This board freaking saved me.
Last year I had dental work, which included medication that left me pretty constipated. Out of that I developed some killer hemorrhoids. They got progressively worse over the year, to the point that last month passing a stool was just an excruciating experience. I'm talking biting down on the shirt tail to cope, muscle cramps in my back and stomach from just tensing to deal with the pain. Constantly thinking and dreading my next bowel movement because I knew it was going to be torture.
I did a ton of research online about how to cope. Searching for hemorrhoid relief, though, is pretty much futile. Everywhere just says "fiber, fiber, fiber fiber, fiber, blah blah." The thing is though that there was nothing wrong with my stool. I get plenty of fiber, my stools are perfectly normal and well formed and just adding a bunch of fiber did nothing. The problem was getting my normal stools through the gauntlet of pain that my previous constipation had created. I had normal bowel movements, they just hurt like hell because I couldn't heal while pushing out big, normal stools.
So I found this board, during some of my regular desperate googling. I started putting together various bits of information you guys have discussed, and seeing what might work for me. I started a program of Miralax and Colace, which I had seen discussed a lot. I also started putting my feet up when I go (based on the squatting method. I'm 6'5'' and standing on the toilet seat would turn my toilet into porceline dust, but putting my feet up on a step stool in front of the toilet works great).
It's been about a week and the pain is absolutely, completely gone. Zero blood on my stool or toilet paper. No lingering pain throughout the day from getting inflamed by pushing. My butt is actually healing, or if hemorrhoids don't actually heal, at least friggin resting and not getting worse. My stool slides right out without even a second thought or the slightest discomfort, and I sit there laughing like a weirdo jackass while I poop because I'm so thrilled.
Thank you guys!