Recovering from a haemorrhoidectomy . . . warning: TMI alert . . .

[Puffykins]

Has anybody ever had a heamorrhoidectomy, and if so, please can you tell me how long recovery took? I'm on day 12 now, and am still in considerable pain - I can't walk anywhere except the bathroom for the endless baths I take, can barely sit up unless I'm on my special donut cushion and even then only last up to 45 minutes. I have two young children, and I just feel that this is so unfair on them. And I'm getting kind of depressed about my lack of progress. I need someone to give me hope. Please?!
(P.S. If anyone is considering having one: strongly consider it. I've never experienced anything more painful than the first 4 days post op, EVER. I would gladly have given birth every day rather than going through the pain I was subject to.)

@DisneyLover1 I’m sure they will, it was a complicated procedure. Maybe I need to be more patient

Hi all, I’m in pretty much the same position bum wise as before, not much has changed, still sore when going and blood and sore for few hours after but just gettinin with it. Well I’ve had to really as my eldest daughter has just been confirmed diagnosed anorexic so these last few weeks have been hard and hectic with appointments. Glad to hear most of you are doing well.

@Dizzyali77 - sorry to hear you're still struggling, and really sorry about your daughter. I can only imagine the effect that must be having on you whilst going through recovery yourself. Thoughts are with you x

So, it's been very quiet on here for a few days now. I'm hoping that's a good sign that people are doing well and getting back to normal life.

I am doing better too. Mornings are getting easier. I still get a bit of butt cramp, but have found some exercises to stretch the pelvic floor muscles out and they're really helping so the ache isn't lasting as long. Once it's passed I feel great and am living normal life. Fortunately, I'm self employed and work from home so I can manage my time to take mornings a bit easier.

I saw the dietician yesterday and she was great. Talked to her about my current diet, fears about eating different foods in case they cause problems etc. Spent about an hour with her and got some really good and interesting advice about what to add to my diet, how to add things etc. One thing that was really interesting is that she recommended using white rice and pasta to start with as I'm eating so much fibre with the fruit and vegetables, that having a low residue carb would be gentler on the system and not bulk up stools even more and create even more stool. I always thought they were a definite no-no, and they are if you're not eating enough fibre, but as I am, I should introduce them first. She also recommended adding a bit of mashed potato to my evening meal - made with fully peeled potatoes as the skin can be scratchy coming out. With all the veges that should pass through nicely, but you should never reheat or recook cold potato as it then becomes a resistant starch which is harder to pass. I would have kept the skins or eaten new potatoes before talking to her.

I also spoke to her about the weight I've lost (I'm only small to start with so can't really afford to lose weight), and she gave me some snack options to add some fat to my diet too. Peaches or peeled stewed apples or with custard (can also add a crumble topping if I wish), rice pudding, smooth peanut butter on toast, chia seeds soaked in full fat natural yoghurt (overnight to soften the seeds) with thawed frozen raspberries.

So, I'm quite excited about trying some new foods, but I need to do it slowly - add one thing a day to see what effect it has before adding another.

Would be lovely to hear how others are doing now 😊

Hi disneylover1
Great to hear you're doing well. Interesting advice from dietician

I'm doing well. Back at work. BMs are generally not a problem but I'm still having some discharge. Will be delighted when that stops!!!

Thanks so much for all your support on here. I really really appreciate it xx

Great advice from Dietician @Disneylover1. I had wondered if it was safe to eat a small amount of white rice so will be doing that tonight 😊 @CareBear50 how long since your surgery? I’m just now 2 weeks post op today and still having the discharge some. I hate it. How long has it been for you? And how long were you off work?

I’m starting to feel human again. I can have a BM with pain at about a 1 or a 2 now. Very bearable. I go for 2 week post op check up tomorrow. Hoping he will agree that I still need at least another week off work. I’m a nurse so it’s gonna be hard to do a lot of standing with the constant ache going on back there and the urgency of about 10 seconds before BM hits. I want all that to get under control before I go back to work. Anybody have any advice on bowel control?

