Coping strategies

Hi Takecare - for the sore bottom from going and going and wiping and wiping.....I have good luck with Aveeno diaper rash cream. It's just the same zinc oxide that many diaper rash creams contain, but has oatmeal too, is very soothing. I don't put it up inside me, but I don't think that's what you're talking about. Hope you feel better!

Hi Takecare,

I'm sorry to hear of your struggles. I went through a horrendous time at menopause with my back passage (anus). It was all driven by hormones and when I got into better balance all those symptoms vanished. This is another reason tinkering with exogenous hormones is risky. Hormone balance is so essential for quality of life, yet can be very elusive post-menopause and never easily attained by prescription.

The solutions I have found are so excellent, but I hesitate to suggest them to others because they seem to be too much trouble for so many these days. One of the greatest is homemade sauerkraut and seed cheeses. These are raw, fermented foods full of living lactobacilli and good yeasts. I feel they are the perfect medicines for the epidemic of bowel problems we hear about every day. But they take a little work and time to prepare. I believe keeping an environment conducive to culturing foods is critical to health, after coming to the realization that these organisms are what balance our immune system and provide deep health. I could buy raw sauerkraut at my health food store (and yogurt, etc), but my guess is, the strains of bacteria and wild yeasts would be different than those circulating in my house and my gut. Swallowing probiotic pills seems similarly less-than-ideal.

Women are so unhealthy these days!! I don't believe it needs to be this way, but the solutions are to be found in coming back to what is truly natural.

Vaseline is a petroleum by-product. I wish I could send you a jar of red clover/alfalfa salve, but I did produce a video on how to make it (Christine's Kitchen).

By the way, everyone. In the States red clover and alfalfa are about to be genetically modified - after long and hard-fought legal battles. It is another crime against nature and a terrible blow to women, as these contain powerful phytoestrogens that counteract so many menopausal symptoms.

Hope you feel better soon!

Christine

letting go of the compulsive cleaning routine.
How about a good old fashioned bath or shower?
Aloe is very soothing and also good to drink.

I have used something from when my son was born. It's called Angel Baby Bottom Balm by Earth Mama Angel Baby, it's an organic diaper rash ointment. It works beautifully on all kinds of irritations. I ordered some on Amazon.com just recently because I thought I was starting a yeast infection. (It worked for that too!)

works great!

Just to put it in perspective, here is how to get dietary magnesium, http://www.algaecal.com/magnesium/magnesium-rich-foods.html .

I found it interesting that some tap water is high in magnesium. Perhaps people who need magnesium for 'good stool quality' do not have access to Mg rich (hard) water?

Remember the food sources of Mg as well, ie "Green vegetables such as spinach are good sources of magnesium because the center of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives green vegetables their color) contains magnesium. Some beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium. "

There is a detailed table on the page above, showing how much Mg you get from different quantities of food.

Louise

Takecare, I can relate to "there seems to be no rhyme or reason for when it works and when it doesn't in terms of regularity..."
In my case it seems to relate to me being more or less relaxed. Today I had just 2 BMs, more-less normal, easy to pass, no straining, no feeling of incomplete evacuation. I have been resting today, most of the time at home, doing not much...
My pain usually starts when I am on a train to my work-place. I think it must be the tension, my muscles get contracted and "bang", I am in pain. Of course, when I am more tense it affects digestion...It seems faster...
My rectocele (although apparently small) has been acting out more after getting back to work...
Hopefully, I have never got as bad as in around November, December, when I was in pain every day...
I have learnt a lot...But still, it seems to be no pattern with me...
In terms of my bottom, I use some baby cream which is produced in Poland and contains alantoin and D-panthenol. If I use anything else it seems to irritate me even more...
Ivonush

It is good to see that you can see some longer term progress, Ivonush. WW work really is long term work. The changes from day to day or even week to week are irrelevant, as you are finding. Juts keep doing what you know is right. Try to ignore the small changes. Then you won't worry about them so much. Less worry equals better progress.

