Sore bottom ruining my life

[Agonydownbelow]

Hesitated about posting this for fear of being accused of being a troll. But I’m so desperate for help I don’t even care about anything anymore. I’m a regular poster etc but obviously any concerns feel free to report etc

I go through spells where my rectum/anus is excruciating. Like I don’t just mean a bit stingy, I mean absolutely excruciating. It’s bad when sitting and walking about but particularly bad when passing stools. It feels like I’m being torn apart and I sometimes wake up from sleeping because of the pain of it. I get bleeding on wiping too (usually red) The painful flare ups last anything from a few days to a few weeks. I’ve been checked for piles and anus fissures during flare ups and it’s been neither. I’ve also had a sigmoidoscopy which was clear. Even though fissures have been ruled out, I still tried things like anusol and other treatments which didn’t help either.

today it was so bad that I was screaming whilst going to the toilet and gripped the wall so hard that 3 of my acrylics and my own nailbeds were ripped off. I didn’t even notice the pain of it because i was in so much rectal pain. I also woke up during the night last night with the area throbbing in pain and I’ve had more red blood on wiping. There’s no obvious irritation externally and piles and fissures have been ruled out by the GP

I’ve been to my GP 14 times for this.Been referred to gastro 3 times. Clear bloods and calprotectin fine. They said everything serious has been ruled out and won’t accept another referral for me, but equally the GP cant help either and said I need to learn to live with it myself (how???) I also can’t afford to go privately for at least 2 years until I save up :(

I’m not constipated (usually the opposite problem) but I tried stool softeners anyway- again no, help. I don’t eat spicy foods or foods that might cause irritation when passing.

please tell me has someone else experienced this and have any advice or things I could try to help this? Im not being melodramatic when I say it’s ruining my life

Don't let them fob you off.

I had anal fissures after birth too and it was horrendous. I'd be gripping the window with pain.

Good recommendations on here - I'd add a squatty potty or stool/block to raise your feet, it can help with constipation.

Endo can have it’s own cycle different to your regular cycle so worth tracking the pain to see if there is a pattern

Do you ever use scented toilet paper? I had an anal fissure and the few times I used scented paper it absolutely destroyed me for a few days. Bepanthan nappy cream weirdly helped.

We started using 'who gives a crap' paper too, no fibrous bits

This is so stupid. Not you, OP. I mean the GPs.

Are they trying to say nothing is bleeding? There's clearly a problem there they're not seeing. Fissures can be hard to see. I'm amazed no one gave you any GTN ointment.

I have had a patient with severe rectal pain before and he was referred to colorectal surgeons for assessment. He had Botox treatment to help with pain and it seems to have resulted in an improvement. Definitely worth pushing your Gp to refer again.

OP please read @Agonydownbelow
It sounds exactly like anal fissure, but they can temporarily heal and therefore not show on the colonoscopy. This happened to me.
If possible I think you should arrange a private exam when the pain flares as it can turn be at short notice so should be visible.

Could it be psoriasis. I know you can get it between bum cheeks and bum crack, actually on the anus not sure. It's an autoimmune condition. I have tiny and few patches (not enough to bother me) of psoriasis on hands, scalp, my mum and all her sisters had it bad.

Just googled "psoriasis on anus" and seems you can get it there.

Err, troll??? That’s a bizarre accusation @Silentbarking Read back the thread.

@SaveMeFromForearms was trying to explain that a possible reason your inhaler works could be the actual action of using an inhaler rather than the ventolin in the inhaler. She wasn’t dismissing your experience, which obviously works for you - just saying that she got similar relief from bearing down and exhaling as if using an inhaler.

I don’t know if this has already been recommended. I recently had something that sounds very similar and it was horrendous. The thing that really helped the pain was taking an antihistamine. This and the steroid cream that the doctor prescribed seemed to stop it for me. Hope you soon can get it sorted, it must be horrendous.

I know exactly what you mean about the pain, I’ve had it many times. I’m convinced my colon is a weird shape because it never really gets better. I have really turned my diet around and it has helped a lot, but even a couple of days of not sticking to it and I pay the price. The pain is excruciating, can totally empathise

OP this sounds horrendous and it is shocking what passes as acceptable in the post-covid NHS.

