To cry myself to sleep about this

[Embarrassingiknow]

I get frequent diarrhoea and discomfort in my abdomen. I’ve had blood tests, stool tests and a sigmoidoscopy. All clear thankfully. I was diagnosed with IBS or a food intolerance.

I mentioned to the consultant who did my colonoscopy that my poo sometimes stings but he sort of dismissed me and didn’t help at all. He just said it’s IBS or a food causing my symptoms (eg possibly lactose) and was quite sharp about it and didn’t really offer any help about why the symptoms are happening

The diarrhoea and discomfort is unpleasant but I’m used to it now. But I can’t stand this burning anal pain anymore. im going through a tube of anusol a week and it’s not really helping anymore. When it’s at its worst, it’s excruciating to sit down and walk about. It sometimes bleeds. Right now im sitting on a cushion and I’m in so much pain with it.

I don’t have piles or fissures and have been checked for it already. I’ve tried different toilet papers, wipes, different underwear fabrics.

it usually starts after I’ve been to the toilet- it honestly feels like my stool is made of acid, it stings SO Much and it leaves me in pain for hours afterwards. I don’t know if it’s possible to have acidic faeces but if it is then I’m convinced it’s acidic.

I have NO idea what’s causing this but I could cry. Nothing is helping and I don’t know what to do. When I ask for help they just say anusol or antidiarrhoeas. But it’s not helping. I can’t get a GP appointment right now because of work and Uni. I don’t remember the last time I didn’t cry myself to sleep about it. I’ve got university lectures tomorrow and I’ll have to walk about and sit down and it’s absolutely excruciating so i could cry some more thinking about how awful it will be

I don’t even know why I’m ranting on here about it, I’m just sick of being in so much pain. I hate my life right now

Oh bless you. It sounds wretched. Have you tried a cream with anaesthetic in it?

I’m going to sound really dumb here but is there a big difference between the 2 tests?

I was a bit confused to see sigmoidoscopy on the follow up letter because I basically had to insist on a colonoscopy (I was shitting blood) and the consultant sort of agreed to do it clearly to get rid of me. I presumed the test was the same and it didn’t matter. I had been referred to the department several times in the past and they did blood tests and stool tests which showed nothing so they said it’s just IBS. When I went back again i insisted on some more tests because the symptoms weren’t getting better and that’s when they agreed to the colonoscopy (well, the sigmoidoscopy). The consultant made it very clear it’s just IBS and they won’t be helping me further with it and i know that if I go to the GP and ask to get referred again it will be rejected by the hospital (that’s what happened to a referral prior to the referral where I insisted on a colonoscopy)

they probably think im annoying and a timewaster but the pain of this is agony. Every night im having to lie on the couch with my legs stretched onto the coffee table so that my bum is sort of suspended over the gap between the 2 and isn’t actually being sat on and I’m not putting pressure on it because it hurts too much. It’s like I’ve just given birth (out the wrong hole!) to a watermelon coated in sulphuric acid. I know that’s crude and TMI but it’s genuinely how I would describe it

Some Lanacane numbing cream might give you some immediate relief in the area if you’re in a lot of pain. It’s not a long term solution though.

I'm currently experiencing what you're going through.
Had a sigmoidoscopy which, thankfully, found polyps which were removed.

I was diagnosed with IBS over 30 years ago.

I've had various flare ups ( Quorn has horrendous results !) and I've worked out what I can/can't eat. Various GPs haven't been very helpful other than to give me pamphlets (🙄)

My problem now is with burning at my rear end.

Anusol cream doesn't work.
Anusol ointment is better.
Germoloids ointment was stingy but offered some relief.
If you can bare to use the long nozzle , that might give you a lot more relief.

Lots of water, no alcohol, some, but not too much fibre will help.
Maybe ditch eggs for a while.
Warm baths with Badedas are relieving.
I wipe my bum with Pampers mostly water wipes. Very soothing.

It'll take time but it will get better.

You have all my sympathies.