MeMyselfandI invented a term many years ago, called Checkarama, which is close daily monitoring of POPs and symptoms. Once she realised she was doing this, and how much worry it was causing her, she simply stopped monitoring and obsessing about changes. That was her turning point, simply becoming aware of what she was doing and the negative effect it was having on her progress.

So, no more Checkarama for Ivonush, eh?. Once a week maximum, once a month if you can make yourself go that long.

Louise

I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to checking and looking... i never check and i never look, that way i don't get freaked out. I already know what's going on as i can tell by my symptoms. If i have symptoms i do whatever is needed to get relief and that is ww techniques. These days i rarely have symptoms which cause discomfort.

When i first discovered my pop, i was showering and suddenly felt something close to the opening of the vagina which freaked me out. From then on i have never checked. It suits me this way and i stay calm.

Hi Takecare, i can't tell from your post if you are having hard stools or soft, because from my experience the excess wiping is caused from loose stools. I was having too much fibre and since cutting down and using a good probiotic i have had a huge improvement.

I only have the amount of water that my body needs. The more fibre we eat the more water we need to send the fibre through the intestinal tract. If you google Fibre Menace you can read all about fibre.
Mishek

I have definitely improved, but it is still very much up and down. I think it is because my life is generally up and down...
But I AM BETTER...and no-checking!
Ivonush

Agreeing wholeheartedly with Mishek, looking and checking don't help, and just add needless stress to life. I feel myself enough to wash properly, and my symptoms tell me everything else I need to know.

Hi Takingcare,

I was reading through your initial post and the responses that you received. If the bowel problem you have had your entire life is where it is hard to go or if you are going too much, I have a recommendation for both.

If it is hard to go, there is a very easy remedy. It goes along with many of the recommendations above to increase your magnesium levels. A very easy way to do this, is to put minerals in your water. I use something called Concen Trace, Trace Minerals Drops. I just put the drops in every glass of water I drink. I actually drink from a non BPA 32oz. drinking cup. In order to flush the system and keep the toxins moving out and the bowels moving it is a good idea to drink a lot of water. We should be drinking 32oz. (1 quart) of pure drinking water for every 50 pounds we are.

If you have suffered with loose bowels your whole life, you may have a candida yeast overgrowth. This can actually be true even if the bowels are not loose and it is hard to go. A candida yeast overgrowth is caused by the use of antibiotics. It is said if we have had even one round of antibiotics in our lives that we have a candida yeast overgrowth. Although we still have the overgrowth with one use of antibiotics, with overuse of them, symptoms of the overgrowth occur. These symptoms comprise a very long list, which includes irritable bowel syndrome, and anything from allergies/sinus infections to fibromyalgia and cancer. I just got rid of this yeast overgrowth by doing a four-month cleanse devised specifically to kill the overgrowth and restore balance in the body. This plan incorporates the use of probiotics in the middle of the plan to restore good flora in the intestines. Since, I also had the menopausal itching problem due to my prolapsed uterus, the doctor who devised this plan recommended that I insert two of the probiotics vaginally to help with that. I did see where Christine also recommends that. You can find more information on this plan by going to www.mccombsplan.com. It is a commitment to do this, but if I can do it anyone can. It isn't a weight loss program, but because it restores balance on a systemic level, people who need to lose weight will. I lost 30 pounds. It is worth checking out. It took me a while of learning about the plan and thinking about the plan, before I was ready to commit to the plan, but I am so glad that I did.

Good luck and Best of Health to you.

It always makes me really surprised, the way I feel when I am back at work, comparing with the quality rest time at home.
Firstly, I need to recognise that I am really burnt out and anything I do requires lots of energy. So every time weekend is not enough to rest. Then on Sunday I need to pack my things and take evening train to stay for five days in the rented accommodation. I usually sleep badly in my rented room...
The painful feelings starts usually on a train...
Then, like today I have this strange burning/itching/painful feeling inside my vagina, quite deep, and also discomfort in my rectum.

I often ask myself if this is really only related to the tension of my muscles? But it must be if I am usually symptom free at home...
I read somewhere that pelvic area plays a big role in fight/flight response...