cambria

Okay guys, I don't want to gross anyone out and I'll try not to be anymore descriptive than I have to be, but here goes...

When I was 5 months pregnant with my son, I developed two hemorrhoids. I had them checked out by my ob/gyn and she confirmed that's what they were and said they looked okay and everything. I never checked myself out down there after I had my son so I don't know what they looked like at that point. But I could tell that I still had them because I'd feel them swell up a little after I'd have a BM.

Anyway, over the last couple weeks, I've been itching fairly intensely in that area. Not so bad that I felt the need to scratch it in public or anything! But it was definitely noticeable. So yesterday when I got out of the shower I put on some Preparation H. Then I figured I should check myself out to make sure there were no major problems. It looked different from when I first looked when I was pregnant, but like I said, I never checked myself after I gave birth and I'm sure it would have changed from all the pressure of labor. Anyway, they looked like typical hemorrhoids - purplish/grey in color, smooth and rounded, balloon-like, etc. Plus the fact that they swell after a BM..and the Preparation H did relieve the itching and slight burning, and made them shrink down quite a bit. So pretty much everything points to them being hemorrhoids...

But the thing is, I have a history of HPV. I've never had any visible warts, just abnormal paps. But that's not to say I could never GET any warts. And with the whole HPV thing, I'm a little paranoid that maybe it's a huge mass of warts or something. But the hemorrhoid thing only goes around the left side of my anus. The right side is completely normal. I would think if I had warts that badly on one side, they definitely would have spread to the other side and top and bottom. Oh, and I've never had any bleeding from them. I've read that warts can itch but would they itch THAT bad? And would they swell with a BM and then go back down? And would they have that appearance? (I don't have any experience with anal warts or their symptoms so I really don't know.)

I guess I'd just like some input... I do plan on having my gyn take a look at it at my next pap in about 2 weeks. My guess is that they really are hemorrhoids and they're just irritated because I had the flu a little over a week ago and then started taking a multivitamin, both of which have caused me to have BMs way more frequently. But please... any opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks!