Food for Hemorrhoid

Digestive health
1

2 years ago my dr said I had a stg 2 to 3 internal and external hemorrhoid. This year my hemorrhoid flare up and down. Last month I posted here about bleeding matter. It does get better for about 1 or 2 week, but it come back everytime I had a big or hard stool, and started to swell and hurt.

My recent dr advised me to take a stool softener but, for longer term I thinking to really carefully select my food. Fyi, I live in Korea and somehow the food quite spicy, so now I tried to avoid gochujang and reddish food. I wonder if any of you can give me an advise food that can soften the stool that can be consumed daily?

Note: I use ointment everyday, I drink alot of water, and take a fiber supplement. But sometimes my stool is still very hard at the beginning then soft at the rest. Still it make my bottom feels hurt and swell.

2

Hi Siraf

I had the same symptoms except that in the more recent time the bleeding became more frequent and the external ones would not go back in which made it almost impossible to defecate. Stool softeners are not good on the long run because you need to balance your flora naturally. In the end I had to have a surgery but if your doctor did not tell you that you need one or if you do not want one, you need to be very careful with food and exercise... First, do not sit long on the toilet, even if you feel you need to oush more - don't. You are pushing the piles out, too. What I do now is stop and then walk and drink water and do stomach rub in case I need to release more. Shortly, save it for the next time. Fiber is good but with lots of water, otherwise you are stuck again. What works for me is: yoghurt, plum juice (boil dried plums, drink 3x a day), oat meal, spinach (I make it with a little soya milk, sometimes add an egg, boil, don't fry.), all kinds of fruit except pear and banana, home made juice (apple makes you go but do not overdo, you don't want to go to the other extreme)... All kinds of soups, boiled chicken, cereal. One day, I was overconfident thinking I was fine and I ate a slice of pizza - don't do that! Out of all the dry foods, I eat only a slice of bread with honey...I put sesame and sunflower seeds on top of it. 

This is my diet as short as possible... I am 25 days after op and realised that the inly way to recovery is to change eating habits. 

Also very important, don't skip meals, always keep some snacks with you. If you starve yourself, it will do a lot of damage. 

I hope I helped, I am still in the learning process myself. I wish you a pile-less healthy days and life! 

3

Dorothy.

Thanks a bunch for your feedback. Actually, my dr has not adviced me yet to do a surgery. But 2 years ago my past dr told me that if it hit stage 3 surgery would be necessary, nevertheless I am thinking to hold for a while unless food changing does not work.

I have not tried yogurt yet. But most of source said it is a good food for our guts, but weirdly some source have different opinion about banana. A minute ago my wife come from market to buy a bunch of banana, is there any reason banana is bad for hemorrhoid ?

Also this is a nice discussion too. Everyday I consume vitamin b complex, I just read it it can also make a constipation.

I think I am agree with you that I need to be carefull with food, even though it is a high fiber one? It is very confusing.

4

It IS very confusing, you are right but do not stress. Eventually, you will find what works best for you. My surgeon told me exactly this, avoid banana it blocks you and avoid apple, it does the opposite. I eat apple now, moderately, but I avoid bananas despite loving them a lot. Lots of meds and supplement also cause constipation, including antibiotics and antidepressants (my mum has a problem thanks to the latter ones)... She also takes vitamin B capsules but I am not sure about their effects because I know a woman who's been taking them for years but has no constipation. 

i know it is annoying to have your life revolve around this topic, I have turned into a toilet-talker myself lol but it is very important to be consistent. Be careful with red meat (I am a meat lover unfortunatelly), too. Definitely, you MUST not eat spicy, I was stupid enough to eat chilly in what I now think was stage 2. 

One more thing, a little less pleasant... Try to massage yourself. It can help your blood circulate and release the pressure. It means you need to go in and do a circular movement for a few seconds. 

If you are considering surgery, do it before stage III, they say recovery is less painful or even without pain. Also, DO NOT READ about the surgery before you have it. 

Are you taking any other meds, like Phlebodia or probiotics? Ask your doctor about them. 

 

5

I heard that it is important to drink lot of water after taking a fiber food. So maybe the reason your surgeon told you to avoid banana is because it makes your stool bigger.

Lol. Korea is full of spicy food. I am not Korean so I can tolerate without eating spicy. I write a note and stick it to the mirror to NOT eating any spicy food for now. For good.

No I am not taking any meds except vitamin b complex daily for my muscle strength.

Anyway. Thanks for your feedback.

6

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading everything I can. I'm not sure if these foods will help soften stool or are just anti-constipation. I'm living on these right now with stool softners and still some laxatives - I cannot go back to the pain of being constipated and hemmorhoids. I am juicng a lot at the moment.

