38 weeks and piles :(

[duzzlightyearsmum]

do I phone doctor/midwife? or shall I just go to my pharmacy?

Just another late pregnancy joy :(

xxx

My midwife just went: "yeah, that'll happen". Bought some cream at the supermarket and they're not getting better/worse but really hoping that after the birth they'll go. So far they're the worst bit of the end of pregnancy for me : (

Depends how bad they are. I had awful ones a couple of weeks ago (around 36 wks) and I got a prescription cream called Scheriproct which made a massive difference. The over the counter stuff just wasn't helping. So depends if you think you can tolerate them til post-birth!

The pessaries give a lot of relief vs the cream, assuming you can use them in late pregnancy.

If you go to the doc/midwife you can at least get the treatments free on prescription. I have been using Anusol cream and suppositories for the last week and although they took a few days to bring down the pain I'm much more comfortable now and the piles do seem to be shrinking gradually. I think you can probably buy them over the counter though the packaging might say something like "if you're pregnant, consult your doctor" which might make the pharmacist reluctant to sell you them over the counter.