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!!!

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"

Sorry but this is just rubbish.
She's ignorant. Her 'bedside manner' is a disgrace because she made you feel humiliated. In your position I'd lodge a complaint with the Practice.

If someone has a Grade 2 prolapse- cervix at entrance- I doubt if PF exercises would help.

I had grade 1- mild. I did PF exercises for several months which included electrical stimulation via physio, for weeks. It did nothing.

Many women have pessaries which they can remove for sex if they choose.

If you see a gynae privately, make sure they know how to treat prolapse they all have their specialisms and you need one who has an interest in this type of issue.

I agree with Polly, Flaming. A helpful gynae will offer surgery if quality of life is affected. They do these ops several times a day. And splinting to poo is a fairly serious quality of life issue, plus your sex life and relationship is compromised. My experience was some GPs do put you off, especially if you have young children, they think you are just not doing your pelvic floors. And kind of 'what do you expect luv you've had a baby you silly girl'.
However, another sympathetic GP examined me and said there is muscle damage there and referred me to another Gynae. So I went on to have surgery and at that point I had no leaking and some incomplete emptying, and stool getting stuck in an alarming way, but I didn't have to splint. I did have a bulge sticking out (the bladder or who the F knows what it was) at the end of the day.
My cervix was fine and was high up. If you want more children they may be reluctant to operate until your family is complete. Because second time repairs are not undoable - but more complex because they have already stitched in places first time around. The pessary didn't work for me but it does for some people, I am not sure I could have gotten mine in and out by myself. I think it helps more if it is the cervix that is prolapsing but I could be wrong about that.The psychological impact of prolapse on women is woefully disregarded and unsupported.
Take heart, there is a help out there and you can and will get this fixed at some point. The recovery from the op is slow and you need help with small children in the first two weeks after but it is doable and plenty have done it. I know it feels terrible and hopeless at times because I have felt that too.
I found that trying to maintain an intimate relationship with my husband on some level also helped to make me feel 'normal', even if I wasn't in the mood. And 'not tonight dear, I've a bladder sticking out of my vagina!' didn't seem like something that would be helpful to explain. I just kind of put up with sex every so often, because it was important to him and it did help me get along with things and not add give me another issue to deal with.

My colleagues here at work are also horrified by what I have told them happened yesterday. It is such a shame because that doctor has in the past been very supportive.

When I said "so I have to contine to put my fingers in my vagina to go to the toilet?" she just shrugged and said said "there is no quick fix".

Sadie and Polly thanks again for the reassurance. I am about to do some searching for a private gynaecologist.

EEk its £6k for surgery. £180 for a consultation, I will start there.

It's quite normal to have a private consultation then go onto the NHS waiting list for that consultant- and sometimes you can queue jump depending on how urgently they think you need the op. They will also write to your GP recommending the required treatment .

Flaming, so sorry to hear about the awful response you got from the GP, that is just unacceptable. Regarding your work toilets, could you pop a footstool in the disabled loo with a note on it asking for it not to be moved? Or drop a line to whoever looks after the facilities explaining you need the footstool left there for medical reasons?

I have seen the GP twice now, the first time was a locum who was a bit vague and referred me to physio for a proper assessment. However I was having awful problems doing a poo so I went back and saw my usual doctor who was much more helpful. She took a look and thinks the prolapse is at the front and doesn't involve my rectum, my pooing problems are just due to general damage/trauma from the birth (forceps delivery) which she reckons should improve with time.

She advised taking two movicol per day and one fybogel to clear out the backlog, then continuing with fybogel to keep things moving.

I am pleased to say this has actually worked - the backlog is shifted and just having that improvement has helped me feel a bit better about things. I am just waiting for my physio appt now.

Thanks Sadie for your comments about sex life too. DH is quite squeamish and I am not sure what the best way is to handle this with him. Sex has not been an issue yet as until recently I was still in pain from stitches and we are too knackered. He knows I have the prolapse but has not asked much. Interested to hear from others about this.

Hello not sure if it's mn etiquette to just join in here! I had my baby a year ago and noticed something wasn't right, I have no problems with my bladder or bowel at all they both function fine, but I have that horrible floppy walls feeling and a large lump down there that never goes away! I mentioned to the gp in my post natal check up and she said it will go back to normal just do pelvic floor exercises, it's been a year of doing them religiously and nothing has changed! It's really affecting my confidence and I don't think my husband enjoys sex with me anymore it just feels so wide so can't be a good sensation for him, I'm due another trip back to the GP I was going to ask about these pessary rings I've been reading about just desperate for something to change

I suspect I am rather older than you all at 60, and have a vaginal prolapse, so menopause was the culprit here.
Just wanted to add a couple of things for your info
I have a ring pessary which works fine for 95% of the time, and yes, you can have sex with it in (and am assured by DH he cannot tell its in.) and no, you do not have to be an old lady to have one. They can be useful if you are not ready for surgery. And my doctor fitted it, and checks it every 6 months at the surgery.
You can also get pessaries (on the NHS ) for rectoclele and cytocele, but you have to work very hard to get someone to admit it .
There is a pelvic organ prolapse support group on facebook. Loads of advice, everyone there is in the same boat, Can be a bit scary, but its a closed group,you have to apply to join, but you can ask anything .
Link here
www.facebook.com/groups/184143085606/

