3 months with rectal/anal problems undiagnosed

[kjm]

Hi all,
this is my first time posting in this forum. for the past 3 months or so i have been rather depressed, i have no idea whats wrong with me so here's my story (apologies in advance if this gets long and rather "TMI-ish" but im really depressed and would just like to here your stories and opinions regarding this matter)
it all started in october, im originally from kuwait but have moved to tralee in ireland for uni, anyway in october i had a bowel movement that was to change my life forever, my bowel movements consist of Large hard single stools ive had these all my life and never complained i got used to them as i actually preferred them over normal stools, after my bowel movement i came to realise that my toilet was full of blood this had never happened before so i panicked and was going to call the ambulance since it was 1 am when this happened and all health centers were closed. i went to the doctor the next morning and she gave me a DRE and told me there was nothing wrong with me and that i should consider a colonoscopy, this never happened again to this day so i never got myself to do it however a week or two after this incident i started getting red streaks on my stool and felt a lump on my anus i went to the doctor for her to prescribe some hydrocortisone cream and told me it was hemmorroids 2 weeks later no change small decrease in size (i never had any symptoms to begin with) went to the doctor again said it was just a skin tag. 2 weeks after i felt some sharp pain one day in the lump area bought some prep H applied symptoms resided in a week lump was still there. jump to december 13th sharp pain in different area around anus didnt visit doctor as my flight back home was only a few hours away sucked it up applied hydrocortisone pain went never came back. jump to last few days anus felt obstructed hard to pass stools when passed rather small and thin. today i decided to look at my anus through a hand mirror (TMI starts here)
the usual lump was still there but upon squating and spreading my anus it was rather obstructed i instantly assumed it was internl hemms so i went to the dr there was also a white pointy almost pimple inside (im a virgin so i doubt its and std) i went to dr and i must say the dr in kuwait was better than the one in tralee he told me there were 3 possibilities, a skin tag a hemmorhoid or a perianal abscess and that if it doesnt reside in 5 days after treatment to visit him once again. he gave me suppositaries and some ointment though he didnt perform a DRE. my question is if it was a skin tag, if i remove it will i risk having fecal incotinance forever my other question is which is my main question is the anus usually obstructed as i said before or do i have internal hems? if upon sqauting and spreading the opening am i supposed to see obstruction? (the obstruction is red and is located in line with my other external hemms it wasnt dangly either) finally what are those white specks inside my anus? thank you all for your time and i appreciate your support in advance also just to note here i havent had any symptoms what so ever regrading any of these problems.

 

[AJC - Australia]

go and see a colerectal surgeon and get them to look at your anus and tell what it is….any colorectal surgeon will be able to accurately tell you what it is.

good luck.

 

[kjm]

The thing is there arnt really any colorectal drs in kuwait not that I know of anyway I plan on visiting a proctologist asap once I get to ireland but for now lets hope my current dr knows whats up

 

[justbreathe8]

I almost have the exact story as you…I never had any problems, had one hard stool that had blood and then had streaks of blood and pain and a lump formed that would get larger when I had a BM and then get smaller… I was originally diagnosed with hemmoids by a GI and put on cream and suppositories, and once the lump got so big and painful I was referred by the GI to a colorectal surgeon who told me that I had a fissure. Unfortunatly I can't tell you a happy story, but my fissure turned into a fistula which then caused 2 (so far) abscesses. From what the surgeon told me, a lot of fissures heal eventually, it just takes time. Try to make sure your BM are soft so it irritates the area less. And try doing sitz baths to keep the area clean until you can see a doctor and get a diagnosis.

 

[kjm]

My situation is exactly the same as yours it geys bigger during bowel movements however my isnt painful at all and remained pretyy much the same size im getting ny abscess drained. question tho did you get your fistula treated? There might be a chance I dont have a fistula tho since it hasnt really chamged in size *fingers crossed* I know exactly how it feels and with the pressure of moving into a completely different country and now this lets just hope I'll see better years all the best to you aswell!

