Any old prolapse! Uterus/womb prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, enterocele, urethrocele, incontinence, pelvic floor, anterior and posterior repair, TVT etc part 5

[Piplysmelie]

This is thread 3 of a long-running series of posts from ladies suffering from pelvic prolapses to support each other through the process of diagnosis, repair and recovery.

Here are the previous threads:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 5

Info from BBC Health

What is a pelvic prolapse?

As the muscles, ligaments and supporting tissues in the pelvis become weaker, they are less able to hold in the organs of the pelvis such as the womb (uterus) or bladder.

Gravity pulls these organs down and, in the more severe cases, may appear through the entrance to the vagina.

A variety of problems can occur, depending on where the weakness lies and which organs are able to descend, but in every case there is some degree of prolapse of the vaginal wall, which begins to invert (rather like a sock turning inside out).
Prolapse of the womb or uterus is the most common prolapse, affecting as many as one in eight older women to some degree
Prolapse of the bladder, known as a cystocele, is less common.
Prolapse of the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the bladder) is known as a urethrocele.
Prolapse of the intestines is quite rare, and known as an enterocele or rectocele.

Symptoms

Symptoms depend on which tissues descend, and how severe the prolapse is.

They may include:
A sense of heaviness or pressure in the pelvis.
The appearance of a bulge of tissue in the genital area, which can be quite alarming, and is often red and sore.
Urinary problems, such as having to urinate more frequently, feeling the need urgently, being incontinent (losing control of the bladder) or, conversely, being unable to pass urine when you need to.
Pain in the pelvis or lower back.
Sexual problems, including pain and decreased libido.
Constipation.
Vaginal discharge or bleeding.

Treatment and recovery

Once a prolapse has developed, surgery to fix the affected organs is usually the only way to cure it effectively.

However, another option is to use a device known as a vaginal ring pessary. This is rather like a contraceptive diaphragm or cervical cap. It's made of silicone or latex, and placed in the vagina to push back the prolapsed organs and hold them in place. Many women happily manage their prolapse this way.

Good luck Bladderama. :) I hope everything goes well for you.

x

Sorry ladies, didn't mean to imply you did have pain Footle, nor that you wanted sedation Leonie, just that if you had been feeling that pain you would still have felt it with sedation.

I'll shut up now :o

Re camera up the bum, this is a procedure that just like giving blood, is very dependent on the person doing the procedure. Some have a nack and unfortunately others don't.

Thanks, Bugsy, will try the Colpermin, the Buscopan and Google Bio-Kult. How did you find out your problem was wheat? I just don't want to be that fussy eater at the table, being veggie makes me appear awkward enough already! I know cold,fizzy cola doesn't seem to help and makes me go (caffeine, I guess or the shock of the coldness??) and lager (poss the wheat??? or irritaion of alcohol??) so if I go for lunch I have water, plain non-fizzy. I like the idea of relaxation techniques but by the time I've received some stress-ful news/situation it goes to my bowels before my brain so no time to launch a yoga pose! Sorry to be flippant, I know what you mean and need to generally be a less easily stressed person!

Fen - I wasn't offended, just saying don't think would help me!

Sure, thanks for your reply. I've called my gp this morning and am going in this afternoon to get checked for infection. If it turns out to be nothing it'll be worth it anyway for peace of mind. I just hope the doc doesn't want to use a speculum because I think I will scream if anyone wants to touch me. At the moment I feel like there is something spiky inside jabbing me. It's not constant or agony but it's not pleasant and I can't bear the thought of being poked and prodded.

Sure and Footle, thanks for your advice re sex. I think I'll probably wait till about 8 weeks post op and then see how I feel. I don't like the idea of dilators so hopefully won't need that. I will definitely buy some lubricant, avoiding ky jelly, and take things slowly when the time comes. My husband is a lovely guy, very supportive and is happy to wait till I'm ready.

Thanks for all of your advice. It really makes a difference to hear from women who have been through the surgery rather than textbook speak from doctors and nurses.

Anyway, at the moment

Misty - the spiky feeling sounds like stitches poking into you. You can get the ends trimmed down if you need to.

