Worried surgery didn't provide healing

My name is Andrea 29 and I'm a transsexual. I was suffering from severe anal pain and bleeding and my GI referred me to a colorectal surgeon. I had my surgery on November 27th 2012 the procedure was ligasure hemorrhoidectomy with open lateral internal sphincterotomy and it was extremely painful. Doctor said I had acute anal fissure mixed hemorrhoids. After 6 months I wasn't getting any better, so I decided to see my GI, I had gastroscopy and colonoscopy. The first diagnosis was Cecal Ulcer and he said he saw a rectal polyp and it could be rectal carcinoid. It was scary and I was feeling hopełess. After 2 weeks I had another colonoscopy and polypectomy was succesful it was benign. He ran a lot if test like TB screening it was negative. I got the ileocecal biopsy result, it was chronic granulomatous inflammation. My GI explained that there is a granuloma formation within the stroma with small clusters of epitheloid histiocytes and multinucleated giant cells seem but no atypia seen. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I'm worried cause I feel like my surgery is not healing and it's more than a year already and I won't be able to have anal again

Hi Andrea, glad you found your way to LGBT forum. I commend you first because being trans with IBD is truly a small and special population. We do have a few trans people on the forum and I can invite them to give their input too.

When was your last visit to the surgeon? I understand your fear that you may not have healed but the way to know for sure is to speak with the surgeon and your GI and ask whether its safe to resume receptive anal sex. I imagine you are out to them about being trans so it might not shock them if you ask. I know I am very nervous to broach that subject in a few months with my doctors but I think for the purpose of being safe I may just need to do what's smart.

If you are scared or uncomfortable to talk with your current surgeon, your best bet is to find an LGBT friendly gastro/surgeon or goto an LGBT or trans specific clinic. Are you aware of available resources in your area? If not I'd be happy to try to look them up.

Thank you for your kind words :kiss:I talked to my colorectal surgeon couple of weeks ago and he suggested not to have anal for a while to prevent any infection. He also prescribed me cortenema to stop the bleeding. It's just so frustrating cause I haven't had anal since November of 2012

I know that can be frustrating to not have a full and fulfilling sex life but honestly your health comes first. The last thing you want is to risk it and create permanent damage to the area. It sounds like its temporary though and in time you may be able to again.

There are many other intimate things that can be done with a partner and they say sex is 90% in the mind. Meanwhile try focusing on those other areas. If someone is with you in a relationship and loves you, they should be able to understand why you need to abstain from receptive anal sex now.

Thank you, you've been very helpful. I guess I need to learn to art of starvation for a while hehe. Hope you'll enjoy the rest if the day.

Hi Andrea!
I think it's important to remember that the body heals in a really magical way. But of course it'll never be fast enough and things go wrong too often. Surgeries, fistulas, hemorrhoids, everything else, and just the day to day diarrhea or cramps definitely don't make a person feel sexy! I hope the cortisone helps the pain and bleeding calm down for you.

Thank you so much! I wasn't feeling well lately and I feel like I was having a heart attack. My GI referred me to a cardiologist, I had a lot of tests like EKG, Stress Test, Echocardiogram with Doppler and 24 hour holter monitoring. The tests were all normal, the cardiologist gave klonopin 2 mg daily and I was advised to see a psychiatrist. It's just very tiring.

I guess my question is, have any of you guys tried acupuncture for crohns pain? Thank you

I have tried acupressure and definitely feel it helps with tummy pain. I'm sure others can pitch in with their opinions on acupuncture. I'd try it if it didn't involve needles.

"Acupuncture has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat inflammatory bowel disease. One study in Germany found that acupuncture and moxibustion were effective specifically for treating Crohn's disease. Acupuncturists treat people with inflammatory bowel disease based on an individualized assessment of the excesses and deficiencies of qi located in various meridians. Moxibustion (a technique in which the herb mugwort is burned over specific acupuncture points) is sometimes used because it is thought by some to reach deeper into the body than using needles alone."

Source: Crohn's disease | University of Maryland Medical Center
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/crohns-disease

Just waking up and I'm feeling bad. I could taste acid and feeling like I wanted to puke and about to get a sore throat. I'm taking nexuim 40mg for like 2 months now and I still have bad acid reflux. Any advise? Thanks a lot


Other meds: mesalamine 500mg 3 times a day, nexuim 40mg, metronidazole 500mg 3 times a day, klonopin 2mg. I'm also taking fish oil, grape seed oil, aloe extract, vitamin B12 and probiotics.

Have you changed any medications recently or ate something different?

I take Nexium which was working but since my ostomy it's not. There must be a culprit if you have a sudden change. Did it ever work? You may need a higher dose or a new medication like Prevacid.

Hope you're having a great day, I didn't change any medications recently. I ate frozen yogurt last night cause I keep hearing it has calcium and protein, plus it contains beneficial probiotics. Nexuim was working fine since this morning it's so hard to swallow. I'm going to see a otolaryngologist later, hope he could help me. Thanks

Well if it's just this morning id wait and see if it passes. Like all health problems we have ups and downs. Nothing is going to work perfectly 100% of the time. Some days you have more acid than others.

Yeah fair point my friend, I will just cancel my appointment today and I will observe for a couple of days. Thanks

If you still feel lousy past the weekend it may be a sign the meds aren't working at your dosage. How are you feeling today?

I don't think the frozen yogurt would cause an increase in acid.

I'm feeling sick, I went to the emergency room last night cause I was experiencing chest pain and having a hard time breathing. ER doctor said I have Ischemic Heart Disease, I need to see my cardiologist on Monday. Hope you're having a great weekend.

Oh god that's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah it's terrible now I need to take 2 more meds daily. Tenormin 50 mg and Novasc 5 mg. I'm praying that I will feel better soon.

Hello guys, is it true that contraceptive pill may cause Crohn's disease? I was talking to my cousin earlier, she told about this.

Has anyone tried methotrexate injection? Can you please tell me the side effects. Thank you

Yes, I'm on methotrexate and we have a methotrexate forum here too http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=88

There are many potential side effects like most drugs for IBD. Here is a good resource on it http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682019.html

Are they considering that for you? What is their goal? Have you tried Remicade?

Thank you, I will check it out later. I keep hearing methotrexate can cause hair loss and that's scary. My doctor told me about this methotrexate injections , he said it can control the granuloma formation. I haven't tried remicade yet.