HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

what to do when your family doctor & your GI have completely different opinions?

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/13/2015 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
so a few months ago my family doc gave me a rectal exam & seemed very concerned with my internal & external hemorrhoids. he said they are part of whats causing me to lose muscle function/have urgency issues & recommended i get them banded.

today i went to see my GI to talk about getting the hemorrhoids banded. he also performed a rectal exam. and he says that hemorrhoids don't cause you to lose muscle function, that banding them would be extremely painful & could actually make the lack of muscle function worse. his opinion is that my muscle function isn't doing too poorly right now & that i should leave them alone until they become more of a serious issue. i've wanted the external hemorrhoids removed for a while now, for aesthetic reasons, but apparently you have to cut those out & my GI doesn't want to put me through that type of procedure at this point...

have any of you had experience with internal/external hemorrhoids? which one of these opinions sounds more accurate to you? should i get referred to another GI for a third opinion?
Posted 4/13/2015 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
i'd listen to your gi doc since that is his profession. pcp's are usually clueless about anything ibd related.

i have had both internal and external hemmies. i haven't had them in years because i started using diaper cream DAILY. witch hazel is also very soothing on them, but the diaper cream keeps the area moist when i'm having diarrhea or constipation. i've never had any procedures done for them.
Posted 4/13/2015 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
i wonder if some sort of cream would even work for me at this point....i have had the external hemmies for 5+ years now, and they've slowly gotten worse over time. don't know if this is normal or not.
Posted 4/13/2015 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
Seems like someone just posted a horror story on here not too long ago regarding hemorrhoid removal that went wrong. I remember my PCP not recommending hemorrhoid removal (before I even had UC) as it weakened the area, something you probably really want to avoid with IBD.
Posted 4/13/2015 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
i think removing external is minor if they have hardened - could start with those
Posted 4/13/2015 11:18 PM (GMT 0)
Often a topical steroid cream is tried first, have you done that? Often, when a hemorrhoid is removed, they leave a stump (don't take it all) as cutting to close can damage the muscles and risk incontinence/control issues. The removal is painful, and the recovery takes a number of weeks.
Posted 4/13/2015 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
I would totally go with what your GI says, it makes sense and he seems to know his stuff with his specialty of being a GI and not just a GP...my GP screwed me over with what she thought was hemorrhoids and sent me in for any emergency banding on what turned out to be perianal crohn's skin tags (these are external--GP could clearly see them but didn't have a clue about perianal crohn's skin tags that look nothing like a hemmie by the way) so that's why I say follow you GI on this one, not your GP. Feel better soon!
Posted 4/14/2015 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know much about hemmies, other than I've had a few persistent ones. Fortunately they didn't bother me too much on a daily basis so I left them alone and they seem to be even less troublesome lately. I haven't experienced urgency related to a hemmie, is that common? I would think if you're dealing with urgency, you should try a steroid suppository and get a flex sig to see what exactly you're dealing with. I wouldn't assume that because you eliminate the hem, you will be urgency free. I've had a lot of urgency in my time and never has it been caused by a hemorrhoid.

I don't know about GPs. I go to one that I like but it's always on a basis of needing something on the spot, like a muscle relaxer for a pulled muscle. I never go to one for a long-term health condition. They seem like they are more focused on overall health than they are on helping people with a specific health issue.

I think I would take the GIs opinion more seriously and if I didn't trust this particular GI, I'd see another one :)
Posted 4/14/2015 12:55 AM (GMT 0)
Go with your gut. My gut says go with GI. I would only ever have hemmies removed if I was dead!
Posted 4/14/2015 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
I would side with my GI over my PCP on that issue, even though I really trust my PCP. I refer to my GI as my "butt doctor" lol, he's the king of all things butt related.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply