Haemorrhoidectomy hell

[IncredibleSulk]

I’m day 3 and I honestly can’t go on. This pain is absolutely horrific. Please please tell me your happy endings or any tips to see me through another night.

You have my sympathy op. I’ve never been in so much pain post op; it was truly agony. The consultant actually warned me beforehand that it was one of the most painful ops to recover from and he wasn’t wrong!

I didn’t start to feel significantly better until around the 14 day mark. I had tramadol for about a week, but it didn’t make a huge difference for me. My only advice is that it will get better and it may improve sooner than you think.

@IncredibleSulk , my kids are at school/nursery at the moment so thankfully I can rest. Although I’m never properly comfortable which is annoying - still having to lie on my hips.

Was your op on the NHS? So odd the variations in level of drugs people are sent home with after this procedure.

I’ve had several operations for several different reasons over the years and my goodness the haemorrhoidectomy was the worst. The pain was immense. I spent a lot of time sitting in warm water which helped. I can’t remember how long it took to get better but you have my sympathies OP.

My op actually left me incontinent as the surgeon ended up damaging my sphincter muscle so I really regret getting it done, so the mental side of that made recovery worse for me. But it does get better!

It was in a private hospital but via NHS. I really do think they should have emphasised the recovery more especially considering I have a young baby (who was with me at the appointment). I had read the horror stories but I have also read horror stories about gallbladders and caesareans both of which I’ve experienced and of course they’ve been painful but not excruciating like this so I assumed (wrongly) that I would be ok and it’s like most things where people only talk about the worst experiences.

@Pondere sorry to hear about your experience. I can’t believe how common this problem is. I’ve lived with it since my first child 10 years ago.

So the GP is reluctant to prescribe rectal diclofenac before checking with the consultant due to the concern of it irritating the wound. Honestly it has made so much of a difference so I hope he says it’s ok. A brief Google suggests some places advise it.

She also won’t prescribe tramadol, she said codeine instead. She’s going to ask Temne consultant about GTN spray and get back to me this afternoon with a prescription of some sort.

I’m worried about being left over the weekend without access to the GP but hopefully it will get sorted.

Surely codeine would make you constipated?

I did say this but she says tramadol would do too as they are both opioids and said no to that. I do have a stash of tramadol so I will stick with that if needed as when I have taken codeine before it’s made me extremely constipated.

I misread that as co-codamol, ibuprofen and gin. Sounds like my kind of hospital I thought. 😂

Did they mention though that codeine isn’t usually advised if you’re breastfeeding because of the risk of respiratory depression for the baby?

@Greybeardy when she advised co-codamol I asked if she meant dihydrocodeine rather than codeine phosphate due to breastfeeding but she said all opioids are the same and only small amounts pass into the milk. I didn’t bother with the argument because I knew I wasn’t going to take codeine phosphate regardless.

As it stands the only thing she would prescribe is oral diclofenac. Advised against PR, i understand the concern with the wound but there are studies that show it’s successful for a short period and she couldn’t actually tell me what the concerns of PR actually are. Let’s face it bowel movements are passing through it’s not like the wound is going to be undisturbed. Wont prescribe tramadol or GTN spray, again couldn’t tell me why just that the consultant said no.

It gets better OP, I had the same op for the same reasons in April. Discharged with oramorph which put me so out of it I couldn't look after my six month old so I battled through on just paracetamol. It took about a week to not be writhing on the floor for an hour post poo, two weeks to feel confident going. I'm now 7 months post op, no issues at all, lumps and bumps all gone, no continence issues. They really understate the recovery from this op, I'd honestly rather give birth again.

@DiamondApricot isnt it strange how the discharge meds are so varied. I honestly don’t know how anyone could get through it on paracetamol and ibuprofen, that barely masks my period pains. I honestly think my consultant would be amending his TTO’s if he’d experienced the procedure himself 😅

I had it done 6 weeks ago, grade 4 internal prolapse and the recovery is fucking awful, worse than my 2 sections!

Get Laxido and drink 2 sachets at night plus 2 litres water a day, after the first 2 weeks the pain is bearable.

I couldn't walk much the first 10 days.

I was up and walking a few hours after my c-section so hoped I’d be of the lucky ones with this surgery, but not so thus far! My c-section was quite a pleasant experience - I relaxed on the sofa and took the opportunity to request regular drinks and biscuits. This week has mostly been spent in bed, crying and worrying ☹️

@MsMelody same here, 2 sections which were a breeze in hindsight. I was so naive.

Have been to the toilet and actually it wasn’t as bad as feared, I definitely feel better now that’s out of the way. It’s a thoroughly miserable recovery isn’t it. Barbaric isn’t exaggerating.

Bad day today 😢

Oh I’m sorry to hear. This morning I felt things might be improving a bit and had a glimmer of hope. Then I got my period and it all went backwards. Currently in the bath trying not to cry.

Oh @MsMelody that was me an hour ago. It’s so depressing isn’t it. wish I could say something to help but there’s nothing.

im supposed to be going on holiday next week, that’s not going to happen is it.

What a shame, @IncredibleSulk , I’m sorry about your holiday. Did you have plans to go abroad?

No just a UK break but it’s with friends. I might just send everyone else and stay at home I just prefer being in my own when I’m miserable and in agony like this.

The things that’s hard is it just doesn’t seem to get better does it. With any other procedure you tend to make small progress every day, ok maybe some set backs but this is just relentless. This is just relentless. Even when I’m not moaning in agony it’s still a 5/10 and going to the toilet is just getting worse and worse.

I naively thought that similar to the first post baby poo it only gets better after the first time. How wrong was I.

I know what you mean about the lack of progress. I’ve found the poo pain is less dreadful, but the background pain is still there all the time. I’d say I’m at a 4/10 but really worn down by it. Keep thinking I’ll wake up and have turned that ‘corner’ everyone talks about, but no.

Also my period has thrown everything out of whack. Not been to the loo yet, so just waiting for that to happen 😭

Oh god, I was contemplating this op. I don't think I'll do it now. I hope you both feel better soon. I also got my internal and external piles when pregnant 20 years ago and they've never gone.

@MsMelody it really does wear you down doesn’t it and I’m not even a week in yet. It’s just really disheartening because there’s no improvement to boost you along. I honestly don’t think anyone could understand the pain unless they’ve been through the procedure.

@1Sky if I am really honest it was more of a cosmetic issue for me as I only really suffered with pain/bleeding if pregnant. So for me, I genuinely in hindsight would not have had it done had I known the true extent of the pain. But if I had ongoing long term issues from piles then I guess it would be worth it

I had a slightly better afternoon because I used a diclofenac suppository. It’s like magic it really does literally take away all that horrific aching feeling internally. I went out for something to eat and I made sure I enjoyed it because I thought whatever I eat it’s going to be hell on earth coming out so I may as well make it as worthwhile as possible!