@CareBear50 - lovely to hear from you. Sounds like you're pretty much back to normal, minus the discharge. I've read it can last a few months. I only get a tiny bit - not even enough to mark my underwear, but I notice it when I clean myself, and can feel it a bit sometime. Generally I'm doing much better though and looking forward to going on holiday in 17 days (not that I'm counting 😂). I'm working more, but also getting easily distracted which is a definite sign I'm getting better. Not so long ago I'd be at my desk for a maximum of 2 hours and just blitz emails so I could go and lay down. The past couple of days I've done longer, but got distracted with holiday planning, buying stuff for the business etc. No desperate need to finish work and lay down. I'm keeping up with my walking and exercises though as being sedentary too long can cause hemmies.

@BrandiJo - you're doing really well for 2 weeks, but I think another week off would really help you before going back to work. It's easy to overdo it too soon, and you don't want to do that, not with a demanding job like yours.

I have a theory about the 10 second warning - we're a lot more sensitive than normal down there now so whereas before we could sense and hold, while healing (especially in the early days), that extra sensitivity triggers you to go more urgently. I've definitely found the urgency has calmed down as healing had progressed.

How did you get on at your check up? Hope it went well.

@Disneylover1 Check up went good. He said I look more like 3 weeks post op instead of 2. He removed all those stubborn stitches that weren’t dissolving on the outside and I can already tell a difference. It feels better. He wants to do another round of antibiotics just to be on the safe side. He seems to think the stitches not dissolving and bunching up at the anal entry was keeping things irritated and causing the leakage. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see I guess. He agreed that I needed another week off so I don’t go back until April 1st. I actually think I could go back this coming Monday but I want to get the urgency under control a little more. Plus I deserve a little mini vacay after all this. I’d love to spend the rest of spring break with my kids here at the house playing games or whatever and cleaning my house next week after everyone goes back to school. I’m a clean freak and I haven’t felt like cleaning anything during this whole ordeal. I just sit and stare at things that need doing lol. I’m going to take it a room or project at a time so I don’t over do it too soon. So I’m anxious to see how I am by this time next week. I go back for a follow up in 3 weeks.

@BrandiJo - that's great news! I'm so pleased for you. Sounds a bit like how I was after my first op. Recovery from that one went so smoothly that I wasn't too worried about having a second op. This one has been completely different, but I'm finally getting through it.
Doing things around the house over the next week sounds like a good idea. It will help you see how much you can cope with, and also start to build your strength up a bit before starting work again. Hopefully the urgency will die down a bit too🤞

So, I'm 7 weeks today and wish I was back to normal, but I'm not. I'm getting there, but also getting frustrated. My external surgery site is still quite tender, even though it's fully healed. It also feels quite hard, like a lump at times, especially after BMs. I'm hoping that will calm down as even more time progresses though. Sometimes I feel like I've hit a plateau where things seem to stay the same for a while and that always makes me worry - like, what if this is it? What if I went through all of that, and this is the best I'm going to get? It's even more frustrating as I know how good I was the first time round. Still, I can get on with life more easily now, work, go out etc, but I'm still aware of my bum, and still have ache/discomfort for a few hours after BMs. I long for the day when I have a BM and don't really feel it whilst going or have any ache/discomfort afterwards.

@Disneylover1 I’m so sorry you’re having a discouraging day, but just remind yourself that some people take as long as 6 months to fully recover. I can imagine you’re weary some days, though. I’ve already had my days of crying and wondering if it gets any better and I’m not as far into this as you are. I remind myself of this elderly lady I used to care for when I first became a nurse. She was 91 and had a Hemorrhoidectomy when she was in her 40s. I was having trouble with one of my hemorrhoids one day and asked her if she had any remedies that people of my generation weren’t aware of that would ease the swelling. She didn’t, but with tears in her eyes she said “I had that surgery years ago. I never want to relive anything like that. That was horrible. Horrible pain. Horrible pain for a long time.” And I figure if she could live through it without lidocaine and pain pills and the modern conveniences we have today, I can too. She said it took her about 5 months to have a pain free BM. And I did see her bum one time and she had healed nicely. I didn’t ask her how long that took. She’s still alive. I’ve said once I’m better, I’m going to drive 2 hours to where I used to live and go hug her. She deserves it after that. I can’t imagine the agony!

