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Anus pain! I need medical help but I'm broke, what do I do?
harvest
By birthright,a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
By birthright,a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
This is going to be a bit graphic so that you can understand what's going on.
I've been having seriously terrible anal pain. I'm not gay and wasn't raped by hentai tentacle demons so it's not from any external trauma. I've got blood when I poop. Bright arterial blood, not black old digested blood, so there's a tear in my anus/rectum somewhere that bleeds. I've got intense muscle pain in the anal sphincter. My local clinic gave me some hydrocodone for the pain but wasn't any help on getting a diagnosis. Anyway the hydro made me constipated, which resulted in even more blood and pain, so much so that now I've got rebound pain in my testicles and kidneys.
I had been feeling better gradually, but today the constipation brought back everything I'd been missing and it is entirely intolerable. I can barely function and after sitting here a few minutes to type this post I'll have to go back to laying down until the pain eases off a bit and I can sit up again. I'm kind of worried that I'll die a horrible, painful, septic death.
I am unemployed and broke and have no insurance. What do I do?
I've been having seriously terrible anal pain. I'm not gay and wasn't raped by hentai tentacle demons so it's not from any external trauma. I've got blood when I poop. Bright arterial blood, not black old digested blood, so there's a tear in my anus/rectum somewhere that bleeds. I've got intense muscle pain in the anal sphincter. My local clinic gave me some hydrocodone for the pain but wasn't any help on getting a diagnosis. Anyway the hydro made me constipated, which resulted in even more blood and pain, so much so that now I've got rebound pain in my testicles and kidneys.
I had been feeling better gradually, but today the constipation brought back everything I'd been missing and it is entirely intolerable. I can barely function and after sitting here a few minutes to type this post I'll have to go back to laying down until the pain eases off a bit and I can sit up again. I'm kind of worried that I'll die a horrible, painful, septic death.
I am unemployed and broke and have no insurance. What do I do?
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Where do I put the heating pad? On my nuts or do I sit on it?
As far as stool softener, I don't have any money
Fiber. Lots and lots of fiber. Not only will it soften your stools, it'll make your digestive tract healthier on the whole, which will be a big help for your problem.
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Lots of fluids. Water, soup. Water, soup. Low sodium. Eat bananas.
You need to go to the ER. Immediately.
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I've been drinking a lot since this business started so at least I got that part right
Friends don't let friends shit blood.
Satans..... hints.....
The good news is it wont be expensive to find out, especially if you are unemployed. Since you are unemployed you should qualify for Medicaid. Even if you have to pay for the visit out of pocket, you should apply for Medicaid so that any treatment procedure is covered if at least partially.
Also, if it is not a hemorrhoid you need to know, because bloody feces can be some very serious shit. Though, typically that serious stuff comes with abdominal pain and vomit.
What I suggest you do is buy an over-the-counter laxative and some mineral oil (probably has "intestinal lubricant" on the bottle somewhere). Stick to liquids for food-intake. Soups, Juices, Ice Cream. When you go to the bathroom, instead of wiping, dab with a warm wet cloth. If possible, take a warm shower.
The following is sort of yucky, but it may help in my experience, but mine had not ruptured and went away after a couple of weeks:
When in the shower use some of that mineral oil and an over the counter cream. Rinse your anus gently but thoroughly and dip your pinky in some of the oil, slide it in a little ways (VERY LITTLE) and try to relax. Next use some of the cream. You're not giving yourself a colon-bath here, but you need to make sure it's clean and kept moist. Any kind of baby-powder or shower-to-shower will dry you out and irritate the mucous membranes. It also may give you a chance to "feel" how things are doing down there.
Above All : NEVER STRAIN TO TAKE A SHIT if it's not coming out, stand up and go do something else for a while. This is an incredibly bad practice, if you don't have hemorrhoids it will give them to you eventually. If you have to strain and grunt, you need to re-think your diet.
Edit: In my humble opinion you need to avoid fiber right now. Especially non-soluble. It's great for helping you avoid hemorrhoids, but once you have them you don't need to be shitting wicker swingsets and irritating them.
