Pt 8 (Oct13) Any old prolapse! Uterus/womb prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, enterocele, urethrocele, incontinence, pelvic floor, anterior and posterior repair, TVT etc (994 Posts)

[gottagetthroughthis]

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
Thread 8

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 for tomorrow Alteredimage

Thanks wish - sorry that you need something doing - I am relieved and plan on doing what I can to avoid surgery until I need it.

Thanks. However I was told two days ago that it has been postponed till mid April. A certain amount of relief though balanced by a desire to have it over and done with.

Batbear I essentially avoided surgery for over a decade. I'm glad I did. It will be much easier now the kids are older.

10 years Altered? You have more resilience than me. The thought of putting up with this for that length of time would drive me to drink. And I'm tea total!

Hello, I really need some advice and information if anyone could help? I'm only 22 and have one 2 year old girl. I have recently been diagnosed with rectocele and am going to have to have surgery soon. Anyone know if you can have a baby after this procedure? As I really would love to have another baby but can't seem to find anything on the matter or the risks x

Hazel. It was not too bad until menopause. I think I am at the age where everything is going south. Now I just want to get it over.

Miaa. Poor you. I don't know. I found the appointment with the surgeon odd in that on first meeting/examination you are told you are a candidate for surgery and you are supposed to have all your questions ready. The next time you meet the surgeon is on operation day. Yours is a really important question. Could you go back to the GP who referred you and ask him. He should be able to find out more for you.

Hi all. i've been out of this for a bit, but back now briefly. I had a defecating proctogram in January. It was... ok, I guess. They were very professional. I thought there were two staff present, then went behind the screen at the end to wash my hands and discovered there were about 8! Gulp! One tip: the chalk/aniseed tasting drink you have to have is utterly disgusting. I happened to have some chocolate with me though(!), and a square of that was brilliant at taking the taste away. Ooh, and have a wee before you go - for some reason I found weeing a lot during the test really mortifying! Anyway, it's the best way to find out the size and severity of your prolapse. I've also seen the consultant. He is going to operate, but I've asked to defer for a year as my children are only 3 and 1, and I can't imagine not being able to lift them for 6 weeks. It'll be a t-shaped cut to tuck the rectocele back in, then an overlapped repair of the vaginal wall. No mesh. He said it'll feel quite different, quite tight, and sex might be difficult for quite a while. So either way my sex life is screwed then...! So, any tips on surviving another year with a rectocele gratefully received. Meanwhile, good luck to you all as you go through all this.

Oh, just saw Miaa's post. I was told that they won't operate until you've had all your children. So definitely worth asking, and making sure they know you're not done having babies yet. Good luck!

After the birth of my baby last summer I suffered a prolapse - rectocele and cystocele which has basically meant that I can't walk or stand without a lot of discomfort.

I've been going to a physio, doing my pelvic floor exercises in the hope that it would improve but I'm getting to the stage where I need to start considering surgery - I'm so fed up with not being able to live properly.

I know it's really important to get a good surgeon so I just wondered if anyone could recommend a surgeon who has excellent results in or near London?

AJH12 is Oxford close enough for you?

Perkins08 I'm still living with mine. Still deciding whether/when I should have op for my rectocele. When I had my op for stress incontinence last year my plan was to have rectocele op this year but now I'm here I'm not sure (as was told it would be a mesh repair), so now thinking about it for next year instead. I'd like to go back & see the two consultants & see if any other options for non-mesh repair & discuss full pros/cons.

In the meantime, I'm trying to lose weight & get fit, trying not to be constipated all the time by changing what I eat (mostly more veg but I'm also experimenting with fermented foods to see if better gut flora help) and also using glycerin suppositories. I have a very slow gut transit time and I find laxatives either give me a lot of wind or wake me in the night by moving things along (the gut contractions they cause are painful and wake me in the early hours). The problem is more getting the poo out when I need to go (sorry tmi). I find somedays a morning coffee or two does the trick, but when it doesn't & I need to go I use a glycerin suppository or two. I wish I'd discovered them years ago, they really take away the need to strain. They are a real help when you need to go out but also need to go, but know you need ages to go & it'll be a real nightmare & you'll still feel like your bowels are half full after you've been. I use 1 to start & if I feel my bowel is still not empty then I'll use a second one. Has made my toilet troubles far more bearable.

I got told by the X-ray person who done a protograme that I would definitely have to have surgery to repair mine as its really bad as I can go up to 6-7 weeks without being able to emptying my bowels and have been placed on a stupid amount of laxatives and painkillers. So haven't spoken to the surgeon who referred me for the tests yet.

was just looking for information on it to see wether or not you can have children as all I've found is people saying they weren't aloud as it can cause complications. I don't know what's best really. Do I keep suffering in order to be able to have another baby, do I take the risk and have one after the surgery or do I give up hope on being able to have any more :( it's all such a confusing situation and a lot to consider.

Hi, looking for advice.

I am having an op for rectocele / cystocele next week (possible hysterectomy too). I am nearly 42.

What I really need to know is recovery time. I have 4 kids aged 8, 6, 4 and 2. How long after the op will I be able to drive, for example?

Many Thanks!

Just dropped in here as I saw new postings , cant personally help with the surgery questions, as I am coping with a pessary so far, ( uterine prolapse) but there is a really good support group on facebook , loads of help and info - its a private group and you can ask anything! here is link
www.facebook.com/groups/184143085606/

Hi. I though I would come back to say I had the operation on Monday. It was almost cancelled again as they could not find a bed but luckily not ...and I ended up with my own room. I had a vaginal hysterectomy and repairs for a recto celebrate and whatever is the bladder one. I also opted for a mid urethral tape on the basis that if having things done I might as well preempt any need for Tena lady as I get older.