I’m a very impatient person when it comes to wanting to feel better. I’ve always been able to push myself to hurry up and recover, but not this time. And that wears on me too. We’re here with you. Plateaus are better than setbacks. And even setbacks aren’t where we started. Hang in there

@BrandiJo - thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I'm premenstrual too, so that's probably not helping me much at the moment either. I guess because I've got personal experience of already recovering so well once that is causing me even more frustration. You're right though, plateaus are better than setbacks.

Bless that lady you looked after. 5 months though - gosh, I hope it doesn't take that long! We've got a special family holiday to Disney World for 2 weeks at the end of October to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday, so I pray I'm fully recovered by then so that it doesn't impact on that at all. That's 7 months away, so surely all will be good by then. By 7 weeks last time I was fully recovered, easy BMs, back to work and had been and returned from our first trip to Disney World. It was such a lovely experience being able to enjoy it without any bottom pain from either hemmies or surgery. Your recovery reminds me of my first time. I am being impatient though, but I just want to put it all behind me now - no pun intended!

Hi everyone. I'm just over 7 weeks post op for haemarroidectomy! Worst pain of my life. I've only just found this thread, all others have been a few years old. I had 2 externals removed and a polyp. I feel exactly the same as you do at this point Disney lover... thought I would be back to normal by now. I don't feel any significant improvement from last week and I'm getting frustrated. Sometimes I can laugh about it, but sometimes I still cry. I'm still taking panadol and nurofen every morning. Especially when I have to work because no matter what I eat or drink I'm still having 4 BMs a day!!!

And I forgot to mention, my surgeon told me I only needed 2 weeks off work and I'd be in a bit of pain for 6 weeks. Lol

Hi @AusLady and welcome to our little support group.
I sometimes wish surgeons would have to actually experience this operation and recovery themselves before handing out advice as most of it is laughable. It is possible to be absolutely 100% fine within 3-4 weeks, as I was the first time, but I don't think that's the norm going by people posting on here. I've experienced both, and the long recovery is not nice at all.
I've been keeping a diary and today is day 50 which is such a depressing thought. 50 days of pain, discomfort, struggling with BMs, not knowing what to eat or do for the best. It's just so frustrating!
I'm lucky that I'm self employed and work from home so I can flex my time and schedule as I need to, but it must be so much harder for those needing to return to jobs where things are more restrictive.
This is a horrible thing to go through - the hemmies themselves to start with, then the surgery, then the recovery. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster, that's for sure - and we're ready to get off!

Thank you disneylover1. Yeah I'm.day 52. Still not at that stage where they say 'glad I had it done'!! Lol
Like you did disneylover1, I am going to a dietitian tomorrow so hopefully that will help. I'm still taking baths with salt and coconut oil in them every night.
I went back to work week 4, but then I had a tooth extraction so took the rest of the week off. I was soooooo miserable.
Had a bit of a set back today though. It's that time of the month and I've had diarrhea which has created a fair bit of pain!!! Thats only started since this op? So back in the bath I went.
I've been keeping a diary too, but only for the last 4 weeks or so. Laughed when I read a comment in week 5 that I thought I'd be pain free the following week. This surgery is more of a week by week then a day by day. And sometimes its still 1 step forward and 2 steps back. It's great when I read other peoples recovery and that they are pain free. Gives me hope.
Did you end up trying the rectogesic? I used it and it did give me a bit of a headache but that subsided the more I used it.