As for your GP surgery I will join a different surgery or “GP at hand” ( Babylon health) it’s a completely online free NHS online GP surgery and you can get an appointment 24 hours a day all year- they are video appointments or phone calls with actual NHS doctors and on the app it records your conversation or video call you have all your medical notes and if you need blood tests or tests they arrange that for you it’s really quite good and much better than having to wait hours and hours and days to get an appointment with a physical GP also if you need to see a GP for a physical examination they will arrange for you to go to one of their local centres nhs practices near you

Oh you poor thing, this sounds awful. If it was me and after checks nothing found I think I would try to cut my diet back to something really simple like just rice for a week. See if it cleared up then gradually add back something every Monday and see what the effect of it is.

Vagisil would be a better choice.

Can you contact the practice manager at your GPs to ask if it really is impossible to have a telephone or online consultation or even suggest a different booking system? Other GP surgeries (mine, for instance) don't have that ridiculous system and seem to manage pretty well.

Have you ever had a breath test for SIBO?

Ask for coeliac disease tests - endoscopy + biopsy of the gut. Someone else has mentioned Chrons. When nothing is found doctors tend to say IBS too quickly, but often is autoimmune. Good luck

I really sympathise. Please try E45 cream. Not the lotion although that would probably work, but the cream sticks better. It is amazing the difference it makes.
If you haven't got piles, I would stop using Anusl. Please just give it a try.

My GP prescribed canestan hydrocortisone cream. It's the one only available on prescription. A small dab each night helped improve any discomfort within a day or so. Definitely worth asking a doctor about.

Proshield is cream that protects your.Skin from your waste products. You can buy it or get it via the Dr. Failing that a good layer of germaloids cream around the area prior to pooing. Consider using baby wipes or.bed bath wipes for after poo clear up.

The burning is because you are pooing out acid as the food is not staying in your system long enough to be digested properly. I was recommended this by the gastro clinic to apply as a barrier cream and it works. You can order from Amazon. I had a colonoscopy - it was clear but was then diagnosed with bile malabsorption after a Sehcat test. Meds now have helped about 85% of this. This was after many many years.

Recommend this for wiping - SENSET CLEANING FOAM again from Amazon. So much better than wipes.

Perhaps endometriosis?

I was thinking the same thing. I have LS and it can make having a wee very uncomfortable. I sometimes feel as if my vulva has been through a cheese grater and what I eat or drink can definitely regularly causes my urine to be more acidic.

LS grows in a figure of 8 shape around the vulva and anus whilst mine doesn’t yet cause problems in that area yet I just know it would be horribly uncomfortable.

I was also going to suggest a barrier cream. If you are in a pinch, try vaseline or sudocream. Anything that creates a barrier between your skin and faecal matter and has nothing in it that will sting on application. Also thorough washing if you can.

I had something similar sounding after extended diarrhoea. Felt like my backside was blistered 🙁 I used liberal application of vaseline and it really really helped.

This is what I came on to say. I’ve got Bile Acid Malabsorption and bile binders have changed my life. They are a simple medication and if they work then you have BAM. You just can’t take other medicines within a few hours of taking them or they will bind them too and make them useless. Please look into this, there’s an excellent support page on Facebook about it. Good luck x

Try applying a good amount of Vaseline on and around the anus before passing stools.

I had exactly this and was diagnosed with Crohn’s. Cutting out gluten and dairy helps a little.
If you can afford it, pay for an endoscopy or push GP for referral.

Have you had any surgery,tummy,gallbladder?

My husband has something similar. He found that sitting in a certain position on the loo (knees up against the chest,) and eating more fibre helped. It was an anal fissure

My DH had this problem, he did have a colonoscopy which found he had multiple anal fissures, he described it as the worst pain he’s ever experienced, like pooing glass and with blood. he regularly cried over it and he cry’s over nothing.
He also had an infection in his stomach called H. Pylori, it may not have been related but could be worth asking to be tested for that too.
You have my sympathies OP, I’ve seen first hand what anal pain reduces people too.

And please please don’t feel like you are being a nuisance to the drs, I’m sure they don’t feel like you are just being annoying or a time waster, you wouldn’t need to keep going back if you didn’t have a problem and they know this, go straight back to the GP, you really can’t live like this.

My DH did end up having to go private, twice! We couldn’t afford it, and excuse the pun, but he is as tight as a ducks arse!
But the NHS wait times were so long and he was really suffering so it had to be done