how much wud u say having a fissure has changed your life? i thought it wud be interesting to get different peoples thoughts on this.
xx

Big time! I can hardly remember what a normal bottom feels like. It is very isolating at times because my mornings are filled up with going to the bathroom and recovering so I hardly plan things for the am.
It affects my relationships from starting new ones to dealing with established ones. I have had family members who think I am just being lazy and doctors who have thought the pain was depression and don't really understand what I am going through.
This is when I have to draw upon God's strength to sustain me and show through my weaknesses.
I think dealing with any long term health problem is difficult. I am so grateful that this is not a terminal type of condition but it isn't one that people readily understand and appreciate nor is it one that you can just come out and say what you are suffering with. I would have much rather just broken my arm!
You just have to take it day by day and not let the bad days make you panic and lose hope.
Lecia

for me is I have always had constipation probs so was used to not going to the toilet often and when i did it was the slight uncomfortableness ..
now .. because of this fissure, OMG i think i freak myself out so much because i dread (REALLY DREAD) going to the toilet
I always wonder will it be worse than the last? and no doubt IT IS!
i get so upset and frustrated that i think one day im going to collapse off the toilet and cark it or the vein in my forehead will pop :shock:
i cant talk to my friends about it coz i do worry that they will think im weird and my family care soooo much that they will worry themselves sick and the occasional lecture to see a doctor.
i worry if the pain will hit me whilst at work or when im out with friends .. there have been times when i have gone out to dinner and after the meal i have felt that sharp 'hello' its me pain about to come and all i want to do is RUSH home.
my life is now revolving around my bum and im pretty annoyed about it
i pray to God to give me strength to get through this (definately needed it today when i burst out crying in front of my collegues.. how did i get so emotional?!)
i'm taking all the advice in so that when i see my doc i am prepared and have done everything possible to get better.
As i read on about how others are affected, i really feel for them, its sad :(

It changed quite a bit about my life....Unless someone drove me I rarely drove out of town. Just didn't go out and be a social as usual. The first half of the day at work was pretty bad and isnce I need to drive from time to time at work, it was very stressful on the job.
Hugh

hugh, that new avatar is scary!!!!!
:no:
sometimes it takes me a while to get to this point...to appreciate a health issue for what it is. something somewhere i did something and my body is letting me know - although sometimes it is not as clear what i did do or didn't do - that i must do something now.
i think i have had baby fissures before due to constipation but they have always gone away. it would be very seldom but i know now from experience that that is what they were.
the reason i hate anal sex is that it feels like little fissures immediately after it is done. it didn't matter how much lube or how comfortable i was or not, the fissures were there. so i tend to usually have cob webs in the back door and only special people (almost no one) can have access to it! :pirat:
anyway, having the fissure of 2004 was an evil thing to happen. i has dominated a lot of my life and despite trying a lot of things - i know i didn't try everything (like botox injections, the prescription creams, the anal dialitation (spelling), etc) - i really was devastated by my end of year revelation of a fistula.
even with pain, even with days of throbbing that i just couldn't control, the difficult and never ending spasms, i still managed to run 2 marathons, 2 ten milers, still go do jogging every 2 or 3 days, do my yoga, sit on my throbbing ass at work going mad, fear of the toilet, fear of the BM, depression, anxiety, bowel movement traumatic stress.....yes it chagned my life.
and now after colonoscopy and having everything checked out, i am feeling better that this fissure was truly the creation of a night of eating a brisket or pot roast...i don't remember...but for eating meat and becoming heavily constipated due to that.....i want to make a better effort of really providing for my body in a way that i have not before.
i feel almost out of the woods but i am a few steps away still, i am grateful the path that this fissure has taken me through. i've learned so much and it's true, what you put in, matters!
even if it tastes good going down, it may not feel good coming out!

Grace this changed my life in so many ways...
for one it helped me eat wiser, excercise more, and be more alert to what was really happening on the inside on my body..
i never realised how something so small, could affect my life in so many ways, somedays i couldnt stand, sit, lay down, walk, eat, work, anything, and sex.. my poor hubby ! Well he just had to miss out
But for all the crap that Bob brought me he also taught me a greater appreciation for my health and also i reckon i have a pretty good tolerance for pain now... when i finally do have kids i reckon poppin out baby will be a piece of cake compared to 6 long years of scratching the toilet walls, crying and screaming and sweating..