@AusLady - gosh, we sound very similar! Day 51 for me now and also the time of the month. No diarrhea, thank goodness, but did have an unexpected BM before going to bed last night. I know that pre-op I usually had extra BMs at this time - something to do with hormones I've read. I feel your pain though.
Having to deal with tooth extraction pain as the same time must have been truly miserable, do I hope that one has settled down at least.
I'd be interested to hear what advice your dietician gives to see how it compares with mine. Did you have any gastro issues pre-op? What sort of things are you eating at the moment and do you use any supplements?
No, I never did try the rectogesic. I think I was too emotionally fragile and couldn't cope with the thought of being in even more pain. Although things still feel a bit spiky when going, there's no blood and the 'thorn bush up your bum" pain has stopped too. The spiky pain us from where my skin tag was removed (whish I'd left the damn thing now!) and feels internal, so there's no way I'd get the gel anywhere near it. So, I'm just relying on time to be my healer🤞Did it make a difference to you?
Right, breakfast (porridge) and paracetamol time for me, and to see what today brings. Hope yours is good x

Hey DisneyLover1. Yeah I get really bad pain with my period, my doc prescribed naproxen 1000mg, and another with codeine in it. Haven't been taking the codeine though for obvious reasons!!! Lol. I tried to stop taking the ibuprofen but I was still suffering too much. I seem to have some good days without much panadol etc and then i become unstuck again.... very frustrating.
So my diet atm consists of a peice of whole meal toast with honey or vegemite and a cup of coffee. Sometimes its muesli with chia seeds. I also have a glass of berry juice with supplements I take. I go for a half hr walk then drink a glass of prune juice. Then I have yogurt, and fruit for morning tea, lunch is a soup or leftover veges and chicken from night before. i might have more fruit or a muesli bar in the arvo and then dinner is usually veges and chicken or salmon and salad or a homemade soup. Sometimes I'll make a shepherd's pie so I can eat red meat. Last night I had pizza for the first time though...
I don't take any stool softeners, only did twice since surgery. They gave me diarrhea. And i stopped having metamucil about 2 weeks ago hoping that would stop all the BMs. But it hasn't. I drink at least 2 litres of water a day, not including any other tea or coffee I may have. I still have a bit of bleeding with BM, but not all the time. And I always have pain with a BM and I have to remember to breath.
I used the rectogesic the first time back in November for a fissure. It healed up within two weeks. I have been using it on and off for the past 4 weeks as it can apparently relax the anus. I had an appointment with my surgeon two weeks ago, she said I was healing fine and to keep using the cream. i don't know if its helping though.
I work part time, not mondays and my employers are awesome. I couldn't make it to work on time for the first two weeks but they didn't mind. Cause they knew I'd already worked overtime previously without claiming it. I ended up having nearly 5 weeks off work after the surgery.
Dont think I'll be walking this morning as it's raining... which is good for my gardens.

Also, how do I tag you in a post? Lol

Hi @AusLady, reading what you're eating, along with what I've learnt from research and talking to my dietician, it sounds like you might be eating too much insoluble fibre, and not enough soluble fibre. Insoluble fibre is basically ball the bits our body can't digest and increases transit time. The undigested food (skins of fruit, fibrous veges, nuts, seeds etc) can be scratchy on our sensitive parts too. Whereas soluble fibre helps slow things down a bit and keeps everything soft. As I think I have a small fissure (no blood, but spiky pain), I've been trying to reduce some of my insoluble fibre intake and increase soluble. Porridge for breakfast is good as it's just oats, so a nice soft form of insoluble. Muesli contains nuts, seeds, what flakes etc which are scratchy forms of insoluble fibre. My lunch is vegetable soup, hummus, red bell pepper stick with the skin peeled off (the skin on peppers is quite tough), cucumber sticks (I leave the skin on those) and a peeled pear as they're very good sources of insoluble fibre. My afternoon snack is now stewed apple (peeled) which an oat crumble (oats, sugar, butter cooked separately in the oven - nice to nibble on too!), with custard. At dinner, I've cut down on the number of veges as most of them were insoluble, and now have chicken, mashed potato (no skins), cauliflower cheese and green beans. Ive only been eating this for the past 2 days and I'm finding this plenty of food for me.
My dietician also recommended chia seeds, but said to soak them for 24 hours in yoghurt first as that softens them so they're easier to digest and pass without being spiky. Not tried that yet though. I think what I have done for the part couple of dsys may be working as this morning's first BM was soft and passed with no spiky pain :) My plan is to gradually introduce more insoluble fibre as my bum/fissure heals more, bit to have a pain free BM this morning felt like such a luxury! I also drink at least 3 litres of water a day. No tea or coffee, but I've never drunk them anyway. I have read that caffeine can trigger BMs though, so maybe something to hear in mind?