Sorry can't read tft right now so apologies if all this has been said before. Just want to mention that I've found psyllium seeds (the whole seeds, not just the husks) surprisingly soothing on the whole digestive system, bum included. They seem relatively hard to get in the UK, easier in Germany where they're called Flohsamen, flea seed.

And you could try soaking your backside in a bowl of strong camomile tea - sorry if that sounds ridiculous but it's got anti-inflammatory properties.

I realise this must sound like me suggesting you move a mountain with a teaspoon... really you need more investigation and a health system interested in wellbeing rather than mere survival. I hope something gives.

I haven't read all the responses but came on to suggest endometrosis - a family member had similar symptoms. She had all sorts of tests and it didn't show up until she had an operation where they could physically see it was there!

It could be lichen sclerosis. I have times when I’m in agony like this too along with the blood. Ask your GP for some dermovate steroid cream (although you may be able to buy a weaker strength one from the chemist. Also ask your GP for lidocaine gel/cream on prescription. You can then use this to numb the area. also take painkillers when it’s bad - paracetamol and ibuprofen will really help.
are you in the uk?

Buscopan can be excellent for crampy pain as mentioned above.

For such a local pain I wouldn't want to be taking oral painkillers all the time because it could make you constipated making the issue worse. I'd personally try the Boots haemorrhoid suppositories because they have a local anesthetic in them Boots supps
An alternative to that would be instillagel which is a little syringe with lidocaine in it.
If you are not getting any relief from local I'd ask Gp about short term course of proctosedyl supps or even paracetamol or diclofenac supps.

For the past 9 years or so I’ve experienced this thing I call burning arse pain. I’ve never truly understood what it is.

Ot only ever starts when I’m lying down. Usually it wakes me from sleep in the middle of the night. It’s a burning kind of pain that seems to centre around the tailbone area, but internally. It isn’t related to constipation, needing a bowel movement, spicy food, menstruation, or anything obvious like that. No matter what time it is, I need to get out of bed and walk around. It’s awful.

Prior to these mysterious episodes I also used to get really intense pain related to needing to go to the toilet. I’m sure it’s all linked (nerves?) but I’ve no idea what it is.

Hope you get some answers because it’s totally unacceptable to be told you have to live with this. Women are always told they’re exaggerating their pain.

I second this. My dh had several brain stem micro-haemorrhages that appeared as vertigo (room spinning, vomiting and nausea). We kept on and on being referred away from neurology to ENT and GP, though I became sure it was a stroke or similar due to loss of function after each ‘vertigo’ episode and high b/p. Finally got his medical records and discovered they HAD evidence of increased haemorrhages in the notes but no follow up, no explaining to him or highlighting this in a letter to the GP etc and no treatment to prevent more (which happened). It was utterly ignored and he was discharged by the neurologist who wrote the notes, who promptly retired. You couldn’t write it as a novel storyline, it’s so blooming ridiculous. We’re looking at legal action due to the severe consequences it’s had.

Definitely look through your notes yourself. And don’t give up, the amount of effort a lot of people have to put into getting the help they need at the moment is horrific and I’m so sorry you’re going through this, OP.

Another for endometriosis - you need an MRI/surgery if this is the cause. Also tramadol.

Any other endo symptoms?

I get something similar to this, often during my period time but also randomly. The tailbone feels as if it will crack when passing stools no matter how hard or soft. Sometimes hurts to even pass wind. No one took it seriously for about 15 years. Would suggest checking for endometriosis as its highly undiagnosed

I have LS too and the pain around my bottom at times is horrific

The pain is being caused by something. It cannot be nothing. You need a second opinion. Have they ruled out gall stones?

Over the years I've read about this pain quite a lot on MN (funnily enough people don't mention it in RL) There must be some cause, but no one ever seems to know what.

@MrsSkylerWhite this has probably been answered down thread, but that sounds like metanium. Or gooch cream as my cyclist partner would say !

I sometimes have pain down there, nowhere near as bad as you describe though, and I find Savlon very soothing. That sounds awful OP 😢