Hi All
I developed an AF a few weeks after giving birth to my son who is now 4 1/2 months old. It came as a shock as I am sure I was not constipated so not sure how it all happened. I did however develop some hemmes during pregnancy and now thinking back was often getting an itch down below over the years but didn't think much of it apart from taking a worming pill once.
The last few years I've had a very healthy diet of vege and fruit and grainy bread or oats everyday and never got constipated. I wonder if I did too many kegels so became too tight? Is that a possibility?
So far I've used hydrocortisone ointment and suppositories and now I'm on Rectogesic.
Does anyone know if I can use them at the same time? The hydrocortisone helped to reduce the hemmes but didn't help heal the AF. The Rectogesic relaxed me initially but now I don't think it is working and I've been using it 5 weeks, has anyone else found this? I find myself trying to consciously relax my sphincter all day.
I am nursing and it is very difficult to make my stools soft as most the fluid in me goes to making breast milk. I'm currently drinking 6 L plus a day. I also think all the healing vitamins and minerals are going to the breast milk. Initially I thought of reducing my food intake to try to only do one small BM a day but lost too much weight and realised it was not conducive to healing a wound. I am still loosing weight with the lack of carbs but am already having 2-3 BM's per day and don't want to increase that.
So to make my BM soft I now eat porridge with dates and coconut oil and flaxseed soluble fibre - not the seeds but the liquid after soaking them in water, lots of fruit and veges that are high in soluble fibre e.g. kumara/sweet potato soup for dinner, I'll have one slice of rye bread a day and have just started protein shakes and snippets of meat. I am also having a senna leaf tea for breakfast, kiwifruit drink for lunch, 3x flaxseed oil capsules, magnesium and 15 mL lactulose morning and night and slippery elm three times a day to ensure soft/loose stools. Am thinking of cutting out the kiwifruit drink though as wonder if the acid may be irritating the AF. Also a herbal tonic which I'm not sure what it contains but it is meant to help heal capillaries and a prenatal multivitamin for the breast milk. I know it sounds like I am doing a lot of softening, I started just using Lactulose and flaxseed oil but that wasn't making it soft enough, I am just going to give this regime a couple of months and then start cutting back some of the softening aids.
What foods have people found irritate the BM? If I eat acidic foods like oranges does that make my BM more acidic too?
I was doing sitz but found it stressful as looking after an infant doesn't really offer the time luxury to soak and I was rushing in and out of the bath so now using a wheat bag to sit on while nursing etc. I just feel like I'm clenching all the time. Squatting and rinsing off in the shower straight after instead of using toilet paper has helped but again tricky when trying to care for an infant at the same time.
The pain has subsided a lot and the bleeding is only minor so hoping the bleeding will stop soon and I can start the 3 month countdown to full collagen recovery.
I was on a good road to recovery and then had a set back which I now think was getting stressed about having visitors while trying to take care of myself and my son. I think carrying my son around doesn't help but I need to do all the lifting as my partner has hurt his back.
I had never heard of AF before getting one, I've had some pretty sad days but am trying to remain positive that I can have a full long term recovery. I want to have pizza and beer again one day!
Thanks for reading my story.