Yeah, I figured this had been said enough... but blood feces CAN BE bad news. It can also be nothing. Only a doctor can tell you which.
I'm not disagreeing, but a lot of painkillers cause excessive constipation. If you do get something for pain, a surgeon I know used to say "take a pill, eat a prune". So keep that in mind.
Emergency Rooms are 24 hour, and they're for all emergencies. Not just trauma. Shitting blood is an emergency and you need to fucking go, like now.
edit: Also, what the fuck clinic gives pain medication without doing an exam? They didn't have you hop up on a table or anything at all? I'd fucking file a lawsuit, that's irresponsible and I'm pretty sure it's also illegal.
"I have blood in my feces!"
"Vicoden, NEXT!"
What the fuck?
But this could be bad, bad stuff. Hemmaroids don't come with crippling pain. You may have ulcerative colitis, among other things. You need to go to the ER immedately.
Pack a little bag with a change of clothes, magazines, books, DS, whatever, get a friend to take you, and go. You absolutely must.
My mother will be up in a couple of hours to see my dad off to work, I'll go to the ER then. And you can be damn sure I'm taking the DS with me
Edit: The clinic I went to did examine me, but couldn't make any diagnosis. They said some shit like 'go see a specialist'. Right. As if you could get in without a referral and commercial insurance in this town. Not to mention the 2-3 week wait most specialists have. So I was like 'but it reallllllly hurts
That is not what NOW means. It means stop posting on the internet and fucking go.
Until a doctor tells you otherwise, my advice is:
avoid fibre. If you're blocked up somewhere that will just contribute to the evil. It may be that your diet hasn't had enough fibre in it, and in the future you should do something about that, but for now, fibre is not your friend.
plenty of fluids. This will help to loosen things.
don't be scared of the blood. I mean, do something about it (doctordoctordoctor) but I've crapped blood a thousand times and it's not gonna kill you.
don't be as scared of the pain as you are. Anal pain hurts like fuck - I've had 15 years of comparing it to other things in life, and it is truly crippling - as in you can't function. Sitting on a hot water bottle works for me (I think it relaxes the muscles, which of course are cramping up all through your rear). Others say a warm bath is good. But if your bowels are working (you have bowel sounds, you don't have apocalyptic stomach pain, your stomach isn't hard as a drum) then the problem is in your anal area and shouldn't be nearly as serious as, say, an intestinal blockage.
Is the blood mixed in with the feces or more separate? Is it more on the paper or more in the stool? This matters to me (oh what a lovely area to be experienced in
Have you been to the toilet at all since this started? I mean moved your bowels/had a crap?
Chances are it is not so serious but it's not worth the risk.
Anyway, this is H&A, so let's just leave it, yeah?
Bottom line, socialized healthcare SOUNDS like a fantastic idea, but in practice it fails for the same reasons communism fails (even though it's great in theory): Someone has to pay for everything. So, to socialize medicine you need to cap doctors salaries and find the cheapest facilities while simulataneously making taxes skyrocket, and GOOD doctors will still want to get paid better and will start their own non-free clinics or practice in countries where their salaries are not capped.
And if you don't believe that, then you know NOTHING about what healthcare costs.
People don't understand: Medicine is not some minor thing, it is the pinnacle of human civilation! Almost all of our collective knowledge and some of the most advanced technology we have ever created go into medicinal practices... Which makes even minor procedures fucking EXPENSIVE. That's life. It blows, but it's unavoidable.
Furthermore, the current US system is pretty damn good. Even people WITHOUT health insurance have to be treated by hospitals. If he doesn't go, it's his own damn fault. The only time a lack of health insurance is critically important is in expensive prescriptions and high-tier procedures, like heart transplants.
Chances are slim, but still...
Well, there are two kinds of fibre, soluble and insoluble. As the names would imply, the first dissolves in the digestive tract while the other doesn't. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of soluble fibre, whereas stuff like bran and whole grain foods are good sources of insoluble fibre. Both are good in the long run, but if you're bunged up, soluble fibre is the one you want, because it will soften stuff up and provide general lubrication to get things moving through the works. Insoluble fibre is good for stool bulking and digestive tract health, but from what I gather when you're actually constipated adding more insoluble fibre is akin to trying to clear a traffic jam by adding more cars. Psyllium seed husks are an excellent way to get a bunch of soluble fibre into your system and clear up constipation; products like Metamucil have them as their primary ingredient.
