Lately I have been thinking about what I have learned through my experience with anal fissures.. I know it's really hard to think of the positive side when you are in excruciating, never-ending pain, but for me it has helped force myself to think of the positives during this experience.

I got my AF in March after holding in bowel movements for almost 3 weeks. I am a very anxious person and I went on vacation and could not find the privacy to have a bowel movement..so what did I do? I held it in. I have no idea where it went, but it scares me to think about what your emotional and mental state can do to your physical body. I learned to address my anxiety and spent a few months in therapy that has changed my life. My therapist is a wonderful woman and taught me many things that I will use for the rest of my life. This AF pushed me to my breaking point, and I don't think I would have gotten the help I needed without it.

I've also learned to ignore my obsessive thoughts. With AFs I was in excruciating pain and I really began to obsess about it. I have always been a bit obsessive/anxious about my health, and usually I would spend hours on line reading about illnesses/health and wellness/food etc to the point where I think I was creating more issues than I was solving. My AF forced me to distract myself and not panic, because there really was nothing I could do but wait until I healed. Some days were so horrible I spent all day in bed crying, but after each of those days, I felt a bit stronger about dealing with this issue!

Last, I've learned to take care of myself better, and be kind and gentle with myself. This issue has forced me to pay attention to my own health above all else. Before my AF, I was always putting other people's needs before my own. Sometimes I would sacrifice my own health and lifestyle for work/school/life pressures, but now I have to put myself first or else I will suffer the consequences.
What have you learned through your experience with AF? Do you think you have learned some valuable lessons that maybe you wouldn't have learned without developing an AF? I hope you are all having a good day, and for those of you who are not, remembering that everything is temporary..even though it seems like this will be your life from now on, it won't! You will heal, you just have to believe it and keep fighting. And most of all, be gentle with yourself!

smiles18 said

I got my AF in March after holding in bowel movements for almost 3 weeks.

Wooow!!! . Yeah, it's a real tough thing dealing with shy bowel or other
similar disorders. Good you were able to find a way to deal with that.

Any way um, where was I.........ohh yeah.

So what I have learned from my AF's is to never give up.
Though there ere several time I thought AF's would "tag"
along "behind" me for the rest of my life.

I learned that though I wanted to eat what I wanted, that my health
really has the last word on that. In conjunction to that I learned to
appreciate the said blander foods and just knowing that a food is good
for you and that it will come out nice and soft makes it a wee bit more
palatable.

Wanted to say more but running late......In all, I learned that AF's are nothing to take
lightly.......