleviating the symptoms so I don't need advice about sitz baths etc. I need to prevent them!

Has anyone had recurrent haemorrhoids which are NOT caused by the usual suspects (constipation/obesity/pregnancy etc)? If so how did you prevent them returning all the time?

They seem more likely to turn up around my period so possibly hormonal (and no, not constipated before period either). I also have a chronically tight pelvic floor so wondering if this is contributing.

Any help for unusual-cause haemorrhoids very welcome!

Oh dear, I’m sorry I don’t have anything that helpful but wonder if you are getting treatment re the pelvic floor? Physio could help with this and someone I know with a similar issue used a specific wand type tool for internal massage to loosen the tight areas. For her the issue has cause a lot of physical pain.

I get them every now and then for no reason!
I keep suppositories in the house and use them at the first sign of discomfort.

Thank you very much for replying 😊

Suppositories won't work as they are the external type. No internal haemorrhoids as far as I know.

@Elderberrier yes I've had pelvic floor physio and I can relax my pelvic floor when I think about it. But it defaults to tense immediately I stop concentrating on it, so I walk about with it tense all day, sit on the sofa and it's tense, lying down it's tense, etc, you get the drift! I've never found anything that will stop me tensing it when it's done subconsciously. I'm not stressed or anything like that. So I don't know what else to do to resolve it really. But if someone comes along and says "fixing my tense pelvic floor resolved my haemorrhoids" I will try harder!

Get a good cream then. Keep it with you at all times!

@Mygreyhair regrettably I've never found one that actually shrinks them!

Sorry to hear about your issues. I had a haemorrhoidectomy in 2019 which removed 2 external and 1 internal haemorrhoid. I tried just about every cream on the market to try and shrink them but none worked. Had them since giving birth in 2003 and they never went away. Only got worse. Don’t think the creams will shrink them much anyway.

@MorningFlatWhite did you see any specialists about this? I have a similar problem - good diet but recurring external haemorrhoids, especially around my period, no constipation. I'm sick of them and have a gp appointment in a couple of weeks, where I will demand further investigation. I'm 45 and they get more frequent and more painful as time goes by. I'm presuming surgery is the only answer.

@MJDecember24 no, sadly I still get them reliably with every period! So they are definitely hormonal. I am getting better at noticing the very first tweak and doing loads of lying down the first day, which is limiting them to mildly painful for three days or so. I don't do anything physical or walk anywhere for a couple more days after that. Surgery wouldn't work for me as it's always a different place every month, so they would have to remove every single haemorrhoid 🙈
I'm hoping post menopause the hormone changes will calm down and permanently stop them, but that is likely at least ten years away for me. When do you expect menopause (based on when your mum had it)? It might be an option to wait and see? Surgery sounds grim!

@MorningFlatWhite ugh it’s so annoying, isn’t it? My mum said she’d gone through the menopause already by my age but she drank a lot and smoked heavily and had five kids. Mine could go on for ages yet.

maybe I could go back on the pill. I didn’t really mind it before.

I’ve got a gp appointment and I want to at least get a full breakdown on how bad it all is and the grades and types etc, to see what the options are. I’ve had a really bad run in with them this Christmas cos I went to the gym a lot and think I’ve strained without realising it.

they’re a plague on society!

Just popping in to offer sympathy! I suffer with this two, started after my second pregnancy and they never went away. However I have found a cream that works- Xyloproct ointment. The midwife recommended it to me after my birth and it’s the only one my GP says she feels actually does anything. It shrinks them and they are much reduced until the next flare up. Mine really affect my confidence and my sex life too because I hate the idea of my husband seeing them. The GP I saw says that they rarely remove them
now because of the risk involved. So is more about managing them. I go back and forth on whether to see a specialist or try lazer removal as I’ve heard it can be effective and is much less risky than surgical removal.

Thank you @Gingerbreadcookiesforme i will ask my gp for some xyloproct. I’ve been prescribed ultraproct suppositories in the past but that was when they were mostly internal i think. Now the painful buggers are on the outside.

The pill is worth a try definitely. Let us know how you get on if you do try it?

Mine are definitely not bad enough to take risks with surgery. It hurts like a monster when it flares but then disappears completely in between. Mine are also a gift from baby number two 🙄

For you two is it the same ones that flare each time? Like for example you just have a dodgy one on the left? I can see why it would help to get treatment in that case.

Hello checking back in here with an update. Mine have just got worse and worse. I'm on the nhs waiting list for surgery but it's 9 months. I've spent the last week lying down with an ice pack on my arse and I can't walk, just pain radiating through my body. It's living hell.

I've booked an appointment with my gp for hormones, and decided to go private for my treatment as I just can't take it anymore. I can't even book any holidays or anything as the chance of a flare up is too much risk. I guess I've just reached the point of no return.

I have about four balls of haemorrhoid permanently outside my bum. Given how painful they are, I presume they're all external haemorrhoids. Really hoping the surgeon has a good prognosis for me.

I've been off Mumsnet for a while and only just seen this @MJDecember24
It sounds awful. How are you getting on now? I really hope it's improved since your post.

Possibly a very stupid suggestion but could it be that youre aggravating them by wiping much more frequently whilst you're on your period? Switch to showering rather than wiping whenever you can and see if that makes a difference..?

Hello! Turns out it was fissures as well as haemorrhoids. It’s the fissures causing me the pain, the piles were a red herring. They are mostly just sitting there being annoying but not painful.

I paid for a sigmoidoscopy privately in the end as I’m still really far down the nhs waiting list. I have been given some medication to take to help the anal canal relax so it can heal and I need to work on relaxing my pelvic floor. Now I know what’s going on I’m in a better headspace at least, even if I’m £3k down!

thanks for checking in :)

@MJDecember24 I had one of those once, and it was hideous, despite only being an acute one. I can't imagine how awful it would be to have multiple chronic ones.
Relaxing my pelvic floor has been a big challenge for me too. Since I first started this thread I have done the Mutu programme and have found it amazing for relaxing. It also improved my core strength which was a nice added benefit! It does cost, but I got it for £60 in the January sale. Just recommending in case you are struggling. It really helped me. Haven't had haemorrhoids since starting it either, although that may be a coincidence and I'm just still recovering from pregnancy/birth. Who knows 🤷

@MorningFlatWhite thanks for the recommendation, I’ve never heard of that so will check it out. I started going to Pilates classes a few months ago and I told her last month I have a hypertonic pelvic floor and she’s been great in telling me when to breathe instead of squeezing like the rest of the class. I can really feel how tense I am all the time now at least, which is hopefully the first step in learning to relax! It’s funny because I’m not a particularly anxious person but I think perimenopause has made me really full of rage so I think it’s anger I’m bottling up in my pelvis. Really hoping some oestrogen helps :)

Glad to hear you only had one fissure and never again. The internet is full of people who can’t get rid of them. And it really turns your bum hole into the gateway to hell.

Gateway to hell 😱
Pilates is basically what Mutu is, so I think your approach sounds great too. Here's hoping it works and resolves your issues.