Bottom trouble TMI alert but need some help!

[soreass]

In the middle of the summer I had an episode of very severe (4 - 5 times a hour and lots of volume) runs after eating at a local cafe and was very ill with this for 2-3 days.

Prior to this everything had been pretty normal with my toileting habits!

After this episode almost immediately I became aware that something had changed. It was like shitting broken glass. There was blood but not a massive amount.

Since then I have had various problems of by bowel movements been too big for my bum almost ?! yet my bum hole feels smaller? There is a lump to one side which is like a skin tag? But I found as long as I drank plenty of water it wasnt too bad as I could generally go without too much issue.

However, then I fell pregnant, am now 2 months,

Im not constipated as such as I go every other day but it seems that either

1. my movements have suddenly increased in size and I cant "open" enough to pass them which is causing me to split? But there is a LOT of blood now.
2. my bottom appears to have shrunk and the area is so small that even when i tense to pass urine it hurts my bottom.
3. The hole is so small that I cant even break wind comfortably.
4. my muscles have stopped working and no longer can push a movement out everything is such hardwork and hurts so much.

Im so embarrassed and so scared.

I know if I cant get my movements softer or even softer than soft it will stop. (too much pure orange last week made me loose and i didnt bleed there was no blood on either movement or paper)

its got to the point where im terrified to go to to the toilet and it hurts for hours after like a pulse inside my bottom.

I had a problem in my teens where something happened to me and i know people say just go to the doctor but i cant. I can. not. let a doctor near my bum, and i certainly wouldnt let anyone near it in a hospital setting or anything.

Has anyone had anything similiar or can advise me please. Have name changed due to obvious embarrassment

Hi there. I am no expert but you do need to go to the Doctor although you have said you don't want to. Could you talk to your Midwife about it to start with, you do not want to be heavily pregnant and post childbirth while experiencing this.

Sounds like you have an anal fissure and some swelling around it. That's quite normal. You just need to see a GP for some treatment. You may find if you keep your stools soft for four weeks it will heal by itself. But yes you must get it checked out.

You do need to get to a doctor, sorry. But you can take someone with you to hand hold. Remember also that although the doctor will want to examine you, you can refuse this and just have a discussion. Which would be better than nothing and suffering?

It sounds possible that you have a fissure? I doubt they would do anything surgically while your pregnant, but they could give you a laxative of some description to soften your stool and get you out of discomfort in the meantime. hth

Have you posted before?

Please go to the doctor's. Really. I have Crohn's Disease, and have ben looked after by gastro doctors for 20 years now and can honestly say the following:

They will treat you with resect and dignity.
They will know how awful it all is, emotionally as well as physically.
They will do the physical tests they think necessary, but not take any great delight in looking at your bum .
They will want you to get better.

I say this from experience!

You could get someone to go with you...? Please....?

thanks everyone

no, not posted about this before. Im a regular poster but have name changed.

I guess Im going to have to man up and go to the doctor! We only have male doctors at our surgery and the idea of him examining me is enough to make me not go. But like you say Im well aware this is only going to get worse now Im pregnant.

I thought it was getting better until I got pregnant but now Im sat with a pulsating bottom and dreading the next time I need to go!

thanks for replying everyone

Good luck soreass, You were worried enough to post on here so make the appointment asap and get it over with. Then you can get on and enjoy your pregnancy.

You can go to a family planning clinic and request to see a female doctor. They will refer you on if necessary, but they will see you.

Or you could speak to your midwife. Frankly, during pregnancy there is a good chance at least one man (and hopefully a doctor) will spend some time staring at your nethers. May as well get it over and done with :)

Thanks so much. I am very worried about it but Im so shy! Even my partner has said Im quiet lately and he thinks Im not happy about the pregnancy which I am over the moon about Im just preoccupied with the discomfort and worry about what a doctor will do.

I shall try the self help until I see the midwife midweek and then Ill mention it to her and then go to the GP.

I guess now is the time to get used to people interfering with my bits and pieces!

Oh please tell your partner, he must be really worried. Yes I am afraid there is no avoiding bits and pieces when you are having a baby, but I am sure you will be much happier getting this sorted.

Would it help to know what the doctor will do? In general terms he or she will talk to you about your symptoms and then ask you to lie on your side on the gurney so he can insert a (lubricated and gloved) finger into your anus to feel for any abnormalities. However depending on your symptoms s/he may not bother till you've tried a course of treatment. This happened to me and my GP said 'well look, try this for three weeks, if it doesn't work, come back and we'll examine you'. (It didn't btw and I did have the exam which took all of fifteen seconds and was fine actually - the trick it to take a deep breath and then blow as it stops you clenching). But after another few weeks it was absolutely fine.

I bought some over the counter cream for piles to see if that helped but I couldnt even get the small tube up there. it just felt too swollen?

Ill just go, whatever he does it cant be as miserable as feeling like this!

all your information and opinions have helped me alot though thank you :)

Over the counter pile stuff is rubbish. You can get wonderful things like proctosedyl that contains things like lignocaine, which come as suppositories which melt and both numb and treat.

Sounds like piles to me. I got them when pregnant and constipated and felt how you describe. Defo see the GP. I was given Lactulose to soften my stools and Anusol steroid cream to apply to the area. It worked wonders within a few days!

I was going to say anal fissure too but I see I've been beaten to it!

It hurts like a motherfucker. When I had one I would squeal when I pooed and cling white-knucked to the sides of the pan. Broken glass is exactly how I would describe it and sometimes there was a good bit of bright red blood.

Go see your doctor to check though.