C and hemms - need some help for a friend
#299601 - 02/12/07 09:23 AM
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Hi everyone!
I know it's been quite some time since I've been around here, mostly because I've been doing so well  I'm quite stable now, thankfully! I hope everyone else here is well too. I've missed you all!
I'm here now because I'm looking for some help for a friend who has been suffering very bad C - and suffering through a**hole doctors, too. I do consider myself pretty knowledgable when it comes to IBS (I'd better be by now!) but most of my experience is with IBS-D so I'm hoping you C'ers can give me some advice.
Here's his story. Sorry if this gets a bit long and thank you for reading!
My friend immigrated to Canada in September. Before that he was living in a refugee camp in Africa since 2001. He's told me that he's had problems with C and hemorrhoids for the last 2 years or so but that it's gotten much much worse since he came to Canada, mostly he suspects because of the drastic change in food. He's living in the dorms at the university here and his choices for food in the food court aren't exactly the healhiest ones. (That's a pretty damning statement on the state of food in the west if he was eating more healthfully in a refugee camp...)
Anyway, he's been here for about 5 months now and his C and particularly his hemms have gotten really really bad. He can't sit down for his classes because he's in too much pain and because they start bleeding pretty badly. He says he can't sleep because his stomach hurts so much. His doctors haven't been much help. They've repeatedly put him on different suppositories, stool softeners and laxatives, which help at first but then stop helping so they put him on a different one. He told me that he feels like he is totally dependent on them now and that they're not really helping. (No kidding!)
No one has given him any diet advice. He's had 4 different doctors take his medical history and listen to his symptoms now. His last doctor referred him to a surgeon (assumingly for the hemms maybe?) who he saw today (I went with him), and who gave him a scope. That's the first real test he's had beyond physical exams. He has another appointment with the surgeon in 4 weeks. In the meantime, he perscribed yet ANOTHER suppository, a stronger one this time.
I certainly don't know for sure that he has IBS or anything else but I do really strongly feel like he could benefit from going on Heather's diet and taking a lot of the other tips typically given for IBSers. I'm really worried about him being on all these suppositories but at the same time I'm hesitant to tell him to go against his doctors' advice.
What I think I'm going to suggest to him is that he start changing his diet - increasing fiber, cutting out triggers, basically - drink more water and exercise more and see how that goes. Maybe start taking a fiber supplement too. I'm also going to suggest things like peppermint and hot packs for the pain, and maybe an over the counter hemm cream for the hemms? (I'm surprised that his doctors haven't suggested that... would there be some reason to not do that? I don't have a lot of experience with hemms)
I don't think I'm going to give him any advice on IF vs SF at this point, mostly because I'm not sure that he has IBS, possibly just chronic constipation.
What do you think? Right now his biggest concern is really the hemms because they're causing him so much pain and because they're bleeding quite a bit, but I'm concerned that his doctors seem to be only (sort of) treating those and not addressing his really bad C that he's had for a while - which, really, could be causing the hemms in the first place (right????)
Any help/advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! thanks all!
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Hye, Laurel, it's good to hear from you and to know that you've been doing so well. I'm really sorry that your friend is going through such a difficult time. I can't imagine the stress he must have been under living in a refugee camp and now being in college and not getting help with his current problems. It seems to me that if the doctors dealt with the constipation this would probably help alleviate the problems with his C. I think it's a good idea for him to follow Heather's diet; an SFS should make his stools softer and easier to pass. Also, has he considered taking a stool softener, just for a short while to give his hems a chance to heal? Are they sure it's just hemmorhoids and not anal fissures?
I wish I had more advice. I wish you and your friend the best!
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There are surgeries that can be done to get rid of hems, also a procedure that can be done which involves tying them off so they shrink and go away. I think that can be done in the doctor's office. Otherwise, the prescription hydrocortisone cream is more effective than over-the-counter Preperation H.
Has he done a sitz bath for the pain? You can buy one at any drug store for about ten bucks. The idea is to soak your bum in warm water several times a day. This is soothing. If he has a tub at home he can just use that.
Also, it's a good idea to wipe with lubricated tissues (can also buy these at the drug stores in the toilet paper section). Witch hazel dabbed on the outside of the anus is helpful for inflammation.
I'm an IBS-D so can't help with the C aspect. Just curious...what did you do to get (and stay) stable?
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No help on the hemms, but...
For C? BTC doesn't do much if C is the only symptom. It calmed down my other problems, but then I needed to start upping my IF as much as possible. The SFS helps a ton. I've used Benefiber powder and Fibersure pills. I have to say that the acacia works better with less, but if he just needs to try one out and not order it, then I can say both of the above helped some. That and enough water.
