Vaginal Prolapse : am I alone?

[PrinnyViolet]

Hello

So a few days ago I felt a strange sensation down below and upon further investigation found a fleshy lump inside my vagina.
Doctor has told me it's a prolapse of my vagina wall & it's not serious.
She was so flippant about it I just left & didn't ask any questions.

Has this happened to anyone else & if it has Will it go back to normal ever???

Google is not my friend today!!!

I have a gynae referral. To my surprise my GP took it all very seriously, confirmed I do have a prolapse and was also concerned that I spot mid cycle (have mentioned this before to various Drs and a gynaecologist to be told it didn't warrant investigation). I did see a gynaecologist last summer about my painful periods but she didn't examine me. GP was a little shocked at that.

I would push to get it fixed

Thanks Xmas and Polly.

I think dc3 will probably be fine after 2.5yrs but I'd rather wait til at least 3 to be on the safe side. I'm also still breastfeeding and want to wait til I've stopped to see if that helps. Am thinking to stop in a few months, don't want to go beyond 2yo.
Though I'm doubting stopping bf will help make anything better down there.
I have finally got around to picking up a prescription for urge incontinence /stress incontinence (i forget which i think it's urge incontinence) Apparently it's to rule out my nighttime weeing issues as it may be related to something else and not the prolapse. Need to read the leaflet that comes with it before I start taking it.

Hi to the new posters

2ndSop that's reassuring that your GP took you seriously, I feel like a lot of this is to do with other people understanding the person's concerns and the impact it has on their life. Acknowledging that it is serious/long term. My GP although quite nice was a bit blasé about it "yes you have a prolapse, it's not that bad and don't worry it will move out of the way when you have sex"
Luckily the gynae was alot nicer and examined properly (see previous posts re:legs in the air poses) I cried when I had that appt, just to have someone take it seriously.

Amy that doesn't sound good about your mum's aftercare, does she still have a catheter in? Is it supposed to be in that long? Maybe you/she can call and ask for an appt asap.

Back to clenching and watching tv. Half term's almost over lots of laundry/errands to run tomorrow.

Rose - I told people who had to know something (e.g. family member providing childcare) that I had a hospital/dr appointment as due to a difficult birth I needed follow up care. Sometimes I said "after dc3 birth some things are not all as they should be down there"
I felt it offered enough information without being too specific. If they want to know more tell them to mind their fucking business you could say "sorry I'd rather not discuss it in detail" smile and quick change of subject.

I had prolapse after the birth of number 7. The doctors were really dismissive and said I was lucky it took so long to happen.

She had the catheter in for around 2 weeks post op, then she had to self catherterise for around 3 weeks because she couldnt completely empty her bladder, it hurts her when she pees sometimes but if she has plenty of fluids shes feels ok, she also had a urine infection which was to be expected after using a catheter, yes i agree her aftercare is shocking, she only had a phonecall asking her how she was in january, about a month after her op she has an appointment in march but they havent explained what for, she only had 4 children so it was a shock to hear that happen, she cant call to make appointments since shes profoundly deaf and when she had her operation i had to leave the ward so she had no one for 9 hours she couldnt understand a word of what anyone was explaining to her which none of us were happy about and to hear that my mother was left crying really upset me but shes doing fine now and i would say she was back to her normal self

I posted here two weeks ago with what I thought was a uterine prolapse. I now realise that it is actually a rectal prolapse. My doctor only really looked for evidence of my cervix having moved and I think she missed the hernia.

I am so low and cannot stop thinking about it and the quality of my life. I am scared of going to the loo. I have to "splint" which just feels so awful and I just want to run away and hide away. Today I cannot stop crying, I feel so miserable. I have taken steps to improve my lifestyle, no wine, lots of water, high fibre diet, exercise, I am taking movicol but I am permanently constipated and scared to go to the loo. I have back pain for which I want to take painkillers but I cannot because they make the contstipation worse.

Would I be wasting the doctors time to go back and tell her it was a rectocele not a uterine prolapse and even if I do what can she do? I have a partner who tries to reassure me but I feel so low and worried that he will run out of sympathy if he keeps seeing me burst into tears.

I cannot sleep, I am worried about my work, my job involves long haul flying and I always get constipated on those trips- I want to tell my boss that I cant do them any more but I dont want to have to explain that my arse is in my vagina. How do other women cope with this?

Yes, of course you should go back to your GP and talk about it again.
If she didn't or can't diagnose you and offer treatment then she ought to refer you to a gynaecologist- which is what you need anyway, to discuss what happens next.

You need to be thinking about whether you want an operation to sort this and then ask for that if a gynae thinks it's bad enough.

Try not to get upset- take the initiative and go and seek help.

