Colonoscopy with Fistula- Need help

Hi All,

I have recently had hemorroid attack. After several medications the pain didnt go away. My doctor suspects a fistula and also crohn's as my body is not responding to medications and also because of the frequent, crampy diarrhea. She has suggested a colonoscopy for diagnoses.

What I am worried about it, is the colonoscopy prep. The diarrhea i will have to go through to clean the colon. It wil only hurt my anas more. I can barely sit right now and I fear i will be worst after it. Also, inserting the cam through anas might hurt or damage my anas or fistula more ( atleaßt thats what i fear). Should i be worried?


Also my doctor mentioned operating to mend the fistula and get me rid of hemmoroid. Would she do it during colonoscopy ? ( i dont remember) is it possible?

I am scared.. and very depressed. I dont want to go through another torture as I am already emotionally drained. If i refuse to go through colonoscopy, i fear I will miss the chance to fix the real issue. I know its for my own good. But I just cannot cONvince my self at this point.

Please tell me if the colonoscopy unavoidable for me or not. Thank you for your time

Call your doctor. Tell him your issues. He/She probably has some solution so they can still do the colonoscopy. I don't know for sure but they probably won't do it during the colonoscopy. For me, they did repair hemorrhoids and did a different surgery for the fistula.

Did your doctor say for sure you have a fistula, did you have an abscess first? I am guessing the hemorrhoids are a separate issue right? They wont do surgery during that time. Usually you need a colon-rectal surgeon to treat the fistula as GI doctors who do colonoscopies do not usually do that kind of surgery.

I mean I am not sure there is any other test they can do to see the intestines. They can do CT scan but that is not always reliable in terms of seeing the inflammation. There is a sigmoidoscopy they can do, but again you would still have to take some sort of laxative for that even, and in my opinion if I were going to go through that, I would just get the colonoscopy as it will be more thorough and reliable( and you get knocked out for it so it wont be painful).

Like I said, If I have to have a colonoscopy I will be in the same boat as far as worrying about the extra anal irritation it causes. I would ask the doctor what her thoughts are on this. Do any of the medications help with your hemorrhoids at all? Have you tried all the prep H medications that are supposed to shrink them? I wonder if there would be a way for you to ask your doctor about possibly getting a script for some ointment you can squirt up there before you start drinking the prep stuff. This way it will coat the area beforehand. I mean you may have to keep reapplying the stuff though. That is just a thought.

Rooms said:

Hi All,

I have recently had hemorroid attack. After several medications the pain didnt go away. My doctor suspects a fistula and also crohn's as my body is not responding to medications and also because of the frequent, crampy diarrhea. She has suggested a colonoscopy for diagnoses.

What I am worried about it, is the colonoscopy prep. The diarrhea i will have to go through to clean the colon. It wil only hurt my anas more. I can barely sit right now and I fear i will be worst after it. Also, inserting the cam through anas might hurt or damage my anas or fistula more ( atleaßt thats what i fear). Should i be worried?


Also my doctor mentioned operating to mend the fistula and get me rid of hemmoroid. Would she do it during colonoscopy ? ( i dont remember) is it possible?

I am scared.. and very depressed. I dont want to go through another torture as I am already emotionally drained. If i refuse to go through colonoscopy, i fear I will miss the chance to fix the real issue. I know its for my own good. But I just cannot cONvince my self at this point.

Please tell me if the colonoscopy unavoidable for me or not. Thank you for your time

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I have visited the doc twice and once she gave the daflon, metronidazole and ointment. She wanted to examine but i refused out of shame cause I was on period too.

I gathered courage and went back again. This time I was on diarrhea too. She prescribed ciproxen, metromnidazole. She examined me like I said and I couldnt bear it. She said it seems a fistula and that I need an M.R.I.

She also wrote tests such as stool occult blood, CBC and creatinine. All came good with no trace of blood in stool.

She suggested me endoscopy and colonsxopy both in the same visit too. I am worried. Yes too many tests. I was amazed too.

Unfortunatley, my insurance rejected it. She said maybe its because both colonoscopy and an M.R.I so we will go with colonoscopy.

So No, its still guessing work i must say. She doesnt kniw whats going on inside. Do you think I might have developed an abscess? Both sides of my abdomen hurt. I am uncomfortable and cant sleep on any side. And my ass hurts if I sleep on it too.

I am not convinced for colonoscopy. I am usually tough for these procedure, I am sorry if i appear to be whinny here. Its a no issue for me normally but these days when I am totally bed ridden because of this hurting butt, its hard to let anyone poke it, even if iam knocked out. Cause even if I dont feel anything, fistula are sensitives they might rupture and become worst after so much poking and insertion.

I have decided to talk to my doctor and convince her for MRI instead. Godforbid if its an abscess, i fear my abdomen will be filled with poopy fluid with colonoscopy prep. And yes the hemmorhoids are better with meds. But bowel movement only hurts it like I defecated a glass.

Ihurt said:

Did your doctor say for sure you have a fistula, did you have an abscess first? I am guessing the hemorrhoids are a separate issue right? They wont do surgery during that time. Usually you need a colon-rectal surgeon to treat the fistula as GI doctors who do colonoscopies do not usually do that kind of surgery.

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I also fear the docs want to perform colonoscopy as they get paid by the hospital for it. I read it somewhere. Though she appears to be polite but her resilience on colonoscopy make me wonder if thats the motive.

I saw a video on youtube. It was made for USMLE students and clearly said That we do no go for colonoscopy for fistulae.

You are not Whinny at all, I do not blame you for being worried and concerned. I would be the same way.

The MRI may be able to see if you have a fistula, so that would be a good test for that. Do you have any leakage from the fistula at all? Did she see a hole that looked like a fistula?

I honestly do not blame you for being worried. I mean you ass is killing you already and you obviously do not want to make it worse. I think a CT scan might be able to see if there is inflammation, but maybe the MRI could too. I would definitely discuss it with her and tell her your concerns. One other option would be maybe seeing a colon-rectal surgeon first to see about the fistula and hemorrhoids. I feel so bad for you . I have pain too in my anal area as we speak. It is uncomfortable to sit down for too long. It feels all irritated and sore up in there. I used this Protozone HC cortisone cream my primary doc gave me for hemorrhoids. I used it for three nights and it helped a little, but then the whole outside of my anal area got really irritated and it was burning and stinging. So I stopped using the cortisone cream and started putting this zinc oxide paste on the area. It helps some with the outer irritation but now the insdie is killing me again! I am going to try and use the Preperation H ointment that contains that Phenylephrine vanconstrictor that is supposed to shrink the hemorrhoids. It just feels terrible in there. One of my biggest issues is that I have super sensitive skin and react to everything. So my heart goes out to you, I know your in misery!