Pt 8 (Oct13) Any old prolapse! Uterus/womb prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, enterocele, urethrocele, incontinence, pelvic floor, anterior and posterior repair, TVT etc

[Bladderama]

Welcome to thread 8 (again - see below) 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.

With apologies for confusion in thread numbers - an earlier thread was called part 7 but it was actually the 6th thread.

Here are the previous threads:

Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 4
Thread 5
Thread 6
Thread 7

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 to lotsofquestions for tomorrow x

Thanks summertime. It is feeling a little bit better this morning so I think it must be thrush. I have got my ds in preschool only for the morning so I can't do that today and I think I should prob go to the biofeedback session as that's what the consultant told me to do and I am seeing him next Friday. He told me when I had my 6 week check up to do my pelvic floor exercises and he would see me again in 3 months so I want to make sure I have done those, then he can't turn around and say well you're still having problems cos you haven't done your pelvic floors!

Thanks Raininthesky & kianaiden unfortunately I'm opposite end of the UK!

Will be looking into options though. Am going to buy a neurtrac toners meantime just to make sure I'm exercising properly. Really hope it's just a case of strengthening/more time. The 'bulgy' feeling is awful :( Has been worse in bed last two nights esp lying on my side.

Think I've got a proplapse

Today, something felt a bit strange down below and when I psyched myself up to have a feel, I could feel something spongy inside me It doesn't feel 'normal' (familiar with my insides as used a diaphragm for a while and fairly certain it wasn't my cervix -was VERY low).

I kind of pushed it back up & although that didn't hurt, I've had gripey/ period pains on and off since.

Could it be a fibroid? Have made GP appt for Monday, so hopefully will get some idea soon.

McKtastic - are you in Scotland? I am and my (NHS) physio is lovely and very hands in on

Where abouts was it FHS?

abigboydidit have pm'd you

I think it was quite low down in the vagina MustTidy

Got my gynae appointment through today for 20 November. I could have played my DH's company health insurance card and got it quicker, but I'm hoping that I can do that to speed up surgery once I see the consultant.

Things much worse. When on the loo the other day, I could feel my cervix almost at the the entrance to my vagina and tbh I think the only thing keeping it in there is the cystocele. Still bleeding too. So fucking fed up with it all. DH is grumpy cos he hasn't had any attention for months, but what does he expect me to do? Other than give him hand/blow jobs. Not exactly top of my agenda when feeling this shit and worried, but he doesn't seem to grasp this.

Re NHS physios. I don't think that they are rubbish per se, I just think their hands are tied with NHS red tape. The NHS doesn't appear to want to do or is able to do anything until they have exhausted non surgical procedures. So the physios see a stream of women for whom physio will have either no or a minimal effect, but have to go through the motions knowing that they will be referred for surgery eventually. Why they can't speed up the process I have no idea, especially given the psychological effect these issues have on women (myself included)

My main worry is if I do end up with surgery, how we will afford it. I only get SSP and am currently not in a position to weather a 65% drop in my wages for an unspecified time. I'm a careworker and its quite a physical job at times, so I can forsee the maximum time off work.

Sorry for the moan ; I have had wine, and DH and I had an argument earlier

FHS, was it to the front or back? If so, it may be a cystocele/rectocele. My cystocele feels like ridged/spongy bulge and I can push it out of the way but then wee involuntarily as it is full of urine

Soooo fed up

The front, I have needed to wee more frequently for a while but thought it was coffee aggravating my bladder.

Hope your appt goes well Lack, and sympathies on the DH front; mine is similar. He'll be worse than useless if I need surgery.

Sounds like a cystocele FHS. Let us know how the appointment goes.
daisy poor you I'm sorry it's all so shit at the moment. Like you don't have enough to worry about and DH being shit as well. Sorry it's getting worse, hope you manage until your appointment. If you have surgery you will not be able to lift anything (I'm sure you know this) so I'd assume your job would be impossible? You have to find a way, if you need the surgery you need the surgery.