Thanks Polly. I will go back to the doctor. I just forced myself to swim for 20 minutes, that has at least stopped the constant tears and given me a slight endorphin lift which helps me to see things a bit less emotionally.

I will have to take another day off work to get an appointment with the doctor, another bollocking by my (male) boss who thinks I am maligering. But my health is more important than what he thinks. I need to hold onto that.

Shoot flaming - that's exactly how I feel. I'm pretty sure I'm in the same boat, especially as your symptoms sound so similar. But emotionally as well, I have ok days but going to the loo makes me sob... (as does downing movicol and fibrogel all the time)

I had to basically demand a gynae referral from the GP. I have BUPA and he still made me spell out that I wanted a detailed diagnosis and treatment plan (if needed) and that a print out of pelvic floor exercises from the Internet ain't going to cut it when my innards are "touching cloth" . It was my 6w post natal check and my BP was through the roof just from the stress of having to talk about it (it dropped immediately after we stopped discussing it).

It's really rough but recommend you go to GP and ask outright to see a gynae. Am sure they'll refer you even if you can't go private. Fingers crossed you can see a sympathetic doc. You would definitely not be wasting their time as the symptoms are so bad and also it's getting you down so much.

My gynae appt is tomorrow, I'll post back after.

Tango thanks, thanks so much. I don't have private health but I do have a strong will so instead of tugging my forelock at the doctors I will request a proper specialist appointment. Oh bugger the tears are back :( I hate feeling sorry for myself.

I wish you the very best for your appointment tomorrow. Please do post back, it really helps knowing I am not alone.

for anyone suffering with this miserable condition.

flaming surely you don't have to take a full day off for an appointment? Why on earth is your boss telling you off? My boss, also male, just needs to hear "female problems" and no more questions asked...

When the GP examined me the other day she also found thrush. Joy. So last night took a capsule the size of the Isle of Man. I think it's made me feel dodgy. Joy again.

I work 20 miles away, I'll call the docs at 0830, I might get an appointment at 11:00 so being 20 miles away is no use. If I try to book one in advance I might be two weeks waiting and I can't do two weeks like this. To be frank, if I am feeling like I am today with back pain and tears I'll be staying home anyway.

Flaming, I feel the same. I get very down about it. I have a rectocele too, well both actually. I can't let myself get constipated, or I'm in agony. I take two psyllium husk capsules a day and stay away from white bread as much as possible and try to drink lots. I'm terrified of needing surgery. I feel unattractive and rubbish.

Talula, I thought I had every constipation cure under the sun here but I don't have psyllium so I'll try that too. So sorry to hear of a fellow sufferer, why do we all seem to be so inclined to constipation? Surgery terrifies me too, but so does living with this condition. I's going to take some coming to terms with.

My constipation thing seems to be lifelong from years of school/ public toilet phobia and erratic eating patterns. It's become so bad now because of codeine painkillers for back pain. I was switched off them and give naproxen with omeraprazole but they cause constipation too. Movicol has no effect it seems. So for the past 48 hours I have switched to vegetables and fruits only, pints and pints of water, flax seeds mixed in with my dal, brown bread and swimming and taken no pain killers despite deep pain. Today I had my first shit in a fortnight without having to use my fingers to help.

My partner has now advised me to stop being so self involved and surrender with confidence that it will all be ok (he is a recovering alcoholic). I told him this is not the same as AA. I
Knew his patience would wear thin.

I am now in bed debating wether to toss and turn with worry about it all or take half a sleeping pill and have it all go peaceful for 8 hours.

I can at least practice the gratitude my dp suggests, I am hugely grateful for people on this thread sharing their experience.

My physiotherapist (seen for pelvic floor exercises for prolapse) recommended the psyllium husk capsules. You do need to drink lots of cold water with them though.

I've suffered with constipation for a long time too, and also piles and fissures, which haven't helped.

Sorry your dps patience is wearing thin .. I can't discuss it with mine, but it's a fairly new relationship, don't want to scare him off

Well, just back from the dr who effectively told me that it was a consequence of age and being female and do my pelvic floor exercises. No referral to a gynae. She told me she had spent most of today looking at prolapses and mine was not as bad as the woman who came in with her "cervix hanging out" and who had been cured with some pelvic floor exercises.

Instead of standing up for myself I burst into tears and she treated me like a stupid child who had a graze on her knee and wanted a bandage.

I know there is no simple answer but for her to be so dismissive really added insult to injury. Not sure what to do now. I am no further on, I still have awful back pain and no effective pain releif, I have a prolapsed rectum (confirmed) and I am still bursting into tears all over the place and unable to face the world.

nora you poor thing - just wanted to offer sympathy at the way your doctor has treated you. Can you see another GP at your surgery (maybe one who has an interest in women's health?). Surely you have the right to a consultant referral?!

