6 months after hemorrhoid surgery recovering experience and advice on how to get through it

So i figured i would post my experience after 6 months, since when i got the surgery and was looking for info it seemed like 99% of the posts i found only covered the first few weeks or so. Then the person goes MIA when people ask for a update. 

So some back story im 27, and had my surgery on 11/23/17. So in about a week i will be at the 6 month mark. I had 4 hemorrhoids removed all together. 3 smaller internal ones and one medium sized external one. Overall would i do it again? definitely, but there is alot of stuff i wish i knew before hand. 

Plan on taking atleast 2 weeks off of work, more if you in any kind of driving job/physical labor job. If you fall into that category take a month off if you can, if your doing physical labor take it easy for atleast 2 months.

My doctor originally told me i would be back on my feet within 3-5 days. But i spent the first week pretty much laying in bed on my side. After about a week i was able to walk around and do normal activities somewhat, but it was not a comfortable experience at all. Bending over hurt, walking up and down stairs hurt, getting in and out of the car hurt and i pretty much carried a pillow around everywhere i went. Overall though i think the 2nd week was worst than the first. You should get some good pain meds to get you through the first week or so, but once they run out you start to feel everything u didnt feel the first week, plus combined with the fact you going to be moving around more. If i had to do it again, i probably would have suffered more the first week and taken less meds then saved them for the 2nd/3rd week. A word of advice looking back is even though you are in pain you should take the minimum amount of pain meds you can. They will make you constipated and the last thing you want after hemorrhoid surgery is to be constipated. Trust me i learned that hard way. Start taking fiber pills a week or so before surgery and dont stop until you feel 100% better. Try not to eat anything hard either. I pretty much ate, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and bought a bunch of those ensure drinks for the first two weeks. You want whatever is going in you to come out as easy as you can. Liquids/soft foods are your friend.

It took me about 4 days after my surgery to finally use the bathroom (why i said dont take to many pain pill) and im not going to lie it was excruciating. It took about 2weeks in total to be able to use the bathroom without being in alot of pain and 3 weeks for it be be "comfortable". But the first two weeks were definitely the worst. I legit almost passed out i was in so much pain a few times. Dont push just sit and wait. If it doesnt work try again later. You will be in there for a bit, take you time. Over all id say it took about a month to use the bathroom normally. I bled almost every single time for the first 2-3 weeks. Then it slowly stopped over time. In the end it took about 2 months for me to stop bleeding. Also dont be afraid if you look in the mirror and see what it looks like. Its going to look horrible the first month or so. But after about a month most of the swelling should have gone down and it will start to look more "normal". Within 1-2 months id say about 50-75% of the swelling should be gone depending on how much work you needed. 

It took me about a month in total for me to be back to doing my normal activities without being to uncomfortable. The only real issues i had was sitting for to long, or bending over to pick stuff up. It isnt really a pain, its more of a tightness, kind of the feeling of having a pulled muscle. I was originally told the swelling/tightness would last for 2-3 months. For me i say that more of a minimum. While the swelling went down alot after 2 months (id say about 75%) the tightness and stiffness stuck around. I went back to the doctor at the 4 month mark to ask him about it and he told me i still had some healing going on for the external one and to give it a month or two. After 5 months the stiffness has gone away, now that im coming up on month number 6 and i would say im about 99% back to normal. Which sort of makes sense since scar tissue takes around 5 months to heal. While 6 months seems like a long time to deal with this its really more like 2 months of actual pain. The third month your going to be annoyed here and there by it, and 4-6 you should start to forget you even had the surgery. 

The only real issue id say after its all said and done is i still have some loose skin where the stitches were on the eternal one. When i mentioned it to the doctor on the 4th month he said it can be easily removed with a office procedure in about 2 minutes if i wanted. But i should wait to see if it goes down a bit. I originally had a little loose skin on the other side (from the internal one swelling) when talked to him and thats completely gone now. So i figured id wait another month or to see what happens before i have that done. But once that is gone it will almost look like i never had the surgery at all. 

Overall im really happy i had it done. Yeah it sucked for a few months, but ive been dealing with them since i was 15 years old. So 5 months of pain to no longer deal with hemorrhoids was well worth it. Id definitly do it again if needed (but i pray i never have to) lol

Lastly this might fall into the TMI catagory but im bi some im going to include this for the girls/guys out there who like anal sex because when i searched i found almost nothing. One of my concerns about this whole thing was my sex life. My advice is take a break for atleast 5-6 months before you try to put anything in there, then when you do start small. I tried around month 4 and it hurt alot, wait till your feeling 100% better then wait a extra month. Your getting a new a**hole in the end. Imagine the first time you ever put something in there, well thats how its going to be again. If you feel any discomfort, just wait a bit longer. I tried again about a week ago, and while it still wasnt easy it was 100x easier then it was at month 4. So you sex life isnt gone, its just postponed a bit and you need to slowly get back into it. It was a night and day difference between month 4 and 6, so i assume its going to get even easier as time goes on. 

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