It's been a while since I posted here, but I recovered from C-Difficle and have been managing the IBS as best I can. I have a haemorroid that was identified before I was diagnosed with C-Diff that has kept causing me problems, however.
I am not in the best shape physically. I'm currently having a really awful IBS flare, my appetite is completely dead again after a time when I was hungry, wanted to eat and was really enjoying my food. What makes me feel significantly worse is whenever the haemorroid starts bleeding - automatically I become extremely tired, very dizzy and I get a lot of aches and pains in my joints.
It makes it harder for me to concentrate, and if it happens to start bleeding at work I'll usually start to forget things and when I speak the words will sometimes not come out in the right order or I start tripping over the words as they leave my mouth.
I can very easily not get out of bed until 7/8pm on my days off because I am so tired that I don't have the energy to get out of bed. It's a challenge to brush my teeth twice a day - usually I only have the energy to brush them once at night.
I have been working a lot recently and do not have much opportunity to call my GP because I'm usually at work and won't be able to receive any phone calls from them. If you'd asked me before having C-Diff I would have called 111 and got seen through Urgent Care if they felt it was required but I now have an aversion to hospitals and anything medical related and don't want to be anywhere near Urgent Care or the A&E department I went to during having C-Diff.
There's been more issues that aren't relevant to my question (hearing loss, hair loss) but the haemorroid is the thing that disrupts my life the most and I'd like to have it removed/shrunk with Rubber Band Ligation. I feel that as long as the haemorroid is there I'm not going to be able to move past being this exhausted constantly but my GP is notoriously difficult to get hold of and I don't have much faith that I could get a referral to a Gastrointestinal doctor at the current time.
I wondered if anyone had any advice or experiences with trying to get a Rubber Band Ligation and if there's anything else I can do in the meantime to calm down this haemorroid that is intent on making me very tired and fed up!
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Yasai
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My last colonoscopy was in 2019. At they time they found ulceration in my colon caused by my body thinking that I still needed to empty after a BM. I take Macrogol to regulate my bowel because it can't do it on it's own.
Ideally I would like to have another colonoscopy done, especially after having C-Diff, but I have no idea how long it would take me to see a gastroenterologist, let alone get a solid date for a colonoscopy and do the pre-proceedure diet and get bowel prep.
It's something that might take a while to arrange and actually have done, considering the waiting list and delays for day cases in the NHS at the moment. 😓
I had a blood test this morning, something I was really nervous about but it was all over and done with very quickly. I should hear back from the GP within a week if anything comes up.
Hi Yasai, very sorry to read this. It does sound as if you need medical attention, but this would be difficult for you.Haemorrhoids are a real pain and I have prolapsed ones that bleed. I was offered an operation to remove them but I am avoiding that at present as I know it is very painful.
Many years ago I did have a rubber band ligation for an internal haemorrhoid and I would not repeat the experience. But I have a friend who has had a lot of trouble with them all his life and, although it was difficult for a couple of weeks afterwards, he has been trouble free since and very glad that he had the procedure.
I've really struggled to get any proactive responses from my GP surgery, not just with this particular problem but also with previous illnesses - I had a kidney infection in December that was left to do as it pleased for a week because despite the fact I very clearly stated that the antibiotic I was taking wasn't working and I felt worse, the GP wouldn't facilitate switching to a more suitable antibiotic.
I then had C-Diff as a result afterwards and it's taken the last bit of remaining fight out of my body entirely. I am exhausted at this point and if I were to get unwell again it's very likely I would be admitted into hospital (I got lucky with the C-Diff in that I avoided being admitted to hospital twice).
If I remember correctly mine is an internal haemorroid, and I was briefly told about the procedure however not given much detail. They made it sound very simple and something that can be done as a day case and life resumes as normal afterwards. A few people have had unpleasant experiences with rubber band Ligation and it's left me wondering if this is something I really want to do to my body at the moment considering it's taken a battering.
At the end of the day I don't want to put my body through something else that's going to cause pain when it's already at it's limit. Thank you very much for replying and I shall read into Rubber Band Ligation a bit more before making any decisions 😊
Yes it was a simple procedure, but I wouldn't say life resumed as normal until 2 weeks after! My friend's were very bad and had troubled him for many years so he felt it was well worthwhile.
I'm usually at work these days, I've been taking on extra hours recently as I'm saving up in preparation for moving later this year. The more I read up on it, the more it doesn't seem like it's going to be effective or fit my current schedule.
Generally mine calms down for a bit and then gets angry for 2 weeks - this follows the cycle that I take my Macrogol. The haemorrhoid lets me know when it can't handle the Macrogol doses anymore and I take a break from them for a few weeks, in that time it calms down again.
At this stage it's fairly manageable. For the moment I've found a consistent routine with managing it, and if I went through with a Rubber Band Ligation now I don't think it would be that worthwhile for me.
I had a blood test done on Friday, quite a big achievement as I have been avoiding anything medical for 2 months prior to this. I feel confident enough to maybe go to the dentist again in the near future now!
The blood test itself was fine, it was over very quickly and the only thing that was different was that I couldn't look at the needle or watch as they took my blood sample. I should hear back soon about the results so hopefully something can be done! 😁
I got the results from my blood test back and my B12 was in range, however I'm having them re-tested in a few weeks because my thyroid function was doing something a bit odd. I got an Iron supplement recently and I've been taking that regularly so I will wait patiently to see if it helps!
Be careful with iron supplements they can be harsh on the stomach choose one like spa tone or others as they are known to cause constipation or Diarrhea , I take sodium feredetate liquid it’s usually prescribed for children and I always take the lowest dose and never on an amputee stomach , I hope your symptoms improve as you’ve really been through it x
I had no idea that was an option for them! I will look into it. I've decided against Rubber Band Ligation for the time being as it doesn't seem like a procedure my body can handle at the moment and it doesn't fit in with my current work schedule.
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