Can we have a long term SPD support thread please?

[Brittapie]

Because DD2 is 4 now and I'm sat here waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in, and that is annoying me somewhat.

:-( Dd2 is only 9 months, I'm not sure if that counts as long term or not. I find it worse when its cold outside for some reason. Hope the ibuprofen kicks in soon.

I think long term is anything past the "oh, as soon as you have the baby you'll feel right as rain!"

Yeah, cold or damp.

Or on my period. Or after sex. But only SOME sex. Other sex makes it better. Seemingly at random. Ditto other physical activities. I mended it once by lifting a wardrobe.

Have you tried pilates? I find it helps. My dc is 7 years old and I still suffer at times. I stayed overnight at a friends house on the weekend and am suffering really badly now. I know that if I do my pilates exercises then within a month it should clear up.

I finally got referred to a physio who actually seems to know what she is doing (she actually touches me, for a start - I tell my friends I'm going to get my crotch shoved ) so hopefully if I do the exercises she suggests I'll get some relief. They are basically pelvic thrusts and waving my legs in the air.

I also find that dangling my leg off a step for a while or getting someone to pull my leg while I lie down helps relieve it slightly.

What pilates moves work for you?

Brit, keep up with those exercises - they do help. I find my biggest trigger is the way I sit on the sofa, I scrunch my legs underneath me which obviously throws my hips out of alignment. When I've been doing my exercises it doesn't cause nay harm. I get lazy though and then after the trauma of sleeping in a different bed, it takes me about 10 minutes to get up off the sofa. I must listen to my own advice and do my exercises!

DD is 2.5 and mine is still killing me.

I was seeing a physio a while back who was great. It was like a full blown wrestling match once he got going

Coming back to the thread as I am having a difficult few weeks with it. Saw my physio this week who has given me lots of new excercises and told me how to stand. Though I am suffering with a lot of lower back pain too. My physio has also reccomended pilates to help with my core strength - she seems to think my main problem is I am very flexible and my joints take all of the strain rather than my muscles.

Hope everyone else is having a better week.

Has anyone been referred to a pain clinic to help with their PGP/SPD? DD is 19 months and I've just been referred. Wondering what they'll do to help.

I'm currently pregnant with dc2, and have had spd since my first trimester with dc1. It did appear to have resolved itself for a while in between the two, but I started getting recurrence when my periods came back.

I'm very keen for any tips or advice that might help me get rid of it once and for all after this baby's born. I see a physio (nhs) and a chiropractor (privately).

I had a fall in pregnancy about 8 years ago and been on crutches for 5 years. I have SIJ pain which does all the usual things that the SIJ does in pregnancy. I had an MRI earlier this year that shows I have scoliosis, DSD and spondylolisthesis (which might be because I'm a mother). Interestingly I have one flat foot and it's on the same side as my scoliosis and the SIJ I have most trouble with. My rhuemie has discharged me though

9 years on and I'm still suffering. Physio says it will never go completely...my symphysis joint still has a gap and I have a diastasis gap of about 1.5 fingers from sternum to pubis bone - my joints are also mobile. Daily pilates exercises for me will be like brushing my teeth - something I have to do to keep core strong and pelvis stable....but anything can trigger pain....hormones, hoovering, carrying something heavy, wearing high shoes, moving in a certain way, walking downhill, too many stairs. Sometimes feel that my body has just let me down - and that those that don't suffer just don't understand.
Have also started doing MuTu exercises and reading Katy Bowman's Alignment books. They are all connected and I hope that everything will one day click and start working the way it should. Am booked to go on a ski holiday in Jan (first time since before children) but wonder if I am mad to even try skiing. SPD can just make you feel old before your time...enough of a rant!

Currently 8 months pregnant with second child, just returned from physio session. Had spd severely with Ds1 5 years ago too. Watches thread with interest!

Another long term sufferer here (dd is 2.5) so watching this thread with interest - how do we set up a group / forum? I would love to chat to others in the same boat x

My DS is almost 4, and up until very very recently I still encountered pain when doing too much...of anything. I have had to be extremely careful - and I still am - if I have to take stairs one at a time, I do so. I still sit bum first and swing legs into car - always two legs on the ground at ALL times to support my frame.
my history in a nutshell: 2010 emcs, 15 months of physio (still was shuffling and couldn't walk properly) then a series of 10 sessions with a rolfing practitioner (allowed me to sleep on my side after all that time) then slowly slowly regain strength. I followed Julie Tupler Tummy exercises to reduce my large diastasis (which is still not closed, but almost!)

When DS was 2ish I was able to try some pilates - some moves helped - others made me worse. DS at 3.5 I started some yoga gently gently and this eased off my extremely tight hamstrings, and actually helped....some movements I cannot do - they make my body worse.

