To want to give up because of SPD?

[Superslinger]

I read a while ago about people being induced early because of SPD and remember thinking 'how selfish - there's no way I'd do that to my baby because of my own pain!' I had SPD then, and it was pretty bad, I was on crutches and poor DH had to put up with constant groans and whimpers, but then this week I've turned a corner and I just don't know whether I can cope anymore.

The thought of another month in this level of torturous pain just makes me want to give up now - the thought that actually, like anyone else, I could actually end up waiting another 6 weeks if two weeks overdue just makes me want to cry. I think hubby's had enough of hearing the whining, but seriously I just wish he knew how bad it is. I can barely believe it myself at the moment. :(

I'm only on crutches, not in a wheelchair, so don't imagine hospital would consider inducing early anyway, but AIB a selfish bitch to just wish baby would hurry up and arrive now? I already feel like a terrible mum for being so bad at being pregnant, and now I want to sack that in and get her out early because I'm SO bad at it I can't take it anymore. :(

Only read you posts on page 1 OP but no, you're not selfish. I was on crutches twice and was induced 2 weeks early twice.

What pain relief do you have? Do you have any support belt system? Do you have any cushioning over your mattress?

My spd went both times. I have very VERY little lingering pain after 12m. And that's mainly due to my hypermobility not the spd.

That's why GPs are GPs. They have no specialist knowledge (as a general rule). My obs consultant gave me 30/500 cocodamol for the days and dihydrocodeine for the nights. Made me sleep beautifully though took til lunchtime for me to shake off the hang over! She used to tell me off if I tried to cut corners with the doses.

I was advised to stop all the strong stuff and stick to 8/500 cocodamol for 48 hours before each induction.

This is a specialist's territory.

op, when i went for my routine check on what happened to be my due date, the doctor did a sweep for me, which induced labour. I was very very grateful, and my spd wasnt so bad that i needed crutches. so please dont worry about going the extra two weeks, they wont make you

I was induced early with DD3 and DS2 due to SPD. Bitch consultant wouldnt induce me with DD4 as it wasnt deemed a risk to the pg, it was simply pain that needed managing. When I said i couldnt take co-codamol as I am allergic she still wouldnt budge despite my MW getting involved. So I thought, sod you and had the homebirth she was also vehemently against! I offered a trade off that I would have DD in hopsital if she would induce me and she still said no!

It had gone within hours of DDs birth. It is appalling, I was in a wheelchair and walking wasnt an option, but it is finite usually. I did having lingering problems after DS for 6 years but only if I really exerted myself, which was rare , and as I say, it has gone totally since DD.

Oh and offer your DH a kick in the bollocks every hour, on the hour and see if he still thinks you are milking it then!

Seriously, guide him to the pelvic pain partnership website, they have alot of information and it might help him realise that you arent making this up. Or show him this thread to see just how many women agree with you about how bad it is.

Thanks so much everyone. I really, really hope I'm one of the lucky ones who find it goes immediately/ soon after giving birth. I seriously cannot live the rest of my life like this. No way. :(

bejeezus, thanks for the chiropractor tip. I'm currently trying to find one in the area who states any specialism in pregnancy (I've been to see a chiro in the past for other issues and found them useless, so aware they're not all much of a muchness) Going to take the advice to call pelvic partnership and see if they can advise...

Went to see a physio on Monday (privately, as the NHS one I saw a few weeks ago left me underwhelmed - gave me a stretchy bandage thing and said I 'could' use that but that it would weaken my muscles and therefore probably shouldn't bother) and I've felt worse ever since. I know sometimes these things do make you feel worse before you feel better, but I've had the most awful searing, intense tearing pain up both sides of my bikini line ever since. No idea what that's all about, but it's new and not certainly not a welcome addition to the original pain. I've also found I've swollen up in that same area - a painful, swollen patch each side of bikini line, very weird - not convinced I should go back for more of the same, but on the other hand maybe I should so they can tell me what on earth's causing this new pain?!

This afternoon I went to GP for standard check-up and bought up SPD and tried really hard to relay quite how much agony I've been in/ that I'm struggling to feel I can go on like it, and she told me as I she's seen me moving (the five steps from reception to her office) on crutches she's not concerned - apparently it's only a concern if I'm bed ridden because then I could get a blood clot.

This is no fun. :(

I really feel for you. Am currently suffering through my second pregnancy with SPD. It cleared up quickly last time so fingers crossed for us both!