Hello all. So many posts since I last read and lots of newbies so welcome. Roseanne the tvt op is great. I had one with an anterior repair 6 wks ago and I can now cough and walk at the same time, sneeze, jump etc all without the worry of leaking!! My surgery has been a great success and would reccommend it to anyone who has stress incontinence issues. I am back to normal and back out on my bike!! My hubby has treated me to a new road bike so am clocking up the miles to regain my fitness after what seems a long six weeks recovery!! I saw the consultant this morning for my post op check and my fears over now needing a posterior repair were confirmed. I am still positive however as this surgery has been so straightforward. I have been given a date at the beginning of November so am going to use the time to regain my fitness so I am in good shape going into the next op. Need to be ready for skiing in Feb :-)
Fen, will be keeping my fingers crossed for you and your next appointment.
To those with IBS, my husband has it and stays clear of all caffeine (even in coke and tea) we have decaff everything. Chocolate, cream and alcohol are real triggers for him too. His main hot drink is mint tea which we both have first thing in the morning and last thing before bed and it really helps.
Sorry to those I haven't commented on I'm not ignoring you but would be posting forever!! Good wishes to all you ladies on here :-)

Monica, I don't touch any kind of beer at all - I'd be worried about such large volumes of gas & yeast. The more I think about it, the more I realise that I do exclude quite alot of commonly consummed items. I never drink fizzy drinks, apart from naturally carbonated waters, like Badoit & San Pelligrano.

I'd suspected that wheat was becoming a problem for quite some time, as I got so bloated when I ate it. Wheat is such a common trigger for IBS, along with lactose, that it seemed like a no-brainer to cut it out. Thankfully, I'm good on dairy, as otherwise I would feel really restricted!

Quite alot of my assessment of what I can & can't eat has been trial & error. I've also realised that I don't do well with things like baked beans, kidney beans and that whole family of beans - but I'm ok with lentils. It started with the exclusion diet. Once I worked out that I could reduce symptoms so dramatically by just eating lamb & pear, it was then just a question of trying out to see what would set it off again.

Hi all. Well I've been to the gp who was a lovely young woman and she confirmed that I do have an infection. I've been given a course of metronidazole so hopefully that should clear things up. The good news is that despite my fears she did of course have to examine me using the smallest speculum she had and there was no pain at all. She said that there are no raw edges and eveything is where it should be. Fengirl, you were right the ends of the stitches were what I could feel and they'll dissolve at some point. The doctor did say I was quite swollen but that was normal and would lessen over time. The bleeding has completely stopped now and she was able to point out the scars where the tvt tape comes through. I was looking in the completely wrong place!

All in all I'm so glad I went. Not only have I got antibiotics for the infection but I have peace of mind that all looks well and have been examined without pain at 2 weeks post op.

Wishing you all well.

Misty - glad you went and got sorted out. Shame you can't have a consolatory drink though! I ate a lot of mints to deal with the nasty taste.
Schrodinger how are you feeling?

Fengirl to be honest drinking is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. I still feel so weak and tired that it doesn't appeal to me at all. Thanks for the tip re the mints. I'll send my hubby to the shops to get me some

Hey, feeling much better now thanks Fen, hope you're also well. :) Having a takeaway and a wee drink tonight since I'm feeling a lot better.

Misty I hope your infection clears soon and glad it's getting sorted.

Just to say (and not to put a dampener on things) Schrodinger and Misty, if you have ANY concerns your infections are not clearing up see gp urgently. If it continues, insist on a scan. I had an absolutely miserable time (9 lots of ABs) and finally found out I had been fighting off an abcess. I really would hate to see anyone else go through it.

Sorry to hear you went through such a hard time. :(
This is my second infection in about a month but after last one I was sent for an ultrasound on my gallbladder and kidney and they didn't find anything so I don't know why I keep getting them.

Bit of a TMI question here if you could help? The has given me strength to ask it.

When I really need to poo even if I don't feel the urgency to go if I go to the bathroom I can feel the lump/shape of it and it completely blocks the entrance to my vagina... Hadn't noticed this before so don't know if that's normal and I am going crazy over thinking it's something and even though it's obviously at the entrance pushing does not work but I struggle to get my thumb in my vagina to help it along.

Also... I feel like my urethra is tilting upwards and I need to move it down to wee and underneath is like a long lump until it gets to cystocele bubble?

is making me overthink, sorry about all the questions. :o

Schrodinger - that doesn't sound right but you do need to wait until you are sure all swelling is gone as you will be fobbed off otherwise (bitter voice of experience). I really hope it isn't. As far as the urethra goes, I now feel mine is much more prominent, possibly due to bring catheterised several times???

P.S. no question is ever too much tmi for here, if you can't ask here where can you?

I've only been catheterised once and it's when I was in labour, the next morning I turned round while sleeping not knowing the bag was now attatched the the bed and it yanked, it was agony, kept begging them to take it out but they refused until I took a shower and walked about even though I told them about it, starting to think this is the root of some of the problems tbh.

Sounds like you've been through hell. :(

Eurgh have finally woken up enough to have my first cup of tea [sadr

Yoohoo Bladder!

Bladder how are you? Hope it all went ok. Keep taking those pain killers and you will be fine xxx

Bladder - now, when you feel up to it can we have "the question" Lol!!! Please? x

Hope all went well Bladder - glad you are having some tea. It is a wonderful thing that first cup.