 

[justbreathe8]

Yes I got the fistula treated…it literally went from okay you have a fissure lets use this cream to heal it….to about 12 weeks later, okay now its a fistula we need to do a fistulotomy to lay it open in june. He did that and then the pain never really went away and on october 31st I had a different kind of pressure type pain and went to the ER and thats when they found my first abscess. they said that the fistulotomy did not heal correctly and bacteria got trapped in the tunnel and tunneled further to form the abscess. Yes, I hope you don't have a fistula either!! I know with mine, I had LOTS of pain. So if you don't have any pain, I think that might be a good sign. I think if the fissure heals correctly it does not form a fistula. I have my fingers crossed for you!! Keep us updated!

 

[kjm]

About the fistumoly did you experiamce any form of incotinence? And how painful was the abscess for you? I dont present any symptoms at all my doctor did say something about being a fissure under that "hemmorroid" so lets hope I dont have a fistula one more thing was your drainage of the abscess done as an outpatient or were you hospitalised? And how long did the recovery take? Did you experiance pain or were you slightly uncomfortable? How big was it btw mine is about the size of a pea

 

[justbreathe8]

No, with all of my surgeries I have had no problems with incotinence. From what Ive read, I think you can only experience incontinence if it involves the muscle. That is why I have 2 setons through my other two fistulas because they go through the muscle, so a fistulotomy was not an option for either of those. With the fistulotomy that I did have, when I first went in, he numbed it in the office and drained the bump. but that was when it was just a fissure. Then once it turned to a fistula he did it in the hospital under general anesteisa. The process took about 45 minutes. The bump started out pea size and then was the size of a grape when he drained it in the office. After the fistulotomy surgery (that was my first surgery) it took about a week to "recover". Although I was never without some sort of pain, but the pain was manageable. With the second surgery, the abscess was farther inside and I needed a seton. That was about 2 weeks recovery time and I still had some pain but I was able to get around for a little and then sit, then get around, then sit. and then my most recent surgery was when I needed another seton and the recovery time was about a week. and after that surfer I finally feel less pain then Ive had in months, now its just more uncomfortable and the worry gets me more then the pain.

BUT I would say, if you did have a fistulotomy and it healed correctly, you should be okay pain wise within a few days. Unfotunatly, I wasn't so lucky! If your not experiencing any pain, maybe the bump on the outside is just a skin tag. Those are associate with fissures and from what I read, once they are there they don't really go away, and don't cause any pain. So maybe your fissure is healing up and whats left is just the tag. (Im not a doctor, lol, but Ive spent hours and hours and hours reading forums and trying to gather as much info as possible since the doctors don't seem to explain much)

 

[justbreathe8]

I wouldn't worry too much, especially if your not in pain. Im sure there are thousands of people that have these things and are "fixed" right away. You just don't hear from them on these boards because they are good to go. Chances are you are just fine. Just hang in there and don't worry about it too much.

 

[kjm]

Thank you so much!!! You have no idea how helpful and reassuring you are! My dr also said it might be a skin tag so fingers crossed! Again thank you really its hard to find information about these things since most people find it a bit taboo even thoigh they're surprisingly common! I'll be visit my dr tomorrow when I can will keep you posted! thank you so much and on the bright side youre not feeling any pain so that must be a good sign lets hope neither of us experiamce anything like this again! Cheers!

 

[justbreathe8]

your welcome! I remember what it was like when I was going through all of that!! I couldn't find any information anywhere! At first I was scared to tell people, but then the more people I told, the more I found out that they knew someone with a similar thing going on! Its actually more common then you would think. Good luck at the doctor appointment!!

 

[kjm]

Just came back from the drs appointment and I come with great news! Dr told me it was a sentinel pile as a result from my fissure told me it was just extra skin and to use suppositories for a couple of weeks and it should be gone also the white spots were just fibres from the fissure that healed! Worst case scenario just a bit of discomfort from the extra skin. Looks like happy endings do exist! Wish the best for you all keep your heads high and hopes up and im sure it will all be better Good luck to you all!:ysmile:

 

[justbreathe8]

Hooray!! That's great news!! I'm glad to hear it!! Best of luck to you!!