I cannot recommend more strongly that you ring the Pelvic Partnership for advice on treatment. Different people find that different things work better for them - but there are some key things that all good practitioners do. The basics are that they will seek to readjust/unstick (!) you using manual manipulation and soft tissue work before giving out exercises or belts - these are usually no use until things are moving correctly. This document explains it much better than me!

This may be why you are suffering so much pain after using a belt - did the physio get his/her hands on you and try to move things around? It can be normal to feel worse after an initial session but not for this long - I would stop the belt if it's causing pain. The pelvic partnership can recommend practitioners in your area. Personally I have had the best results from a private physio specialising in pelvic pain (have also tried specialist chiropractor and oesteo!).

Also - did your GP offer good pain relief advice? Sounds like she didn't :(
This is something else the experts at the Pelvic Partnership can advise you on.

Sorry, bit of an essay. Good luck and keep pushing until you get the help you need.

YANBU. I had it with DS3. It was the worst nightmare imaginable. I just wanted to bang my head on the wall. I started wishing the baby would not be inside me and had a panic attack one night for wanting him out.
The consultant was not interested in hearing about induction or c section. On the end I got induced at 39+3 for other reasons.
Big hugs.

I had it with ds2 and it was vile until I went to the physio and started following her advice about sleeping positions, not sitting for more than 30mins (I'd been trying to rest it away), the exercises, belt and so on. It became so much better then. This time I've had a couple of days that have been awful so I need to start those exercises now. Have you tried them? Pdf instructions were available online in several places. It is true though that no-one can understand the pain unless they've experienced it. Hope you get some relief soon.

kotinka, I did actually do sample for GP today - just for normal maternity visit test they always do. Surely it would have come up on that? Have to admit I was a bit worried when discovered the swellings, but then decided it's probably just from something that happened at the physio. Don't know...

cowgirl the physio did manually do some stuff to my right leg (as apparently my right hip completely out of place). I'm not actually wearning the belt anymore as it didn't seem to help much and I was scared off that it would weaken muscles/ actually make things worse. As for GP I explained the constant paracetamol I'm taking are just absolutely useless and could she advise anything stronger, but she said no, I was mobile on crutches and so didn't need anything stronger. I'll definitely give pelvic partnership a call as really don't know how I can go on like this.

Thanks all for saying NBU and for understanding the pain - seems like nobody in RL has ever even heard of it let alone begin to understand!

It is so nice to know that there are people out there who have been judging me for having my baby induced due to th very severe SPD I had. I was in a wheelchair, my next stp was pet hiding injections. I thought it was safer for my baby to be born, as did my consultant.

I am still suffering, 16 years down the line. I have pins and plates in the front of my pelvis, and bolts in my sacro illiac joints. I rely on opiates, amongst other drugs to get me through the day, I can not walk unaided and my children have to do care for me in ways that they shouldn't have to.

I am sorry you are suffering. SPD is very, very painful, but you have upset me by saying you have judged people like me in the past!

Thanks kotinka.

Landofsoap, nothing much to say to that really. If I was to be induced now people would judge me, thinking I was putting my own wellbeing before my baby's. That's because they don't understand. Just as I didn't. Even my DH, the most wonderful DH in the world who loves me more than anything in the world I know would be upset/ disappointed with me if I made that decision - not because he's a bad person, but because he doesn't understand, and how could he.

I've just come back on here for a bit of moral support before lumbering myself into bed for another painful, sleepless night as I've found this thread so helpful for letting me know I'm not on my own and that this will pass. As explained above I'm feeling extremely fragile at the moment, so thanks a lot for feeling the need to kick me when I'm down. I was just being honest about how I am feeling at the moment; about my own guilt. I'm sorry you feel the need to complain about my doing so.

superslinger - no don't feel guilty at all for wanting the pain to be over. I know how awful it is (ELCS at 38+6) due to pelvic girdle pain (that's the official term for SPD now). No doctor or midwife understood. I second the Pelvic Partnership recommendations. The lady advising you to go to a chiropractor rather than a physiotherapist is wrong. You can go to a physio, an osteopath or a chiropractor, it doesn't really matter, provided they know what they're doing and are experienced at manual therapy. Pelvic Partnership have a good database if you're not sure where to go. I know it's absolute hell, but it does go for 99% of people quickly after birth! Silk sheets and silk nighties make turning over a lot easier (and it's a good excuse to indulge). Re: landofsoap...she's been in pain for 16 years. I know she took your post personally when there was no reason to, but cut her a break. She's living your worst nightmare and you haven't a word of sympathy.

superslinger please please go and get a referral to an obstetrician and an obstretric physio. You DO NOT HAVE TO BE IN THIS MUCH PAIN. It's not going to go away until the baby comes out (I'm being positive here - it has gone 95% for me 12m post-birth) but there are things you can do to help.