Minimum of 3 litres of water a day. Plus additional drinks plus the liquid in my smoothies. Berries, Figs, Prunes, Apples, Pears, Coconut Water - fresh form coconuts, pineapple, water melon, cantaolope, broccoli, Apple Juice, Beet root (red beets), Tomatoes, raw veggies, leafy green veggies, Ginger, Chia seeds (soaked in water overnight), Aloe Vera,  Oats, Physillium -( not metamucil - which has aspartame in). Brown rice (not white)

As I said I'm juicing most of this every day, I'm nearly 6 weeks post op and I wouldn't wish that op on anyone.

Things not to eat - chocolate, meat, dairy, cheese, ice cream, potato chips/crisps (too much fat). frozen dnners, cookies, painkillers, iron and calcium.

I cross referenced many websites and lists to get this list together. At the moment I have diarhhea/loose stool every day and I'm cutting down on laxatives slowly. I don't know if this will help you but I hope it does, the juicing takes me a little bit of prep but the result is so much better than constipation and hard stool.

Good Luck!

Re: Bananas - my favorite fruit - ii did tons of research - what I summerized was that greenish bananas not good for you, ripe banans ok - I'm too scared to try but thats from my research.t

7

SFlor

Many thanks for the input. Specially things that should not be eaten. I wrote down as many as I can, but I miss those foods. I love dairy food and milk, but I heard those are quite complicated for our gut.

FYI. I ate bananas yesterday, I had a very soft stool today. I know it is quite depressing to stay away from our favorite foods, but there is nothing to do.

I read from some website, laxative is not good also and can make it more complicated. Until 2 days ago, I use a small dose of laxative milk, but I stop it now. Is it true?

8

See if you can get Konsyl (that's the make) Original Formula Psyllium Fiber. It's a natural laxative. And it really helped me before and I am now trying to get off Miralax and back onto Psyllium. The hosptal put me on Miralax but Psyllium has to be better. Now, let me warn you, it's a little hard to get used to , it gets thick and sllimy quickly. so, make it with cold water  and drink it immediately. Immediately! even if you only drink a little to staart with - you must have enough water with it - then I wash it down with more water. I have friends that swear by this. and it has always worked for me.

Try Soy milk - or even better Almond milk -soy is a little harder for our bodies to digest. I switch between the two and don't have issues with either of them I get the unsweetened/unflavored ones. I had Anal Fissure sugery and Hemmorhoid surgery - and if you can find it on hre - I report on the fact I had serious complications that put me back in the ER and then in hospital for 9 days with 3 blood transfusions. If I have to change my diet I will. I tell everyone my experience - didn't think it was anything I would ever discuss in public but I nearly died - loosing 3 pints of blood and the pain was beyond excruciating. 

 Onthe plus side I've lost weight! - eating soup and smoothies every day will do that..

I've found better info from other people on here than my docs. 

I do use a sitz bath every day - the warm water is relaxing and I find Prep H suppositories help ease things. 

I have a friend who drinks warm water with lemon every morning and that gets her moving.

Keep readig everyones comments scross the board on here - lots of people have diffrent solutions - hopefully life gets easier for us all.

9

Hi.

I just want to give an update for this thread. 

Last week I tried to consume banana regularly on daily basis. I juice it twice a day on breakfast and at the evening. The result was good, my stool become quite soft, and sometimes mushy.

I avoid eating spicy food as much as I can. For asian, this is quite a torture to me. But I know it can lead to stomach disturbance, as well as constipation.

However, at last weekend till yesterday night I was so careless, and eat too much fat food such as meat and processed chicken. I had a bigger, and harder stool. I can feel a fuzzy sharp pain after BM, though it is quite soft. But still I need to strain a bit, which is still not good for me. 

So. I think, what I need to do is reduce the amount of fat food such as meat and dairy product. I really need to reshape my eating habbit for good. 

10

Thanks for continuing this - I too believe that although I think I eat a healthy diet I still need to get better. I'm a vegetarian and very often vegan and I still have issues! (hardest thing for me to give up is cheese) I love spicy food - and did not know about constipation so I will be very aware. Maybe I will get brave and add a little banana to my smoothies...I do take stool softeners every day - I will have to research this not sure if I can give them up - as much as I hate taking meds fear of constipation is still scarey.

11

Thanks for continuing this - I too believe that although I think I eat a healthy diet I still need to get better. I'm a vegetarian and very often vegan and I still have issues! (hardest thing for me to give up is cheese) I love spicy food - and did not know about constipation so I will be very aware. Maybe I will get brave and add a little banana to my smoothies...I do take stool softeners every day - I will have to research this not sure if I can give them up - as much as I hate taking meds fear of constipation is still scarey.

12

Hi.

Yes I agree with you. It seems it never enought to eat every healthy food, sometimes I need some breather to eat good and decent food. My wife have a difficulty to prepare those healthy and complicated food, and I keep saying she does not need to follow what I ate. The problem is, it is very hard to prepare it separately, including chili paste, cheese, etc.

Same with you also, now I really scare of constipation, so I need to try anything to make it softer, including stool softener. Everytime I would like to go to toilet, it make my heart beat so fast.