5 Year old wakes up on agony with sore bottom

[AmalFish]

Im wondering if anyone can help me. My 5 year old son has had issues with constipation recently and usually poos once every 2 to 3 days (he holds it in normally).

The last two months he wakes up during the night on the days that he has done a poo (usually before bedtime), he wakes up screaming hysterically saying the inside of his bum hurts. He cried and screams for a couple of hours each time. I took him to the GP who said he may have a fissure and to keep giving laxatives till his poo is soft and it can heal but we are not coping with the lack of sleep (not to mention he is not coping at school because he’s so tired!) Is there anything we can do? right now we are just moisturising the bum area but obviously not internally. We use an ice pack when it flares up and give calpol- both don’t seem to do much which is weird as i would think a pain killer should work. He’s totally fine during the day and it never hurts him, only at night and only during the nights when he had done a poo earlier on in the day.
Any advice is super welcome- we are desperate!

It's always worms.

You won't be able to treat under 2s but don't worry too much, those in nappies don't tend to spread/reinfect others because their bums are always covered, just be very careful with hand hygiene when changing nappies.

We've had the dreaded worms. If you treat the whole family (excepting the under 2s) twice at the right interval (see the treatment packaging) and observe good hand hygiene, you don't need to go completely insane washing everything multiple times. It's mainly important to wash things they come into contact with at night (bedding, pyjamas, cuddly toys) in the first days after the treatment. They're quite easy to get rid of. Get everyone to wear pants at night, ideally boxer style, to keep eggs from straying/spreading basically.

The treatment can cause tummy cramps, that's about it.