It really sounds like you have some imbalance for the belt to cause so much pain. A good obstetric physio can help with this as well as gentle exercises to help release tension and manage the pain. OP where are you? If you're in Staffs I can recommend a physio and a very sympathetic consultant and damn it, if you're struggling to drive (like I did) I'll even get you there myself.

I honestly feel so passionately about this. There are so many women who are told to put up and shut up. Whilst there's nothing you can do to make it go away whilst pg, you can certainly make it better. And the problem with women putting up and shutting up is that they are often making things worse. The first time it happened to me I did as I was told and went away and tried to cope on my own. All the things I was doing which I thought were helping weren't - they were making it worse.

Drugs are not ideal, but they CAN make life bearable.

If you're local PLEASE get in touch. I'll help in whatever way I can. I'll even get my DH to talk to yours. He was a bit sceptical too but now he's a huge proponent of women with spd being induced early.

Thanks so much for your generosity buttonmoon, unfortunately I'm not in Staffs. Still makes me feel a bit better to know there are people so willing to help though. I wish I could get a referral but GP just doesn't seem to take me seriously enough to think it necessary - and presumably there's not another route to being referred - it has to go through her? I keep trying to tell myself maybe she's right that there's not long to go now, but then I try to move and remember it's going to feel a VERY long month with this level of pain for company!

I'm without phone atm but once I get that working again I'm definitely going to give Pelvic Parternship a call for advice on where to go. At this point I'd definitely be willing to pay whatever anyone's charging (seem to remember chiro I saw in the past being extortionate) for a bit of relief.

I am not kicking you while you are down Superslinger, anymore than you are kicking me. I never, for one minute, thought that people were judging me for having had DS2 induced. It didn't work, btw, he was born following a sweep the following week.

Like I said, I am very sorry you are suffering. I know exactly what you are going through. It is horrible. My SPD started in August 1996 and it hasn't gone away yet. If your GP won't take your seriously, talk to,your midwife, or consultant if you have one.

Your GP can't refuse to refer you. It's against NICE guidelines. Insist.

Also, it may be possible to self refer to an obs physio in your area. Ring your antenatal clinic at your hospital to find out. Be firm though - expect lots of I don't knows and it's not my role. make sure you ask them who will know etc.

Seriously, you can make this more bearable.

Speak to your midwife about which chiropractor / osteopath in your area specialises in treating pelvic girdle pain. Once I asked about it became apparent that there was a consensus as to who was the person to see. If you're anywhere near saffron walden pm me and I'll send you the details of the best local chiropractor here. I have ongoing problems with my pelvis due to hypermobility and SPd during three pregnancies, she's made so much of a difference. Post natally I'd really recommend doing pilates to strengthen your core muscles to support your stomach, hips and pelvis.

My chirping recommended only doing pilates after you have been realigned-no point strengthening you up, in the wrong positon?

I had SPD from 7 weeks with DC2. Best thing I found was sitting on a large gym ball (hips higher than knees) and rolling hips very very slightly. It's also great for calming baby after birth, beats walking up and down. How's it going?

Hi

So sorry for what you are going through. I've had SPD twice and it was truly horrendous. You've had loads of advice already but I have one other survival tip. After birth my SPD lingered for three weeks but in hospital they had plastic sheeting between the normal sheets to protect the sheets from blood etc!! It was amazing! No friction meant I could turn over in bed reasonably easily! After 8 months of being unable to move it was fab! So get plastic sheeting or even bin bags - try to make your sheets 'slippy'. Lay plastic covering and then a loose sheet without tucking it in. It will slide easily when you try to move (you'll need to be sleeping alone though I'd imagine - I certainly was!). Or if you fancy a treat, get some satin sheets. A decent nights sleep might be enough to help you through these last few weeks. Don't envy you though, both my kids came at 39 weeks and I honestly couldn't have gone a day longer x