Thought I'd post a bit of an update , after seeing a nerve and pain Specialist here in bristol it would seem I have had damage to my pudendal nerve that was caused by my initial surgery for prolapse , all the " infections" that I thought I had during my recovery were actually pain from the nerve , as I got more active the pain just got worse , I can trace this back to right after the surgery when I had a searing pain in my butt ! I also now have a rectal intuseption , the surgeons are looking at trying to rectify this damage/ misplaced suture and carry out a rectoplexy. I have to have an MRI first then They decide wether to operate through my butt cheek or laparoscopically I'm just so grateful to have found a wonderful team of doctors to help me , I hope they fix me , I won't know till after surgery and then it could be long term until I notice a difference , I guess I'm posting here to raise awareness so anyone else with this issue post surgery may recognise the symptoms more quickly which means a way better outcome for any surgery to fix the issue , as the surgeon said this does not get better on its own and without intervention may get worse. Thanks to everyone for kind messages and comments xxx

Thats good that you now have a way forward WestCountry. Fingers crossed it will resolve the nerve pain! It must be good to have confidence in your surgical team as well

DH was apologetic this morning. We are both knackered, and I have had a reaction to my pneumococcal jab which has set off a lupus flare and he is having an allergic reaction to an insect bite and his finger has swollen to twice its size so neither of us on top form. We need to sit and talk about things properly.

I know I can't do my job, and I suppose we will need to just try and budget for it! But, needs must I suppose, so there will be nothing else for it.

Sorry for my woe is me rant...too much wine

hope everyone is OK

I'm so pleased your appointment went well westcountry although that is all pretty horrendous you poor thing.
Also glad to see you're in better spirits today Daisy
Update from me -it's day 12 and I feel really good. I've been out today and walked around for a good while and felt fine. Sitting is much much easier and getting in and out of chairs. I am down to 2 lots of painkillers in 24 hours and am reducing the movicol. Stitches pull a little and still quite itchy but manageable (btw how long until they dissolve /fall out?)
Am amazed at how well I'm healing and think I will return to work the week after next.

Hello all, I hope you don't mind me posting here. This topic seems to be the closest to my problem. Any opinions would be much appreciated.

I gave birth 7 months ago and had an episiotomy and forceps. I was a total mess down below, very bruised and swollen. Huge piles (sorry for TMI) and a few days afterwards my episiotomy stitches came apart and the area became infected. I originally went back to the labour ward and was given antibiotics and strong painkillers.

The infection cleared up but I was still in a lot of pain and my GP referred me to ob gyn consultant. I had a procedure a couple of months ago during which some excess scar tissue was taken away from the area. This improved the pain considerably. I was then told to come back in a few months with the consultant expecting me to be fully back to normal by then (next appointment is next month).

In the meantime my scar has healed but the scar tissue seems thin and lumpy which worries me (mainly worried about how it will hold up during any future births). Does this sound normal?

I also recently discovered a small lump protruding from my vagina. It isn't sore. I can push it back in and can also get my finger past it. Is this part of my vaginal wall? Is this a prolapse? After pushing it back in last night I had a dull period pain type ache for an hour or so. It also just comes straight back out once I've pushed it in. No other symptoms except sudden need to urinate with no real build up. Will my consultant be able to help with this or is it just a case of doing a ton of pelvic floor exercises forever to try to improve things? (I have been doing these but haven't seen much improvement, if any, tbh)

At the other end (sorry!) my piles have pretty much gone except for one rather large lump that sometimes hurts and bleeds a small amount when I go to the toilet. I also feel sudden urge to use the toilet, again with no real build up. Is this likely to be a stubborn pile rather than a prolapse? Will the consultant look at this area or only be interested in the vaginal area only?

Finally, how will all of the above affect future births? I would like another child within the next few years but would be terrified of adding to my issues in any way.

If you've got this far, thanks for reading! Any advice, what to ask at consultant appointment, things I can do to improve matters etc would be great. Thanks again

Elc it sounds like a prolapse to me but they won't do anything if you are planning to have more children. They will tell you to do pelvic floor exercises and might offer you a pessary which can help to hold things up. Sorry I don't have time to go into loads of detail but if you read back on previous pages you will find lots of useful info.

