pelvic floor anxiety

[bigfatmeanie]

Hi,
first time poster with a bit of a long story.
After having my 3rd child I struggled with a feeling of being heavy down below and dragging sensation. It took several examinations by my dr and consultant to reassure me I didn't have a prolapse or anything to worry about as I was suffering from extreme anxiety.
Eventually I recovered and was fine until 4 years later (this week) when I woke up with similar dragging sensation but no leaks. Was examined by my dr who says she can't see anything apart from a little inflammation which may be thrush so she's taken a swab.
My anxiety is off the chart now though and I'm having panicky feelings and weight is falling off me because I'm too stressed to eat properly.
I suppose really I just need some reassurance that it's ok and to listen to my dr x

Would doing exercises help with your anxiety?

I've brought an Elvie to help recover my muscles post baby. Essentially you pop it in and squeeze it in time to the instructions on the app (you will need an android or iPhone, they don't have a Windows phone app ).

The difference pre and post birth was a bit of a shock but the routine has helped me to not overly stress.

Things can feel a little different down there, depending on the time of the month and your age as well. I had a prolapse and did have thrush but didn't know it and that did definitely make me more aware of 'down there' in general as you can feel every movement if there is a bit of inflammation.
I have had an operation for mine. If you have been fine for 4yrs then chances everything is absolutely fine. You may need to just do some decent pelvic floor exercises. There are physio therapists who specialise in women's pelvic floor issues and they are a great help and support to get doing the exercises properly and for reassurance.
With prolapses, they are completely harmless and non-life threatening, they are just inconvenient and impact quality of life to a lesser or larger degree.
Even with a very mild prolapse that has no other symptoms, because we can 'feel something' down there from time to time, it causes it to be on our minds a lot which in itself can cause worry.
That's why doing the pelvic floor exercises can yank things up by the teeniest amount, but enough to stop the feeling that there 'something' there.

I've actually got a kegel8 machine but again a little anxious with it because I'm scared of doing further damage.
I think probably the anxiety is amplifying everything. When I'm having a bad spell of it, it can latch on to a minor concern and make it an utter crisis. Have tried anti d's but found they make things a lot worse.
Thanks so much for your replies, they really have reassured me a bit x

update
Still incredibly uncomfortable and weeing every 5 minutes at the moment.
My anxiety over all this is terrible, I can barely eat, sleep or drink through feeling sick all the time.
Ended up at out of hours dr and although he couldn't examine me, he said my dr hadn't checked properly and I should be getting an internal scan and was going to write to my dr. No idea whether they'll refer me or not :(

Please ask for a referral to a gynae. It's 4 years since you were examined by a specialist.

I had a prolapse repair and saw my Gp and two gynaes before the 3rd one agreed it needed fixing.

I'm so cross, Spoke to the gp today and said they felt my anxiety was the issue and they felt even if i did get a scan it would move to something else. Plus he said he was concerned that I was pinning all my hopes on it going well.
Seeing one of the other female drs for an examination then they'll decide whether to refer. Utterly fed up :(

So after me being dismissed as being anxious it turns out that there is a problem after all. I have some laxity in my walls but during the really thorough examination by another dr it turns out that I have a cervical ectropion on one side.
Bit scared and still sore from yesterday's examination but at least I know now!
Due back on Monday so she can have another look and decide what to do