A couple of months ago I had some itching around my anus. Nothing major, and I am sensitive to laundry products etc so thought nothing of it and treated topically, all fine.
Then in late March it returned, I have IBS and usually loose and multiple bathroom visits a day. Things were getting sore and I think I entered a vicious cycle of overwiping. I also found I'd wipe clean but when I visited for a wee later it'd seem like I'd not quite cleaned.
Things all got rather sore, and I had one single incidence of bright red blood on the final wipe. This was a mere week before I finished work for a 7 month sabbatical overseas and I totally freaked out. Managed to get seen by a practice nurse at my GP who did a digital examination and said it was pruritus ani, no evidence of piles and suggested moist toilet paper, cream etc.
Things improved somewhat but not entirely. I came overseas and from my usual many loose stools a day oscillated to constipation, horrendous rectal pressure, feeling like I needed to go all the time and the sensation of something crawling in my rectum/twitches/spasms and often itchy when walking.
I know when anxious it always goes to my guts and being overseas and feeling like this likely triggered an anxiety spiral. Away from access to GP, change of food and routine etc.
Over the Easter weekend I felt horrendous and like I might as well have had a baseball bat up there. Topical piles creams and suppositories have helped a little and I managed to see a doctor here. There was a bit of a language barrier and I thought she said she didn't find any haemmorhoids on digital examination, but on my notes has diagnosed just that. She tested my haemoglobin (if anything, right at the high end and no anaemia). CRP was a little raised but I was also suffering a cold and an infected ingrown hair which could explain it.
I've had no bleeding at all since that one episode just over a month ago. Things have intermittently got better; I would say better overall but not linear improvement. I've gone entire days with no symptoms and using no medications at all only for it to come back a little albeit never as bad as it was.
I'm still occasionally finding I seem to need to wipe again a little while after going and/or after I get up and walk somewhere. Skin is all a bit irritated. Cannot see anything external but redness. Occasionally still feel I need to go when I don't or as if something is up there/prickly sensation.
I'm 39F, and in largely good health save for IBS which never really bothers me, just was used to loose stools etc. It's about 2 years since I had the full whammy of FIT test, faecal occult blood test etc and full bloods and all was fine resulting in being told it seemed to be IBS.
Does this sound like piles? And how long is too long for this to go on if so? I know the challenges in me accessing healthcare here (both generally, and communicating the nuance of things) are causing me extra anxiety which in turn won't help my symptoms but this is really really troubling me. I've never knowingly suffered with piles previously so for it to be this bad is freaking me out a bit.
Any help would be much appreciated.
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