Apologies for the long post; i am going out of my mind with worry and need some advice.
Dc1 was born 6.5 months ago, resulting in a 3b tear and severe internal tearing, all of which seemed to heal well following the birth. I have exclusively breastfed and just started weaning. At 5 months pp i began to feel a lump in my vagina when i tensed my pelvic floor muscles. Over a couple of days, this feeling of the size of the lump intensified and my entire vagina felt sore, dry and chaffed, like i had sandpaper inside. The area where my perineum meets my vagina also became very sore. I saw 3 GPs who gave varying opinions - about to get my first period -didnt happen, vaginitis, just sore from the scarring, contracted pelvic floor muscles, a mass of scar tissue that is tight and pulling. I also saw a urogynae privately, who said i definitely did not have a prolapse, but had no idea what may be causing these symptoms. They all agreed that for my scarring to cause this pain is very odd so long after birth. The problem is that after 2 weeks these symptoms disappeared and were not present when i saw the urogynae, so he was not able to see me when symptomatic.
Last week, 3 weeks after last symptoms disappeared, the lump feeling came back. I freaked out as i had been bouncing dc at arms length the previous day, and wondered if i had made my suspected prolapse worse, convinced that the onset of these symptoms was proof it was a prolapse. Again, my vagina is sore but my GP cant find anything unusual other than scarring and a lot of redness.
The feeling of a lump is at its worse when i sit leaning back (it is proving very difficult feeding my baby due to the position and his weight, or just sitting on the sofa due to the position), less pronounced when laying on my back but still there and at its least pronounced when standing. I know this isnt consistent with a prolapse but i feel like when i sit, im sitting on an egg (which is consistent with a prolapse). I am constantly wawre of this discomfort. I cant stop googling and this is really starting to affect my wellbeing. I dont want to leave the house or pick dc up for fear of doing further damage. My GP has put my on antidepressants but i dont feel that this is a solution.
I have felt myself internally and cant feel anything in particular in the area that i get this feeling. It is hard to tell though because i have so many nobbly bits from my scars. I have nothing protruding and a slight buldge if i bear down but very minor. My gp said i just have lax walls and everything looks and feels normal. I also have no continence issues.
I have booked to see a pelvic health physio but cant get an appointment until April.
My questions are:
- Can prolapse symptoms come and go over the space of a few weeks?
- Could internal scarring suddenly give me a feeling of a lump after all this time?
- Could my red and swollen vagina be caused by a prolapse (rubbing on the vaginal walls) or could the swelling be the cause of the feeling of a lump?
- If i have a prolapse, could it reappear the day after heavy lifting of dc? Or would it be immediately after lifting if this was the cause of it reappearing?
- Has anyone else suffered the sudden onset of similar symptoms so long after previously good healing.
I feel like i am not being taken seriously by the doctors and i feel almost obsessed with what may be wrong with me. Thanks.