Prolapse referral question.

[PuddingsAndPies]

Since I gave birth nearly 3 & a half years ago, I've had a prolapse. I didn't know what it was at first, but symptoms include some urinary incontinence (even from walking fast with a medium full bladder), pain during sex (sometimes, not always), but most noticeably the fact that I have to manually apply pressure to my perineum so that I can poo (sorry!).

I saw a GP at the beginning of May, but it turns out she was a trainee & had to call another GP in to assist. After a speculum investigation, it was confirmed that I had a prolapse & that I would be referred to gynae at the hospital, to talk to 'the surgeons' (the more qualified GP's words). The referral was never sent, which I only discovered after chasing it up a few weeks ago (the trainee GP has since moved on). A couple of days ago, I received a letter which reads very much as a fob off, referring to my 'problems with my waterworks', & enclosing a physio sheet. There is no further appointment.

I discussed at my original GP appointment that I had already done pelvic floor exercises for years now, & had even bought some Aquaflex weights, which had not helped. In fact, I would say that my problems are worse now than they were 3 years ago.

Is this standard procedure, or has something gone wrong in the Chinese whispers of referrals? Is it worth me chasing again now, or should I continue with the pelvic floor exercises as advised, & go back later on? If so, how long should I wait?

Sorry this is rather long

No you need to ask again for a gynae referral, you will probably get one for a continence clinic as well, though that might be done through the gynae.

I would get back in touch with the GP practice now.

I wonder if your area sends referrals through to a board where there assess whether or not the PCT/commissioners decide whether or not they want to pay for your op?

I doubt a significant prolapse will be magically fixed by 24hrs a day of pelvic floor exercises.

Oh, thank you. I felt really insulted & unfairly dismissed, but I thought that maybe I was expecting too much. In all honesty, I don't know how much they'll want to do surgically, because I am in my 20s & only have one child - & to be honest, will want at least another.

On the other hand, I feel that I have a right to at least have that conversation with a relevant expert, rather than just have a physio sheet posted to me!

Will I need to make another appointment with the GP, or just speak to the receptionist, do you think? (I feel completely useless - I seem to know nothing!)

If you are planning another baby, they probably won't do it until you have finished with having them TBH.

It's not just childbirth that buggers up your pelvic floor, pregnancy does too, so they will usually wait to do any surgical repairs once you have had all planned babies.

I would ask for a telephone consult with a GP, ask the receptionist if any of the GP's at your practice have a particular interest in gynae issues - they might have a relative expert (all GPs do a bit of Obs & Gynae though)

It sounds more like crossed wires or not understood your problem properly when they looked at the referral to me. Or you could ask about a referral to a womans health physio (specialist physio for pelvic floor)- who could help get you referred on if needed.
It depends a lot on how bad the prolapse is though, slight bulge in the vagina or cervix dragging on your knickers - they vary a lot. Sorry if you were eating your lunch

You probably wont be offered any surgical help if ypu are planning more children, but dont suffer in silence! You can get a ring put in. This will hold the bladder in place for you, some gps do this, but still insist on a gynae appointment.

That's what I suspected about other pregnancies. DS was a particularly difficult birth with ventouse, an episiotomy downwards & another tear up, born in superman position, etc. Sorry if you were eating your lunch

The prolapse itself isn't visually horrendous, but it is externally visible. To be honest, I'm not totally sure on what my vagina looked like before DS, as there's nothing like childbirth & related problems to wake you up to the intimate workings of your body It isn't the vagina itself which is the day-to-day problem though. The difficulty I have with bowel motions is the worst part, as I've learnt to manage the urinary incontinence to a great extent - Tena if I'm going out dancing, frequent toilet trips throughout the day, no jumping around, etc. I do resent having to modify my life so much when I'm so young though, to be honest.

The worst part of all is that I didn't realise that my problem was anything beyond usual until I'd had a couple of glasses of wine with other mothers and we were comparing war wounds, as it were. I hate that it's all so taboo! I thought that I'd probably just have to accept it.

Thanks for the ideas re the telephone consultation, & the possibility of the ring. You've both been really helpful - & the moral support is priceless! :)

Also you can get Vesicare prescribed,I can't remember the generic name but ut begins with S. This dries your bladder up a bit.
I had the ring/pesary put in at A&E a while a go so I was able to poo, I'd gone 3 weeks without going. It was very easy to put in, not that I did it of course

3 weeks? Wow. Normally I can sort of push on my perineum, & can go like that. Occasionally I've had to manually extract, & often I feel like I've not finished, but 3 weeks is well beyond anything I've had to deal with. I suddenly feel lucky!

Is the ring a bit like a tampon? In that it'll just sit there & isn't surgically embedded?

I had other gynae problems,that was stoppibg me going...

I stil say ring because I'm old, but I think they are called pessarys now. Mine was an actual ring shape, like a doughnut but they come in all shapes and sizes. It just sits in. You can get ones you take out and clean everyday or the other type gets changed every 3 months.

There's no way you should be putting up with manual evacuation.

Have you had a look at the Any old prolapse thread too?

That doesn't sound too bad. The getting it out & cleaning it doesn't sound the best, but I have previously been acquainted with a mooncup, so how bad can it be?

I've seen the prolapse thread floating around, but when I've clicked on it in the past, everyone seems to know what they're talking about - I only had the word 'prolapse' officially used at the beginning of May (although I suspected a little before that) & am obviously still waiting for anything beyond that. It's like my first day of Collapsing Vagina School & everyone already knows their way around