Anal and leg pain

[Swayingsilverbirch]

I am hoping someone can help with some embarrassing and frustrating symptoms I am experiencing. About 6 months ago I started getting discomfort in my bum, it particularly hurt to sit or drive. This has continued with a change in my bowel movements. Some weeks I don’t go for days and other times I can go 6 or more times a day. I have no bleeding. I am leaking faeces.

I am suffering from lower back pain, lower left side abdomen pain and now excruciating pain down the back of my left leg to the knee. Some days I look 6 months pregnant. I haven’t slept for weeks.

I’ve seen the GP who referred me for an ovary scan and blood tests that were all clear. I have seen a colorectal consultant who suggested piles and I have a colonoscopy booked for next week. I have strong pain killers from the GP but they don’t help. Can piles really go on for this long and cause such pain? I feel I have a high pain threshold, I had two children with no pain relief. The GP had a look for piles but said my anus was ‘very healthy’......

I am in my 40s, slim, eat well, work out so this has knocked my for six. I can’t sleep, drive, workout and I am always miserable but pretending to be fine.

Has anyone had anything similar and got any advice please?

I am also in my 40s, fit and active, and until very recently had severe sigmoid diverticular disease (now recovering from surgery) which caused some of the symptoms you describe. By the time I went to the doctor I had:

Lower left abdo pain and heaviness
Groin discomfort especially when sitting or moving to a sitting position
Persistent abdominal bloating - straining at the waistband
Flank/backache on the left side
Aching down my left thigh esp when lying down
Pins & needles in the genital area (left side)
Thin (pencil diameter) stools & difficulty passing them
Rectal bleeding (small amounts - got much more dramatic later on!)
Intermittent bouts of fever/chills and feeling very unwell in myself

Reading all that back, it’s clear I should have gone to the doctor much sooner! Colonoscopy is the way forward - hope you get some answers after that.

Oh yes, and bladder problems too (urgency/frequency). I was up for the loo anywhere between 3 and 6 times a night.

Thanks Lark, I hope you have it under control now. Time passes so quickly, when I think back I had the first symptoms last summer. Did a colonoscopy help diagnose you?

I was diagnosed by CT colonography (“CTC”, sometimes known as virtual colonoscopy), though my “journey” over the course of a year also involved 3 x CT scans, 2 x flexible sigmoidoscopies and at least one pelvic ultrasound as I had several acute admissions with increasing complications before eventually having surgery.

Anyway, I hope they are able easily to ascertain what’s going on for you and get you better. Good luck next week.