I saw a private consultant today, he said I have got scar tissue which will need to be removed, he said the front wall looks quite good but the back wall needs a bit more support. So 5 months after my 1st op I am facing another op but I actually feel OK about it. The consultant really seems to know what he is talking about, reconstruct ing the pelvic floor is his speciality and it won't be such a big op this time, he said I should be able to go home the same day. So hopefully after that I will be sort of fixed (though he did say it will never be perfect). Fingers crossed!

Had GP appt today. She said she wouldn't say it was a prolapse, but the vaginal walls are slack & gave me some pelvic floor exercises to do.

She said as women enter the menopause (I'm almost 50) the oestrogen levels drop quite drastically & 'everything heads south'.

She said it will take about 3mths to see a good improvement. I'm to go back if nothing changes.
Haven't done PFE for years, so need to get on with it.

Hey thanks - finally managed to get myself back on to this thread -got time on my hands now to fiddle around haha. Well I'm reporting back to say I'm home and the deed is done! Feel so much better mentally now after all that worrying and time will tell how things down there pan out, but apart from the whole BM issue which is not pleasant at mo, I don't feel too bad. Had a bit of girly bonding in hospital so wasn't a totally bad experience for that reason. nearly walked out before op tho as there were a few admin cock ups (ie being told to come in at 7.30 getting changed and then been told I was last on PM list so would have to wait til 4pm!!!!) so hanging round in the hospital café! all day without eating or drinking! anyway had a bit of a moan about it as I was on my own stuck half an hour drive from home so couldn't go home and bless them they swapped their pm list and did me first. But initially this didn't give me much confidence as I sure you can imagine. Will keeping (trying) to post with my recovery!

FHS - I have had post-op problems related to low oestrogen ('infections' that weren't after tests, swollen bits, cystitis and urge incontinence) and have vagifem prescribed by the consultant, which keeps things just about ok.

If you have problems, they seem ready to prescribe this, rather than systemic hrt. More info and symptoms: www.menopausematters.co.uk/vaginalsymptoms.php

I had read about it before, but it came as a complete surprise that this was my problem - I was blaming the op. Still, seems to have worked :)

Hi summertime

I had a quick look at that site but I don't have any of those symptoms. Apart from a 'bulge' which isn't there now!
In fact, after a few months of not being lubricated when having sex, I've had increased cervical mucus over the last couple of weeks. No period since beg of Aug, Keep expecting to start a period but no obvious signs at the moment.

My oestrogen levels are probably decreasing as I've had a few missed periods over the past year, but no symptoms that are mentioned on the site.

Sorry, meant to say also, if I cut down on caffeine then the urge to wee frequently disappears!

Not sure if this is prolapse (rectocele) related or not. I feel bloated most of the time and pretty uncomfortable with it. I had bad constipation so use lactolose and have increased fibre considerably. Now the tmi bit, I know I need to poo (can feel it's there) but often nothing happens. I can sit on the loo for a while but nothing. Don't want to strain and make things worse but I am so uncomfortable. Velcro baby doesn't help so when I do go he starts crying and I can't go as I have to sort him out.

curlyclaz13 - make sure you are drinking plenty with the fibre, otherwise it just adds to the bunging up effect - water between drinks!

If you can get your stools to a no 4 on the Bristol stool scale, it should help. Feet up on a box when you go to the loo will improve things by straightening up your rectum.

2 Kiwi fruit a day will shift anything, 1 a day for maintenance. Otherwise, have you tried movicol, which works differently to lactulose (I found lactulose gave me loads of wind - hard dry poo hit the porcelain like bullets - sorry tmi

FHS - don't discount the vagifem theory - lack of lubrication is a sign. I still get cervical mucus during ovulation (or trying to ovulate.....?) but the tissues are sensitive at times. Caffeine is def a trigger

A bit more tmi, everything is quite soft now, it feels like the muscles are knackered I am so bloated feeling I wonder if the change in diet was too quick ? I am at the doctors next week again so will see what happens then.