So far so good. Surprisingly little pain and I only used the morphine button on the first night to help ensure I got some sleep and suspect my need for paracetamol has been due to headaches caused by caffeine withdrawal and backache from lying down too long on an uncomfortable hospital bed.

I was home two days after the op, and no problems peeing. Constipation has been more of an issue probably because of not really eating for two days (Nil by mouth on the operation day and not hungry the next.) Whilst not moving much and, obviously, not wanting to push too hard. Lactose has done the trick.

Though I feel very well I am tired and understand that this could last a while and I should go with the flow. Luckily DC are older teenagers so perfectly capable of boiling their own pasta. The 16yo though clearly has some way to go in developing her empathy skills.

I don't go back for a check up for 6 weeks but so far it's been far better than I expected.

I really hated the prolapse and once it started getting bad it became worse quite quickly to the extent it became disabling. Let's hope the surgery has worked. I'm told I need to get my BMW down, from 26, and eat lots of veg. I have a lot of motivation.

That's great news altered. Well done on the positive start. I can fully empathise with the constipation problem - it's quite terrifying knowing that you've got to go but being scared of doing any damage.

I too was surprised at the lack of pain, but please don't do any lifting of any sort - it will set you right back. No heavier than a bottle of coke/milk. You really don't want to go through all this disruption to your life, only to have to have it done again in 5 years time.

I can understand why they have advised you to reduce your BMI. I had my op 2 years ago, but am 3 stone overweight and can feel the prolapse nudging me again. I've lost a stone in the last 6 weeks and can feel already that it does make a difference - a good incentive to keep on the straight and narrow.

Hope your recovery continues and please take it easy.

Thank you Hazel. I had just finished a celebratory bowl of Ben and Jerry's, actually 2 bowls. They need to a one off!

I only just snuck within the NHS criteria because I had lost two stone over the past year or so. They normally want a BMW of 25 as any more and the risk of recurrence is greater. The prolapse was getting to be such that I was discouraged from taking exercise.

So a diet for me too.

It's strange though. Apart from the tiredness I am finding it hard to compute that I have just had major surgery. I can almost run upstairs. I could really forget and get in the car next week and drive. And so nice not to have the dragging feeling on my stomach.

But too early to know whether it has worked. I had a bit of urinary urgency today which had me slightly panicked. But overall I am very relieved. I was very worried before the op.

Hi there. I am starting to wonder if I have some kind of prolapse. I have 2 children, the youngest of which is 7. Nether were huge babies- 7lb 11 and 6lb 2 but I did have third degree tears with the first and with the second I had a retained placenta which I had to have manually removed.
Since I had my kids I have had the usual leaking a little urine when couching a lot, being sick, sneezing or running or jumping.
However the last year this seems to have got worse. Sometimes I feel when I am sat on the toilet like a kind of sensation that something is out of place or falling out and if I put my fingers inside my vagina it sometimes feels like I kind of have to push the front wall back up. When I wear a tampon sometimes they fall out when I go to the toilet. and often my period leaks out side a tampon yet when I remove the tampon it is not saturated and I often get a heavy discharge.

Does this sound like a prolapse? Also I suffered with bulimia and until about 4 months ago was regularly making myself sick -could this rather than the child birth have kind of strained something?

Your symptoms sound consistent. It's well worth getting a diagnosis as a lot can be done with physio or using pessaries/rings. Try the link provided by agoodbook where you will find loads of 'been there done that' help.

I knew I had problems following a forceps delivery with my first. I then ignored it. Menopause weaken muscle tone and gravity does the rest. However repair operations apparently have a 30% failure rate so much better to work on strengthening the pelvic floor and avoiding surgery for as long as possible.

By delaying I think both my bowel and bladder also suffered. I am really hoping the operation I had last week is successful.

Just found this thread: I have a quite severe uterine prolapse, and am waiting to see a gynaecologist.

I'm struggling in the meantime though, as I have a heavy 4 month old (8kg) so am constantly needing to crouch on the floor with him, pick him up from the floor and carry him round etc - every time I carry him I can feel the prolapse bulging out more! I have no bladder control at all (can't even tell I'm peeing) but really it's the pain from lifting and carrying that's the bigger issue, along with the tiredness and that horrible dragging in my abdomen.

Does anybody have any practical advice for coping day to day while waiting for treatment, like how to handle a baby and the housework without making it worse? I'm taking paracetamol but it's not helping that much.

Thanks in advance

Hi,

I was on one of these threads three years ago after my DD was born. I had a rectocele which was treated with a ring pessary for 4m, after which it seemed to have cleared up on it's own. Thank you everyone who was here then for your help - I wouldn't have known what was wrong or what to do about it without your help!

But here I am again...

DS was born 3w ago. Very rapid labour but his head had been incredibly low/fully engaged for at least a month. Now I have a much worse prolapse than Last time! I can't tell whether it's bladder or uterine prolapse (google images aren't much help tbh) but it's big, uncomfortable all the time and getting rapidly worse. GP won't even look at it until 6w check - by then I'll be able to sling it over my shoulder! I tried to self refer to physio but I'm already seeing them about a damaged shoulder and they'll only deal with one thing at a time!

Please someone, what can I do? I want a referral to a gynae, don't i? That's what happened last time, but not until 4m - I can't wait that long! I weed myself today for the first time in my adult life. I can't spend the next few weeks/months crying in public toilets when I don't make it in time.

Sorry this is a bit long, and over a minor issue compared to many of you here.