Help! Diagnosed with cystocele v depressed

[aycaramba]

Hi ladies,

Looking for reassurance and advice (apologies if I've missed other threads about this). Am 3 months post birth with DC2 and (warning tmi) having real problems with bladder, feel very unsupported down there, need to wee all the time but find it difficult to go. Almost like having cystitis but without the infection. Have had loads of tests etc and specialist says it's a mild cystocele. Will this get better just with excercises etc or should I ask for surgery? Any experiences and advice welcome as am SO down about it and doc thinks I have PND (which I don't think I do - I think it's just these symptoms getting me very down. Thank you.

Sorry to hear that. No personal experience but wanted to let you know that there's a support thread for various post-childbirth injuries here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/777985-Continued-support-for-SPHINCTER-INJURIES-FISTULAE-and-oth er-CHILDBIRTH-INJURIES

Hi aycaramba.

Congrats on DC2!

Last year, I had a cystocele diagnosed 4 months post DC2 birth. Had 6 months of physio which helped, but only marginally. Apparently it helps about two-thirds of people. However, I have just been put on the waiting list for surgery....

Try the exercises first. Since talking to people, it is amazing how common this is, and physio can really help.

I have been fairly chilled about my cystocele - my bladder function is not as good as it was (like you, I go more frequently and it seems to take longer to empty totally) but I consider myself fortunate that I am not incontinent.

Not looking forward to the surgery, although it is perhaps the recovery that bothers me the most. You have to avoid lifting anything heavier than a half-filled kettle for at least 6 weeks. Surely easer said than done with two small dc and a house to run...

Good luck!

i haven'tgot any knowledge of the condition you have, but i just wanted to say i understand what you mean when you say you are not depressed just your experiences are frustrating you. my health visitor said the same thing to me,ie that on a depression scale i came up medium but her interpretation of it was that i am just frustrated with my posnatal complications rather than being depressed as such which i think is very accurate.

Thanks ladies. Reggie can I ask if you asked for the surgery or they recommended it for you. I'm still at the stage where I feel like I'm never going to get better and wonder if surgery is the only option but doc not keen and i can't afford it privately.

Do you feel any better than when you were first diagnosed? Part of my being down about all this is not having any clue of when I might start feeling a bit more normal - at the moment i feel like I've been mutilated

Physio recommended the surgery after I'd been with her for 6 months and referred me to the Consultant. He then said the surgical option was the only way to be 'back to normal'. I think the other options were to either put up with it or use a pessary ring, but they seemed happy to do whatever I wanted to be honest.

Mine is classed as a 'moderate' cystocele, but I get most frustrated about using tampons (I can't); feeling v self conscious during sex; variable dragging sensation below; and swimming.

I'm much more used to it now (15 months post birth), but often avoid thinking about it, so maybe I'm not that comfortable about it. I think I felt happier after diagnosis, as I knew things weren't right. Had really bad piles which accentuated the situation too. I just hope the surgery actually works, and I worry about the recovery and aftercare.

Definitely worth trying physio. 3 months post birth is still very early days.