Proctitis - Haemorrhoids and other questions

Hi Everyone,

First time poster from London, UK - invited to the Proctitis party in mid-2015, and I wanted to reach out to the wider community and say hello and source some thoughts.

I have the constipation variant of Proctitis where, in a flare up, I will get bunged up and pass very small balls - typical monthly cycle is a week of near-normality, then two weeks of lots of gas, some mucous of varying viscosity and colour, then constipation, minor bleeding, correction with Prednisolone, rinse and repeat.

My maintenance medication is standard:
Salofalk 500MG suppositories twice a day (or more if needed)
4 * Mezavent XL 1200MG
Pred when I think I need it (not typically for more than 3 or 4 days running.)

Recently my symptoms have changed: for the past two months or so, when I go to the loo I've been bleeding very heavily every day, almost comedy-horror levels of blood, e.g., I will stand up and the blood will have sprayed backwards and up out of the pan as well as across the pan itself - I'll need to spend a few moments with some bog roll between my buttocks to stem the bleeding, which at that point is dripping out of me.

It's important to note that whilst this is happening my stools are fine, and I'm going almost every day, just once, with no urgency and no mucous or other symptoms - I feel fine and my weight is good, i.e., the Proctitis is almost non-existent.

I spoke to my Private Consultant (who also leads my NHS team at St Thomas) about this and he suggested that the bleeding is haemorrhoidal rather than the Proctitis itself. I'm due in to St Thomas for a flexi-sigmoid to determine the source of the bleeding on the 1st December.

I wanted to check if anyone out there has had haemorrhoids as a product of Proctitis and has any good advice for management of them. One thing that has helped me is that I now spend no longer than a couple of minutes on the toilet when I need to go, rather than the 15-minutes I used to sit there for.

Also wanted to check if there were others with Proctitis in London and if there's a community group or something similar.

All the best,

Will

Post Edited (Will74) : 11/19/2017 5:30:11 AM (GMT-7)

See if your general practitioner can check you for hemorrhoids (white glove and a finger). As hemorrhoids appear very close to the sphincter (an inch or two at most from it, on the inside). When pressed, hemorrhoids are very painful, so you'd know in an instant if you had any.

We can get blood from anal Fissures (tears) or an anal Fistula and they'll most likely be visible on the outside. You can squat above a mirror and see if you see any cuts or red pimple sized bumps on the outside near your sphincter. They are generally pretty close to the opening, at no more than an inch away. Your doctor can check for these as well. They can produce a bit of blood.