I have recently started a Qigong energy class and this is part of the family of martial arts. I was worried that some of these moves would exacerbate my condition - but I am pleasantly surprised: I have much less pelvic pain than since before I was pregnant! Also I find my strength has increased amazingly, I feel almost back to normal again, something I thought may never happen. The movements are fairly easy, but it's the after effects that are very interesting. Once you learn a few moves by a qualified teacher, you can do this on your own at home for 15 mins a day.

I know it sounds a bit different - but I wish I'd found out about it sooner. It's given me a new perspective on body and healing.

Love to everyone, I sometimes wonder why in our Mother's era there was no such thing as SPD? It's everywhere now :(

I still have SPD, my youngest child will be 17 on Christmas Eve.

I can not walk unaided, I have to use two crutches. I have had 2 fusion ops on the symphysis pubis, the first one failed(the wrong plates were used, the screws were too long and the graft didn't take), so I had it re-done by another surgeon.

I have had both SI joints fused. I have regular multiple steroid injections into my hip and pelvis under GA and into my SI joints when I am awake. I have serious neuropathic pain in my right leg,and my left leg has reduced feeling so I am waiting to have spinal,cord stimulation.

My hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders are shot from using the crutches for so long.

I saw my surgeon today, he told me he sees a few women who,have long term SPD, then went on to tell me I am by far the worse!

Had severe SPD with dd, which left me in a wheelchair. I was unable to bath/shower/dress myself. Dd is nearly 18 months, and I still suffer with recurring back, hip and pelvis issues. Sometimes it takes ages for me to get up off of the floor.

Hoping for a miracle.

Have any of you used Quentin Shaw in Tunbridge Wells? I had lingering SPD. I've been diagnosed with an arthritic hip which was causing some of the problem, but I also found sessions with Quentin very helpful indeed.

www.theguardian.com/education/2002/may/30/medicalscience.healthandwellbeing

www.theguardian.com/education/2002/may/30/medicalscience.healthandwellbeing

Did anyone find an MRI useful? My dad (a radiographer) doesn't think it's the best medium for things like PGP so I was wondering how anyone else got on with it.

Hi ladies, I just wondered if anyone else has had spd so bad that they can't / won't have a second child?

Iaminvisible - sorry you have been through some much, it's brutal : (

I haven't had to resort to surgery like you, just about cope on a cocktail of pain meds & manual physio, but have a permanent hole in my pelvis from pregnancy with my dd who is now coming up for 3. The rheumi told me if I had any more babies I would likely need surgery after that, hence my decision to stop at one.

I've spoken to ladies on spd forums who have had surgery & ended up bed bound or in wheelchairs long term after having their 2nd, 3rd baby with severe spd damage, I just can't risk that happening, but feel so guilty & selfish for denying my dd & dh another member of the family : (

Hi, I searched for this thread after beabea mentioned it on the fatigue thread.

I've had low-level SPD issues since DD's birth, but I had to break out the walking stick this week due to increased problems (still nothing like pregnancy -- graduated from walking stick to crutches until finally spent the last few weeks lying down as I couldn't even sit for 10 minutes). A bit scary to read your stories and that article, although it was encouraging about the osteopath being able to help. I went to a private physio in town when I was pregnant, and it helped loads.

indigo, is qigong a kind of tai-chi? I do chi-gong exercises from tai-chi, which might be the same thing, and they were the one thing that didn't actually hurt my SPD when pregnant (although I obviously had to stop them when I couldn't stand!). I've been doing my tai-chi again, although this week it hurt my new SPD :( It's a bit different than during pregnancy -- I had mostly symphysis pubis pain in pregnancy, and a little sacroiliac issues, and right after birth I had pretty bad sacroiliac pain. It's returned as mostly sacroiliac, although I've been feeling symphysis pubis twinges these last few days.

beabea yes! I don't want another pregnancy due to SPD, and I'm afraid I don't feel bad about it at all. And I haven't even gotten such a severe ultimatum. I am not willing to put myself through 6 months of agony again, and we couldn't afford it I couldn't justify trying to work straight up to the birth like I did last time, knowing how disabled I would be, but I'm the sole wage earner and I can't imagine spending any shorter time home with a new baby after the birth than I did with DD, as I would need to if I took the mat leave before birth. Interestingly, nearly two years on, I've slowly forgotten the absolute agony of pregnancy (although this week is spurring my memory), and started wondering if I could do it again. But I had decided during pregnancy that this would be it, and I find I'm actually a bit sad about the idea of disrupting DD's world with a new draw on my attention. So if I can feel guilty about the prospect of a 2nd, and you can feel guilty about the prospect of no more, I think we're allowed to cancel our guilties against each other and feel fine :)