u/rosa_lunae

Hello again and welcome to the play by play for my hemmorrhoid bandings that no one asked for. Bit my experiences have been fairly textbook, so I wanted to share them foe those who are anxious.

Honestly, I wanted to cancel but only because I know the night of sleep after the procedure will be shot to hell. Also, I was a bit constipated leading up to the procedure, so I took a glycerin suppository that morning l, which worked like a charm. But that meant my bum was a bit irritated going in, which wasn't very fun. Doable but not ideal.

The procedure was as normal as the first two. Painless, over in 30 seconds. It is the dull, achy discomfort afterwards that sucks. It feels like a combination of constipation pressure and a menstrual cramp. Generally no higher than a 3/10 of pain for me, but it is constant the rest of the day and night. Usually, by morning I feel back to normal-- will report back as we go.

I take alternating Tylenol and Advil for the discomfort, but the only things that help are walking/activity and sitz baths. And sleep, but I struggle to fall asleep. But generally, all 3 of mine were textbook. Painless, fast, discomfort afterwards that resolves the next day.

Here's hoping I won't need to do this again for a long time! Drink the fiber supplements, yall! And don't be afraid of the banding-- just make sure you go to a colo-rectal surgeon if possible, because they gwt much more training on it than GI docs.

Cheers and hydrate,

rosa

Procedure 2 was just like procedure 1 (I wrote about it extensively in another post) except maybe even easier. The worst part for me is not being able to sleep because of the cramp/pressure sensation-- but to me it isn't painful so much as annoyinh/distracting.

The banding itself was over in 90 seconds, and again, I didn't feel a thing. Worst of cramping jn the following hours is maybe a 2-3 out of 10. I am lucky that so far my experiences have been textbooks, exactly what they say will happen! So to everyone frantically reading these posts, know that it IS possible!

I am a 39 yo female American and I have been lurking in here for weeks, like many of you, getting a bit freaked out about my upcoming banding. So here is out it went!

1st procedure of 3 (with 3-4 weeks between each)was about 45 mins ago. It took probably 90 seconds and I didn't feel a thing. When doc said it was over, I was surprised! As I got dressed, I noticed the sensation of Something... a little sore, a little crampy... maybe a 2 or 3 on the pain scale at most? It feels like the combination of a menstrual cramp and constipation, but I don't feel like I need to poop quite yet.

Sitting isn't super comfortable and even lying down, while not painful, doesn't make it much easier to fully relax my body. But again, this truly is something I would call discomfort rather than pain. I am about to board a ferry, where I plan to get out of my car and walk around.

The doc's advice was to stay busy and distracted, to take Advil. I may pair that with Midol since the feeling is so like a cramp. He also said that for most people, the brain stops noticing the sensation after a while and it becomes background noise. As the hemmorrhoid shrinks, the sensation also lessens. Wish me luck! I am a little nervous about whenever I need to poop next, but then again, I got paranoid and used a suppository last night and so have gone several times before the procedure so that it might not need to happen right away.

My advice to you is go to an experience colorectal surgeon for this and NOT a general GI doc. My GI doc wanted to do but didn't examine me or do any education, so I had some doubt and cancelled. When the need arose again, I found a specialist with decades of experience doing these exact procedures. Voila!

I will come back and update as the week goes on so you can hear how recovery goes. :) But so far, it is fine!

The Background-IBS

So, I have had IBS all my life. Thought it was lactose intolerance for a while, but the dairy trigger was never consistent enough to be a sure thing. During the worst pandemic years, I was an ICU healthcare worker and surprise, that was really stressful and traumatic, so I was in like a two year long horrific IBS-D flare, doing the things like sitting and straining, which in turn, led to bleeding, which of course led to a colonoscopy. Colonoscopy was amazing sleep and generally not that bad of an experience. They found that I had a twisty-foldy colon as well as internal and external hemorrhoids. And that's it-- that's all the information my GI doc gave me. Just that they were there-- not anything I should do about them, grading, nothing. K.

