Morning @AusLady / @AusLady1 - arghhh! Just typed a huge post then accidentally closed my browser and lost it all 😡 Now to try and remember what I wrote!
So, yesterday was pretty good. I had 2 BMs, both of which were soft and easy to pass, but still had a smear of blood, so I've definitely irritated my fissure again with Monday's big hard BM 😞 Post BM pain wasn't too bad, just that spiky feeling you get from a fissure, but it was milder than usual and passed after a few hours. Once that's passed, I feel normal again, so it's still really just the mornings that are a problem. They're not as bad and painful as they were a few weeks ago though and I can get on and do everything with just the mild discomfort of the fissure thorn. I do worry that my brain is adjusting to this being my 'new normal' though rather than 'still recovering'. I put some rectogesic on last night and managed to get more inside using a cotton bud/q-tip which is a tip I got from a fissure thread on here. Hopefully it will start to heal soon and get strong again, as I really don't want to swap a constant hemmie problem for a constant fissure problem - that would be miserable. I just want a bum that works normally! Hopefully I'll just have 2 BMs again today so that less damage is done to the fissure and it has more time to heal🤞
So, I saw my dietician again yesterday, and that was really interesting. I learnt a lot about transit times and how food is processed and moves through the body. I'd always thought that food came out in the order that it went in, meaning that if I had a snack of a couple of biscuits in the afternoon, that they would form a hard bit of BM that I'd need to pass. However, that's not the case as food digests at different rates and different parts of the colon break down different types of food too, so food can pass other food on its way towards the rectum, which is where the BM forms. So, it pretty much all gets mixed up along the journey to becoming a BM, so as long as you're eating a mix of soluble and insoluble fibre, and drinking plenty of fluid, that the low residue types of food (biscuits, pasta, rice etc) will get picked up and mixed in with that to pass easily. It's when you're eating too many low fibre foods or not drinking enough that you start to get the problems. So, now I don't have to worry as much about having a biscuit and what negative effect that might have. I also learnt that transit time for a healthy gut with someone who has daily BMs is 18-24 hours. So, that means that the BM I had this morning (Wednesday) is likely to be Monday's dinner with Tuesday's breakfast and lunch, not last night's dinner. That's really important when trying to figure out which foods affect your BMs, especially if you're keeping a food diary like I am. Eating the same thing all of the time isn't good either as your body gets used to it and the way it's processed can change, so what might have produced lovely soft BMs to start with, could change over time. By restricting food in this way, you also have a negative impact on some of the healthy gut flora that's not getting the nutrients it needs to flourish and survive. So, I'm now going to work on a 3 day food rotation - basically, eat the same thing for 3 days so that I have a chance to see what my body's reaction to it is, then on day 4 change something (probably dinner) and have that for 3 days and so on, if that makes sense? So, I'm gradually introducing new foods and giving my body a bit of time to adjust so I can see how that affects my BMs. Gosh, I long for the day when I don't have to think about this so much and can just eat and poop like a normal person!
I also asked about different foods and how to introduce them, or whether to avoid them until I'm fully healed. Salads - she recommended lambs lettuce as an easy salad leaf to process, but to take the skin off peppers and tomatoes, and the pips out of tomatoes until I'm fully healed. Having a jacket potato (flesh only, although the skin is my favourite bit!) with salad would help balance out the soluble/insoluble fibre ratio. I also asked about dairy, and she said that shouldn't be an issue provided I'd not had an intolerance to it before, which I haven't, so adding a bit of cheese to my meals should be fine. Not too much though as it can cause BMs to become fatty and sticky, so just slowly to start with.
Tomatoes - I've been avoiding tomato based foods as I was worried about them producing acidic BMs, but she said that the acids in our digestive system actually neutralises the acids in them, do it shouldn't be a problem. She recommended trying passata based sauce with vegetables and a small portion of white pasta to start with and see how that goes. She also suggested putting some cream cheese in to the passata sauce as that would also help neutralise the tomato acids.
Cauliflower - I eat this every day and she said it can be wind forming, which I haven't found. However, what that wind can do is actually whip things up in the colon to make BMs softer, so that's good. I don't think carrots agree with me, so going to steer clear of them for a while. My old boss couldn't eat carrots as found they bunged her up, so I guess I'm not alone in that.
We spoke for about an hour and I'm really pleased I went back to see her. I'll go back again in a couple of weeks after our Glastonbury break too. Holidays always make me a bit nervous, food wise, as we usually eat out a lot and it's harder to control what's going in. However, we've got a lovely cottage with 3 main supermarkets within 10 minutes of us, so I think we'll do more self catering this time to reduce risk and anxiety. I do long for the days when I can go out to eat again without analysing the menu and worrying about what effect my choices might have. It's not too much to ask is it? Just to feel normal again and get on with life without constantly thinking about food and BMs? We'll get there, I'm sure, but it does feel like an endless road sometimes 😞
So pleased to hear that you're enjoying the stewed apple and oat crumble. Are you having custard with it too? I am, but that's mainly because I still need to put weight on, but it does taste really good too! I cooked up a new batch last night, so that it's ready to just warm up in the microwave.
Yes, my wound site is still tender to clean too. It doesn't seem as swollen as it was though, so hopefully that's subsiding and things will toughen up. Am I the only person that looks at my bum in a mirror multiple times a day? It's like habit now - I need to check on it to make sure nothing bad has happened lol!
I'm guessing your 18 hours drive will be split over a few days with hotels along the way? How long are you staying for once you get there? I think in bigger countries, driving 3-4 hours seems like no big deal, but the UK is so small that we're used to everything being nearby, so 3-4 hours seems like a trek lol! We go on Monday, and back on Friday. Really looking forward to it, and one good thing is that our bedroom has an ensuite bathroom, so I won't have to worry about going to the loo to find someone else already in there. Wish I had one at home as nearly had to use the emergency bucket this morning as my son was in the shower 😂
@BrandiJo - I hope that work is going well for you and hadn't been too tiring or stressful. Let us know how you're doing when you get the chance.
Right, I'm off to get breakfast and sit on a hot water bottle to hopefully help heal this damn fissure! Catch up with you all later x