coughing and peeing myself

[ithinkalittlepeecameout]

I have name-changed .
I have had this horrendous cough for about a week now, there is thing going around at school so I'm not duly worried
BUT
I have had to wear sanitary towels the whole time as I am peeing myself every time I cough. I am absolutely mortified and disgusted.
Not just a little pee, having to change the towel after a cough because it's wet through amount of pee.
Obviously my pelvic floor muscles are shot to bits.
I also feel as though something is going to fall out my vagina
I'm 50, had two kids.
Is there specific exercises I can do to strengthen my bits even 10+ years postpartum .
Every time it happens I see that scene from 'Little Britain' ( the disgusting peeing woman)
Any advice?.

[PurpleWithRed]

if you feel like something is going to fall out of your vagina the whole time you need to see your doctor - may be prolapsing. Otherwise, welcome to the world of 50+ women who didn't do their pelvic floor exercises religiously enough at the time (although I do have my suspicions about how well they work).

Also use Tena or Always for 'bladder sensitivity' (ha!) as they are designed to soak up wee more quickly; ordinary pads are designed for blood which doesn't need to be soaked up instantly.

[SecretSpy]

ask your gp for a referral to a women's health physio. you can likely improve this. If you feel something is really falling out you might want to get examined to rule out a prolapse too. There are several options that might help so ring the gp.

also check out the Ragged bits threads, for lots of other people in the same boat.

[sadie9]

I had a bladder prolapse, no leaking just it 'falling out'. I had the specialist physio did pf exercises, but physio said I would need an op at some stage after the menopause. The ligaments get slacker when the oestrogen depletes.
If it is a mild prolapse, specialist physio can improve it a huge amount...at least stopping the leaking and postponing an operation. They take a few months to work. I had the op to correct it and gynae said I had a significant defect. I had a forceps delivery. If you have muscle damage after childbirth, no amount of PFs will fix it.
It is not your fault for not doing pelvic floor exercises. So don't feel that.

[Shakey1500]

I second Sadie After birth trauma and 4th degree tear I physically couldn't do any pelvic floor exercises. I would visit GP and ask for a referral to a urogynaecologist.

[Sprungaleak]

I am 57 and had very weak pelvic floor after DC2 born 17 years ago. I also have prolapses.
Pelvic floor exercises do help but it's vital that you do them properly and often.
I saw a physio specialising in PFEs many years ago and it was clear that what I had thought were proper pelvic floor exercises were actually not.

Having said that I have asthma and know that every cold brings a cough that lasts for weeks and inevitably I end up leaking.

[IDismyname]

I had a bad cough for 7 weeks earlier this year. Had to use Tena Lady every day.

Have finally kicked the cough, and Tena Lady too!

[RolyPolierThanThou]

Wish someone would explain to the urogynae I saw that even doing hundreds of pfe per day can still leave you with a prolapse and stress incontinence. I saw one chap after the forceps delivery and three hour 2nd stage left me incontinent and he was rudely dismissive. Told me to do my pfe. Wouldn't even tell me whether what I had was a prolapse until I pushed for an answer.

coughs can set you back badly as each cough hammers your pelvic floor and it takes weeks after the cough fir the pfe to start recovering some bladder control again. Depressing.

But I also agree, if you sustained a damaged levator muscle, that means even pfe wouldn't save you. makes me mad as hell this is not explained to you before childbirth as one of the complications. And its not surgically fixable. I wish you I'd had a caesarean.

[ithinkalittlepeecameout]

Thanks for your replies.
Just to top everything off, I now have my period, so when I cough I actually expel tampons. I feel absolutely disgusting. I have tried to stay home but yesterday I had to go out. Needless to say I had a coughing fit which resulted in bodily fluids gushing from my body. There was absolutely nothing i could do to stop it.
Can I bypass my gp and go straight to gyny ( where I get my smear-tests done?)or let gp decide?