Also, misbehavin, in my opinion your wrong about almost everything except this not being the right place for a debate. If you want to start a thread on health care systems in D&D, I'd be happy to take up the discussion there.
Best of luck man!
Not hemorrhoids, unless it's internal. Possibly an anal fissure, possibly an anal cyst. I'd expect a fissure to be identifiable by eye, but apparently not. Blood work, stool sample, and biopsy required to find out exactly wtf is up. They gave me some kind of barium solution to drink. This is my chance to get super powers from radiation!
The nuns at the hospital are really nice. For some reason, having your anus probed by a stalwart matron doesn't feel demeaning or embarrassing. This must be why there are so many Catholic hospitals.
Drugs are wheeeee. I'm still concerned because nothing was discovered or fixed, but I don't care as much now. At least I won't die from whatever. I know this because I wasn't whisked into the operating room and nobody that examined me said 'uh oh'.
And our taxes aren't that much higher than the U.S.'s. They're higher if you're super rich, but if you're middleclass the cost of healthcare is offset by the fact we don't waste swaddles of cash on our military. Which is also another issue.
As for it being the pinnacle of modern society and being hugely expensive? I agree on both counts. I also see free healthcare as one of the greatest achievements of a modern democracy.
Really good chance that is what it is because I have had one before. My Doctor told me people come in thinking they are going to die and it just ends up being a tear or hemorrhoid.
Your Doctor is really fucking this up. The first thing he should be looking for is an internal Hemorrhoid because that is mostly likely the cause. I know because I went to the ER because I was freaking out too and they said they could not find anything wrong. So they wanted me to go to another doctor. I was like fuck that I am going to the doctor I have been seeing for years. He checks and goes, you have internal Hemorrhoids. Drinks lots of water, eat right etc..
The scans you are having done will cost 1000's..
Regardless, I doubt you have ass cancer, but if you aren't reading this from a hospital, I don't know what else to tell you...
What did they tell you to eat? high-fibre/low? If you tell me, I can give you some good advice.
I hope you're feeling less worried - it's all serious but the symptoms you have now have been most of my life for years, so you probably ain't gonna die from this.
Not an internal hemorrhoid.
While dictating, the doctor said it was a 'significant fissure surrounded by lesser, more superficial fissures'.
I was seen by a Nurse Practitioner this morning (the lady), who muttered something about either internal hemorrhoids or a fissure after doing a manual inspection of the anus. I was finally able to see the doctor at about 5 PM (Pacific) and he busted out the big guns: A purple rubber glove, a tube of astroglide, and a disposable speculum. Remember, without the Doctor's help I was already feeling this pain that prevented me from sitting upright for more than 20 minutes or so, and had me crying when taking a dump. What followed was probably the most horrific pain I have ever experienced, followed by a wave of shame and a major panic attack (I also suffer from PTSD ;-.- ). There's this 'pain scale' on the wall in that office, goes from 1 to 10. The guy at 10 is crying a bit and the guy at 1 is happy. My pain is the rock-and-roll kind of pain, and it went to eleven.
It's not like the doctor was cruel or anything, but there was no other way to get a good look at my insides, and I knew that. I am really shocked at how much it hurt, but in those few seconds I got a real diagnosis and a real treatment plan.
First: An anesthetic/anti-inflammatory foam.
Second: A artillery shell loaded with hydrocortisone acetate (anti-inflammatory suppository)
Third: Hydrocodone
Fourth: An appointment to come back to the hospital to see a surgeon and anesthesiologist to get a more detailed examination, and if necessary, some few stitches and/or an injection that makes the sphincter relax enough for bloodflow to heal the wound naturally.
All of this on the Catholic church's dime. Thank you, you people who pay a tithe.
I started applying for aid at the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation earlier this week. That plus psychotherapy plus psychiatric drugs should get me a suitable job by early 2008.