Ahhh just losty post! !!

The gist:

Flaming sorry your gp acted like a shit, go back and see someone else if you can. Be a broken record "i would like a referral to a women's physio and gynae please " and repeat until you get it.

It doesn't matter that your cervix isn't hanging out ffs what a stupid thing to say.

**lost my post, not losty! Not doing well with posting today. ..

Thanks Cait
I think I am now at the point where I have realised that I have to come to terms with this. I suppose it's not dissimilar to coming to terms with a disability. Having said that, it's bloody hard to accept that I have 20 plus years of living with this.

Right now I hate my life, but I have some confidence that it will improve with time and acceptance. That makes my dp right last night- last night I didn't get it, I think I do now. There is no cure, no fix just acceptance and slight improvement.

flaming ^Please go back to your GP and ask for a referral- you have a right to a 2nd opinion. If necessary, invest £150 or near enough for a private appt with a gynae who can then refer you back to the NHS for treatment.

Your GP was out of order- that's a terrible way to treat a patient.

You don't have to live with this. You can have an operation if necessary.

Having to use your finger in order to poo is not acceptable for quality of life and this can and should be fixed with surgery.

If your GP is obnoxious maybe see someone else or change practices. You might have to be assertive but please don't accept her attitude as the end of the line.

This gp said the only thing suitable was pelvic floor exercises. She said a pessary was no good because I'm sexually active (not since this I'm not- but I want to be), she said it's not bad enough for surgery, actually she said I would be laughed at if I presented for surgery then went on to tell me about the poor woman who had her cervix "hanging out".

She was clearly wanting to get rid of me and did not want to address the vicious circle of back pain, constipation, rectocele and plummeting self esteem. I wonder if it's because another doctor in their practice had examined me last week and told me everything was where it should be? Could she be nervous of a conflicting diagnosis from a colleague?

I am going to look into a private gynae appointment tomorrow. And I'm telling my boss I'm not doing any long haul travel for work till I'm sorted.

Thanks everyone for the support today and yesterday. I'm going to try going to work again tomorrow.

How do others manage to deal with this in cubicle type semi public lavs? I've put a squatting step in front of my loo at home just to raise my feet by 4 inches which has helped but I clearly can't do that at work. There are students in and out of the same loos and hanging around, unless i use the disabled ones which I shall do from now on because they have the basin in the cubicle for easier clean up. FFS I hate this but it won't beat me.

Oh flaming your treatment at the hands of the GP really really sucks. And reflects my own ("yeah, it's a prolapse, now do your PFE..." Twice). I wonder if I wouldn't have got the gynae appt if I hadn't been basically self-referring privately (need the GP referral for insurance). I did notice that the GP put on the referral that I was concerned the constipation was an indicator of ovarian cancer, and that I'm high risk (BRCA gene carrier), which I only really mentioned in passing, as the prolapse is my main concern and I only gave birth 8 weeks ago so that's most likely cause. So I wonder if he needed something more than "prolapse" to justify the referral. He also put that I was in pain, which I'm not (but you are!).

I would strongly recommend the private gynae if you can afford it. I went yesterday and feel much better for it. Slightly stupidly I've got the same diagnosis/treatment but I feel A MILLION times better because she took me seriously and answered all my questions, she did say if I had to brace with my finger to go to the loo they'd go straight to surgery, but as I don't they've referred me for 3 months physio and check back when we can discuss surgery again if needed. The worst of my constipation is likely post-natal - treat with laxitives and diet - keep an eye on. The biggest relief for me is that it's just rectocele, no uterine or bladder prolapse. She said it is unlikely to go away completely but I could alleviate symptoms with physio and diet to keep constipation at bay and surgery is an option if I'm sure no more kids. (I'm sure) she also said I could have sex, exercise and pick my kids up no problem as not a bladder prolapse (wonder if physio will say the same). She said constipation 100% post natal/prolapse related, so not to worry about ovarian cancer.

Just having someone actually examine me (the GP didn't either time), listen to me, take me seriously, send me to an actual physio, answer my questions and tell me "how bad" it is (permanent, but manageable) just made me feel so much better in myself. I imagine GPs see "loads" of these and gynae services are stretched but to not give a patient in tears a referral if it could help them seems callous. From what the consultant said today, you would be a candidate for surgery flaming so please try and see someone who will take you seriously, your unhelpful GP makes me mad, when once you get to a specialist I bet they'll go through all the appropriate options.

Also, to answer your question - I'm on maternity leave so it's quite easy to make sure I'm in the house to go, although I have to employ CBeebies to keep DS1 occupied to give me space. Thankfully. For now.