I must confess it's a bit scary, even reading this site which looks wonderful for support, but it made me shudder about what I may be in for with this AF. I guess many of the people who come back most regularly are the ones who suffer worst, so there may be a selection bias. Still: the reality is that I suffer from this and that I have to find a way through.
I'm starting to create a regime that suits me now. I work 9-5:30 and so far have been ok there. I try to do my BM in the evening so that I have recovery time. I've upped my water intake, am eating wholemeal everything, decaf coffee with soy milk, museli for breakfast, eat plenty of fruit and veg. Meds wise, I use the steroid / painkiller ointment my GP prescribed - don't want to use that for more than a week though which means stopping tomorrow. I read that Vagisil can help - a "woman's" product that contains benzocaine. (Currently I am using a syringe to squirt a few cc of K-Y jelly into my rectum to ease the passage). I am taking one Dulcolax before bedtime to help things along. It's not so easy to get a hot bath though - my kids usually hog all the hot water.
Talking of kids, I'm finding that quite tough. They're too young to understand why I hurt, and I'm sure they'd probably laugh if I told them. The little angels don't know what they are doing when they run up to me at great speed and collide with my crotch - the involuntary retraction aggravates Jack (I've just decided to call my AF that, and should point out that this is a reference to a nasty individual in my family and not the very helpful gent who put together a related website :D). I am in varying levels of discomfort and often it is hard to be as engaged with my children (who want me to jump, run around etc etc), and indeed with other people. I'd be interested to hear how other people's afflictions affected their close relationships.
I'm determined not to let this condition define me though. I play drums in a band in my spare time and I really would hate having to give this up (the regime has shoved them out of the way the past while though :( ) Any other musicians here?
I also intend to have a short family holiday at the end of the month with friends in Germany. What are people's experiences of going away? What do you take?