Hemorrhoids- yay

I'm thrilled I don't have cancer, so I try to up my fiber and hydration and move on with life. For a couple years at least. Meanwhile, I changed jobs, not doing in patient hospital work anymore, and my stress level was much lower, so the IBS flares calmed down a bit. When I had them, they were more to the IBS-C direction. BUT I also went on some weight-loss and other meds that can cause constipation-- also a factor. So, the hemorrhoids didn't go away. In fact, the bleeding returned, so I went back to the GI doc. The GI doc was busy, saw a PA. The PA said, let's schedule you for a banding procedure. She didn't examine me at all, and I don't think she even referred to my colonoscopy footage.

Banding Procedure #1- I canceled it

I went out to the desk to check out and they wanted to schedule the procedure right away. I was surprised. No exam, no education, nothing? Okay fine, scheduled it. Months go by, the bleeding nearly completely resolved, so I canceled the banding.

Thrombosed

We are almost up to the present! This week, I was having a bit of a mild constipation flare, but nothing horrible. But at some point, I noticed what felt like a small ball of protruding tissue. It wasn't painful really, just kind of there and in the way. I tried to see it with a mirror or my phone camera (and then spent like an hour turning off every auto-back up process for photos on my phone), and yeah, definitely something there. I thought it was a prolapsed internal hemorrhoid since it wasn't painful. I'm about to go out of town, so I buy some of the Tucks medicated cream and start mildly obsessing. Once I got back in town, I immediately scheduled a consult with a colorectal surgeon with decades of experience (NOT my general GI because I wanted someone who would actually examine me and have some expertise in this area.) This doc fit me in right away, does the exam (which only took about 2 minutes. He and his nurse made me feel comfortable and calm even though I had arrived nervous and embarrassed). Doc tells me, this is a thrombosed hemorrhoid. I'm surprised! From everything I've read, thrombosed ones are horrifically painful. He said, this will go away on its own in a couple weeks, but the best long-term treatment option would be the banding. He approved that I had sought out a colorectal surgeon rather than staying with my GI doc because according to him, gastroenterologists only get a "weekend long course" in this-- assuming he meant hemorrhoids or the banding procedure, but either way, he said, this is our specialty. Nothing against GI docs, they are great at what they are great at, but I do this all the time. No one in our area has done this procedure more than me. Okay, sold. I figure this approach gives me the best chance of a successful, minimally painful procedure.

Banding Procedure #2 - On the Calendar

I agreed to this, but said, "I have to tell you that I am suspicious of procedures that are widely advertised to be painless, because that's what I was told about IUD insertions and that was NOT my experience-worse pain of my life. 9/10." Doc says, "That's not my specialty, but I can't believe an IUD insertion is EVER painless! Every body is different, but most of my patients report only feeling some discomfort from the procedure itself, pressure after the banding that makes you feel like you need to go, and occasionally bleeding after the hemorrhoid falls off, which is s similar to how a baby's umbilical cord is banded and eventually falls off." He also says it is best to get three bandings done in a row, about three weeks apart. This is because the rectum is circular, to triangulate the area. Also no surprise here-- the GI's wanted to do the same thing.

Stay Tuned

So I have the first banding scheduled in two weeks, so that the thrombosed hemmy can calm TF down first. Doc told me no need to do any prep and that I should eat and drink like normal. He also said no more fiber gummies or pills, that I need to do the powder. K, that's easy enough. He also said, creams won't really do anything for the thrombosis-- might ease some itching or provide minimal pain relief, but time and maybe advil would be the best treatment. So I will return to this post or post a new one to describe my first banding experience in two weeks. So far, the biggest surprise for me was that for me, the thrombosed hemorrhoid has been almost entirely without pain. Doc attributes this to everyone having different perception and tolerance for pain. Sure? We'll see. Stay tuned!