I know you're going to see a dietician too, so will be really interesting to see what they say and advise.

I'm also walking, and if it's raining then I do lengths of my house. Not very interesting, but I know I'm still getting the exercise. I do 120 lengths which takes me about 25 minutes, and is 1.8km!

It's great that your employer has been so understanding, especially as recovery from this can take time, as we're finding out 😞

If you want to tag someone, just put an @ sign in front of their name, so to tag me it would be @Disneylover1 :)

Posted before reading and noticed loads of typos! Also, my breakfast and lunch are forms of soluble fibre, not insoluble fibre. Sorry if I confused you.

There's a good recipe here for overnight chia seeds in yoghurt. Just tweak it so that you're not adding too many spiky insoluble fibres:
www.theworktop.com/breakfast-brunch-recipes/chia-seeds-in-yogurt/

Hey @disneylover1, so my dietitian basically said the same thing you said. Lol. And I'm going to stop eating berries each day as well. Because the seeds would also be irritating my surgical site. She's going to do a bit of research and get back to me with a plan. After reading your diet I think I'm eating way too many veges also!! I've run out of muesli so it'll just be whole meal toast and coffee for breakfast. I really dont like porridge... but perhaps I could give it another try. Havent had it for absolute years. I always have a BM before I get a chance to eat or drink anything for breakfast. I didn't drink tea or coffee for the first 2 to 3 weeks after surgery. I have read that coffee can make you have BMs but I'm not too sure if it makes a difference for me? Perhaps I'll try just drinking tea for a few days in a row and see if there's a difference. I think I'll go back to just soups for lunch again. No.left overs. No raw veges either atm, as per dietitians orders. But I'll go back to the custards and fruit with no skins.
You lucky thing... pain free BM!!! Awesome!!! I can't wait for that lol.
I'll definitely try the chia seeds in the yogurt. Thank you for that.
It cleared up by the end of today so I went for a walk at 4.30pm.
So hopefully changing to more soluble fibre will improve my BMs as well. I also like to eat ice cream at end of the night if I need something else. Lol.
Thanks so much for your help @disneylover1. I'll let you know if i get any other interesting info from my dietitian.
I can't wait for the day that I can be up, showered, organised and out of the house by 8.30/9.00 am without a second thought about a toilet and how accessible it is to me.

Hi @AusLady - so pleased to hear that your dietician said the same sort of thing as mine. Can you imagine how confusing it would be if they'd said conflicting things!?!? Will be interesting to know if she comes back with any other information.

I'm having 2 BMs in the morning, about an hour apart. I do feel sore and achy still for a while after having them, but it was nice to not have the spiky pain this morning. My bum is still all lumpy and bumpy too - more like a baboon's bum rather than a baby's bum! I'm hoping that will settle down at some point. Part of me is worried that I've got some new hemmies which would just be a nightmare 😞

Yeah my bums the same @disneylover1. But from what I've read with others it gets better over time.

I too thought I had another hermie a few weeks ago, put me into a depression!! But I didn't, surgeon said everything looked really good. So I think it might be the scars?

It's now 8.15 am here and I've only had the one BM so far but know I'll need to go again. It was sore for a bit afterwards but no blood which was a relief. Once I get to work I know I'll be up.and down like a yo yo to the toilet.... does my head in!!!