Piles in pregnancy - any point going to the GP?? TMI alert!

[MinnieMummy]

Thanks for reading even this far!!

I'm 35+5 and for at least the last three months have had loose BMs every day, at least one, sometimes four a day. This is my third pregnancy and I've had this every time (though it's gotten earlier each time). I assume it's a combination of hormones and the pressure of the baby telling my bowels to open before they 'should'.

As a result I have piles. I use non-perfumed baby wipes. I'm on iron tablets (I can only assume I'm deficient in iron because food isn't staying in me long enough to get the nutrients) which often cause constipation but they don't seem to be firming things up any for me.

Anyway, last week I had two days of 4x a day and the piles have significantly increased in size - not painful (uncomfortable during wiping and if I don't put cream on immediately then very itchy) but it/they feels MASSIVE.

Yesterday I had a wee and when I stood up there was a little bit of bright red blood in the bowl - panicked for a few seconds about the baby and then realised, nope, just my piles cracking and bleeding due to merely sitting down .

Is there any point going to the GP or will she just say 'Oh well, part of pregnancy, deal with it'??

Can they prescribe stronger cream?

Also I'm slightly concerned about what pushing the baby out might do to them. I'm also concerned about post-delivery when it will all firm up and that then it might get really painful.

Any advice/experience very welcome... thank you!!

Poor you! I feel your pain. My piles were at there worst recently following the birth of DC4 at 10lbs. I tried all over the counter remedies but nothing helped i was in agony. I bit the bullet and went to see the GP. She was lovely and prescribed me a steroid spray which shrunk them very quickly. I also sat on frozen peas regularly!It was fine to use while BF but i'm not sure about during pregnancy but definately something worth knowing if they do get worse after the birth.
Good Luck

I feel your pain too! I have had 3 pregnancies and in my second my piles got so bad I couldn't sleep and the usual creams were doing nothing. After sobbing over my GP she gave me a wonder cream (sorry I don't know what it was called) but it did the trick and its not something you can get over the counter so please go and see your GP. Also may be worth mentioning that after the birth of my third dd my piles were massive with all the pushing (sorry!)and I thought there was no way they could ever possibly shrink down but they have. I remember the midwife applying some pressure around that area when dd was on her way out so I am sure yours will do whatever s/he can to stop them getting worse during the pushing stage. Easy to say I know but try not to worry as things DO get back to normal-ish eventually

Thanks so much - will definitely make a GP appt then! I had been wondering about applying an ice pack thing but I remembered my mum always saying 'If you sit on something cold you'll get piles' so I thought it might make things worse, not better (although, how?!).

Yey, feeling better about it already...

Your mum was wrong - cold is good. It's not dignified but a bag of frozen peas, wedged between your bum cheeks, is excellent for external piles. Just be careful not to "burn" the delicate skin around your anus with the ice.

Also do see your GP - we can help with creams to soothe the pain though unfortunately the piles won't get smaller till you have delivered.

Also, you don't get piles from loose movements - quite the opposite. you get piles from straining to push out harder ones, so I would not try to firm them up anymore if I were you! I think piles in pregnancy are also caused massively by the sheer weight of the baby pressing down on blood vessels and them having to work so much harder. I'll be off to GP soon, too.

Thanks all - I rang the GP yesterday to get an appointment on Monday and unlike every other GP surgery in the country it seems they told me to ring on that morning to get one that day!

Has been a little better yesterday and today (I've been trying to stop any pushing of my own and just letting nature take its course, seems to be helping).

Not looking forward to the potential of the midwife having to apply pressure there though.. I seem to remember shouting 'DON'T TOUCH ME!!!' at the MW, er, I can only assume trying to remove an 'extra delivery' from that region last time. Still, better than making it worse/ bleeding etc.

Ah, the joys of pregnancy... THIS IS THE LAST TIME!!!