Pessaries - talk me tbrough it please!

[tostaky]

After years of stress incontinence and several rounds of not very effective physio, i am still very much leaking…
ive lost about 20kg and this has not helped either.

ive bought a sponge pessary online and it is HUGE. I also bought some “contiform” tampons pessaries but again they are crazy big

im not too keen on inserting those big things inside me but i could be swayed if someone can reassure me it is going to be ok and that it will help with exercise.

do i need to cut the sponge in half to try first? I understand i need to wet it (so it become smaller) first?
is it better i start with a contiform tampon?
do they need to go “higher up” than a regular tampon for periods?
can it make things worse?
can it improve things?
any other tips appreciated

I don't know about this really but I wanted to say how difficult this must be and I so hope you find a solution, keep pursuing until you do, can your GP not refer you? Is their a reason you're not getting further treatment? Noone deserves to live with that. I've noticed below your thread there are many suggested threads with similar subjects come up so maybe a search on here could get you more opinions and info. Good luck 🤞🏼

Thank you for reading

@tostaky Go back to your GP and ask to be referred to a gynaecologist who is experienced in prolapse. Exercises won't always fix this.

You can't go on like this for another 40 years.

You may need surgery to support your bladder.
It's fixable, but make sure the surgeon is experienced.

Have you tried vaginal red light therapy? I bought one of those joylux red light vaginal wands and it has been truly amazing at fixing the leaking I used to experience as I sneezed or made a run to the loo. I also use an estradiol pessary 2-3, times per week. I don’t have a prolapse though, if that is what you have, this may not work. But for the usual menopausal vaginal misery/urine leakage, this combo has worked a treat for me.

Apparently i havent got a prolapse but im probably not far.
@Namechanged4today I will have a look at the red light therapy thing. Thanks
my DP is starting a new job so im hoping to get on his private insurance soon

Have you tried something like Perifit?

It's supposed to be good.

It's a pelvic toner where you set the exercises on an app and do them daily.

@JinglingSpringbells Yes i have two devices similar to that.
the exercises are so deceptively simple i find it hard to believe it will help. I do them for two weeks or so and then due to lack of progress and little faith in the process i stop for a few months before starting again for a couple of weeks. Maybe i need to do them for a month solidly before giving up?

It can take 6 months to get maximum improvement with any exercises, whether that's just Kegels or using devices.

I have a battery operated kegel exerciser I bought on Amazon which works well. It took about 2 months to make a difference and it needs to be used pretty much every day or the problem returns. I use it for 20/30 mins in bed in the morning while I drink my coffee.