I'm glad you've done so well, and I hope your friend can get some relief. I didn't find suppositories to be much help.
--------------------
IBS-C, D and nausea with acute attacks, stable on EFI for 3 years
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Hi Maria!
Yup his doctors have put him on a stool softener, and honestly I'm not sure WHAT his doctors think right now. Like I said I went to his last appointment with him and I could tell that there is a big language/cultural barrier there. So frustrating, no one's giving him straight answers. Now that I know a bit more about the situation I'm going to go to his next appointment with him too (in 4 weeks...) and ask lots and lots of questions.
Good to hear from you and thanks for your help!
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Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately he lives in a dorm so he doesn't really have a bathtub available in order to do the sitz baths. I'd forgotten about those wipes thingys though; I'll definitely suggest those to him.
As for what's worked for me... honestly? Just sticking with the diet... and well, 3 years. LOL I was stabilized a bit 4 months in (in that I was no longer having 10 D attacks a day), but it's really taken about 2.5-3 years for me to finally say, ah, yeah, now I'm stable - and by that I mean, now I don't really have to think about having IBS, I never have real attacks any more - sure I get D sometimes but not so bad to consider them attacks. And I rarely have pain any more, whereas before it was a daily experience. But really, just sticking with the diet. I never cheat, really, and honestly I suppose I took it very slowly - I've just recently started adding back in a lot of foods I was scared to try before (I don't mean any of the trigger foods, I never plan to eat those again, and I don't really miss them.... I mostly mean things like cooked onions, tomato sauces, oranges, the odd cup of green tea, etc.)
I'd say that I drink lots of water and get exercise and do yoga and try to control stress too, because I do, but I'm not as good with those things, and I certainly don't do them all the time.... Really, the diet has been the main thing for me.
I take Acacia too; I used to take 3 tbsp a day, but now it's usually just 1, if that (I'm so bad for forgetting now that I don't get reminded of my IBS everyday!) but happily it seems that I don't need it as much as I used to
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raksasi
#299866 - 02/14/07 09:56 PM
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Hi! Thanks for the tips!
From what he's said the suppositories work at first but then they stop working, and his doctors just give him stronger ones. I'm a little worried about the fact that he's always on them, and that he says he feels like his body is now dependent on them in order to have a BM....
I have an extra bottle of Benefiber in my cupboard so I think I'll give him that to try out.
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Hey all, I've been thinking this over the last few days and I'd like some opinions. I'm really concerned with my friend being on all these laxatives and suppositories, and I'm worried that if he stays on these, any good done by the diet/SFS is going to be counteracted. He does NOT have anything near an IBS diagnosis yet though, and I'm hesitant to tell him to go against his doctor's orders and just stop taking the suppositories. .....  What would YOU do???
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Hi, I don't know much about hemorrhoids, but here's waht I found:
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/47/75.cfm
They suggest things like
Quote:
Sit on a doughnut. We're talking about a doughnut-shaped cushion, here. They are available in pharmacies and medical supply stores and can be useful to hemorrhoid sufferers who do a lot of sitting, says Dr. Townsend.
That makes sense to me. It might give him some relief.
Quote:
Choose a cream. Choose a hemorrhoid cream over a suppository any day, says Dr. Leff. Suppositories are "absolutely useless," for external hemorrhoids, and even for internal hemorrhoids, suppositories tend to float too far up the rectum to do much good, he says.
I have hemorrhoids when I get too C, but I've found taking my laxative more regularly (I use magnesium citrate) helps with them... at least I don't strain as much in the bathroom. My hems have never bled though.
I am glad you went with him to his doctors appointment. I also hope the college's medical center is not as bad as I've seen...
Btw, your friend might not have IBS, but they do suggest taking more fiber, just to relieve the C problem. If he is not and IBS-er, maybe he doesn't need to go on the BTC diet (which will constipate him even more) and avoid IF as much.
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Hi: I am new but have had severe hemorrhoids for years as well as IBS and diverticulosis. I have to get the IBS under control to get the hemms under control usally. The spastic colon puts pressure on them. Area must be always squeaky clean. I use warm water and the wipes (either preparation H or even baby wipes) when I cannot reach ww. Drink lots of water. Sitz baths are good and even hot showers. Heating pad for spastic colon or rice pad heated in microwave. I was told by a gastroenterologist not to use a donut...actually squeezes them tighter. I have taken ibuprofen in extreme pain. Tylenol did not work. I am just looking into the pepperment caps and Acadia myself. I do use suppositories when all else fails. Diet is especially important. The more pressure caused in the colon by bad foods, the worse the hemmorrhoids. C&D both make them worse.
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