Thank you so much I will check the group out, it's such a taboo things to talk to people about don't have anyone in my life I can share this with so grateful for mn

book Don't you fancy having it fixed? I had it done 25 years ago and now post meno I use vaginal estrogen and full HRT to try to keep my pelvic organs healthy.

no Polly - I did a lot of background research. I decided to go down the route of pessary first, and see how it panned out. I am a bit of a non interventionist tbh. I had, and have a very full on life and I didn't want surgery unless I really needed surgery, due to the amount of recovery time, and the necessary restrictions it would bring ( some of these apply to the pessary as well, obviously) I rarely think about it now unless I have done something stupid like lifting something too heavy, or get a really bad cough. And if that is as bad as it gets, then its fine by me :)

I'd just hate to have a piece of plastic inside me like that. But if you are happy, glad it's working!

I pressed too soon. I have heard that as women get older, pessaries can become a problem as they can erode the thin tissues, so something to be aware of. Are you using vaginal estogen which would help give your tissues more support?

Having done a lot of background research I weighed up the statistics on percentage of good outcomes of surgery against possibilities of creating more problems than it solved, versus the advantages it would bring, and made my choice based on that .

I am checked every 6 months to check tissue health. I have a prescription for vagifem if needed, but so far am doing fine , and no post menopause dryness/irritation at all . That of course may change, but it barely impinges on my life, I don't even know it is there.
I suspect if I were a lot younger, my decision may well have been different.

I had surgery at 36- I'm almost the same age as you now. I just wanted it fixed. Yes, recovery was hard, with 2 children under 5 , but we managed with family help. I had a front wall repair and my uterus lifted, and a slight tuck in the back wall too. It was only Grade 1, but I hated the heavy feeling and assumed it would only get worse in time and certainly post meno. I hope you get on ok with your chosen treatment.

Hello, hope it's ok to join in as I think I have a vaginal prolapse too. I have had that heavy dragging feeling for a couple of days and after examining myself I can feel a bulge just inside the vagina and on the front wall if that makes sense. I was wondering if doing pelvic floor exercises and using the pelvic floor cones would be of any help in correcting this or is too late for this now?

Purple you should see you GP to be examined. It sounds like a prolapse. Mine was diagnosed immediately and I was referred to a gynecologist. I was told that pelvic floor exercises wouldn't help as it was too severe, but this may not be the case for you.

I have an appointment to see a private gynae this week.

I'm three weeks on from the GP appointment and have decided that I want to complain but it feels like I'm just going to expose myself (pardon the pun) further, I need to explain what happened and that means I have to disclose very intimate information to more people in the practice. How do I complain without feeling like everyone knows my medical history at the practice?

Sending sympathy to anyone suffering with this rotten condition.

I have a ring pessary for cystocele and rectocele. I can take it out for sex, and put it in with the aid of standard lube. It's not an elegant process, but pretty straight forward - one leg on the toilet seat!

If you have an unsympathetic GP (seriously, I wonder why some go into general practice when they seem to hate patients) maybe there's a way you can self refer? Here we can go via the physio department which you can self refer to, or via the Women's Centre which deals with pregnancy, scans etc. I went via the GP but midwives I know said I could have gone via the WC.

My GP said she would refer me to womens physio but that was three weeks ago and I have heard nothing. Today I went to collect a pelvic toner which she wrote me a prescription for, I have no idea what it is or does or what I am supposed to do with it nor how I find out if anything is improving. The prescribing note says "as directed by prescriber" she has given me no information about what this thing is for.

Clearly I can google this stuff and read the instructions but she literally wrote the script and said "I shall give you this" and handed me the paper as she was showing me the door. No guidance, nothing.

So given that I am still as upset as I was three weeks ago, I am going to write to complain. I think I can safely say I have let it settle, this is not a knee jerk reaction. I am still having to splint unless I have the shits which is now also becoming common because I am so scared of getting constipated.

My only problem is that I cannot answer the question of how I want it resolved apart from wanting an apology and an acknowledgement that I should have expected better bedside manner and empathy than I got. I have self referred to a private gynae so no point in asking for a referral. Am I being petty in wanting an apology?

Can you complain to the practice manager.flamingnoravera ? I suspect you wouldn't need to be explicit on the medical history, just about the total lack of empathy or any practical help given, from someone who is supposed to be a health professional

The practice manager would like me to call her to discuss it rather than make a written complaint, I cant see how she can understand the complaint and make a judgement if she doesnt have any detail though.

I am just back from seeing the private gynae. He took a proper history, listened to me, and told me that my pelvic floor was powerful, I had clearly done the exercises prescribed but I do need a repair so that I dont have to spend the rest of my life having to manually push against a rectocele. He has referred me to a colo rectal specialist for an opinion about what is the best repair method given my history of long term constipation and reassured me that this can be done on the NHS. He said my gp must have been having an "off day" because what she said and recommended was not correct.

I feel that I have been properly examined, listedn to and a proper course of action and action is now going to be put in place. I am so glad I had this consultation, it was worth every penny. He will write to my gp and tell her he has seen me and his recommendations.

I would counsel anyone who had had the brush off with this problem to seek another opinion. I feel lighter and even though I am still having to splint to shit, I now know that this will not be forever.

Great news flamingo -