Prolapse devastation

[Sad33]

I’m 15 months post partum and recently discovered I have a prolapse. I’m waiting for a gyno appointment later this month. Does anyone have any positive stories about recovery? I feel absolutely devastated, I already hated myself and my life pp and now this. It’s making me feel like I have a life sentence and may as well not be here if I have to live with this hanging over me forever.

How bad is it (what kind of symptoms does it give you)?
You mentioned seeing a gynae and that's fine, but have you also seen a women's health physio? They are the experts in this, and depending on the stage of prolapse may be able to improve it so much that you are symptom free. The gynae is more likely to be of use if it's a severe prolapse and requires surgery (probably when you've finished having kids).
I get that it's pretty overwhelming at first, but it really isn't as bad as you are thinking right now. But if this is just one more thing on top of other issues I can see why it's awful. Are you talking to anyone about the other feelings?

I got this after having my son ( albeit twenty years ago ). Felt like I had failed. But honestly with exercises and time it will be okay. I was so uncomfortable for a while but it should get better.

It sucks. I think it's a lot more common than anyone realises especially before pregnancy. You're allowed to feel down about it

Please know though, your body is amazing, you have done a wonderful thing making a baby and bringing them into the world and you are really still quite recently post partum. I'm finding the prolapse is getting better only now 3 years post partum. There is lots that can be done to improve things. Mine was pretty bad and I can now go horse riding and run and lift stuff (with good technique) without too much hassle

Can you get in touch with someone about this to see what can be done and also to discuss how you're feeling?

Thanks everyone. The GP thinks it’s grade 2-3. It’s almost hanging out of me but not quite, it’s visible though. I was just getting back into exercise after feeling horrendous post partum and hating myself, and now I feel like I won’t ever get fit or lose weight.
I have contacted a women’s health physio too but thought I’d see the gyno first, as a few of my friends have said their GP didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.
i feel like my life is ruined and I will never feel like me or able to have sex again with this disgusting thing in the way.

See a women's health physio asap. A good one is incredible - I felt like mine changed my life at the time.
She properly assessed my prolapse, educated me, and with the exercises and lifestyle modifications, I reversed my prolapse. I see my pelvic floor as a muscle that will always have some weakness, just like the ankle muscle that I tore a few years back - both are managed with exercise and consideration.

And if it helps, since then sex has genuinely been better than pre pregnancy. It feels like my vaginas way of thanking me for all the work I did!

I felt like that about it for a couple of weeks, I'm sorry it's making you feel so bad about yourself. What type of prolapse do you have? I have grade 1 bladder and grade 2 rectocele. It was the rectocele that bothered me, I didn't even know about the bladder one until I saw a woman's health physio. She gave me tips to manage it and tbh it's only really noticeable now if I need to poo or during my period for some reason. I felt better after speaking to a couple of people about it, including my husband. It hasn't caused any issues in our love life.

I hope you will feel better in time. This is so, so common. There's nothing wrong with you and there's lots to help you manage it if it's causing problems.

Also I had always done my pelvic floor exercises and the physio graded my pelvic floor strength as excellent. She said it's just a weakness in the connective tissue and not anything we did or didn't do.

I have one. Was devastated when I found out a few years ago. It has improved over time and now I play tennis and go to the gym. The main things I avoid are jogging long distances.

Thanks so much. For those of you saying it’s improved, has it become less noticeable as a bulge? It’s bothering me so much to think for the rest of my life I might have this bulge there.

Yes GPs are generally useless on this, but women's health physios are amazing! Definitely book into one asap. Much more useful than a gynae.

The bulge was there one day and then a while later it just slowly got less and less. Mine was worse as when I got up and down and I could feel it dropping which was horrible.

do ur pelvic floor exercises. So very important and something they never bothered to tell men I hated walking or movement of any kind it felt horrible and mine came when my son was still very small so was hard to cope.

even now after 20 odd years it sometimes feels like it is there again. But never to the degree it was. I just add in the exercises again and it feels better. It won’t always be like this.

If it's noticeably bulging all the time, a woman's health physio can give you pessaries which will help. You can even have surgery if it comes to it. You have lots of options.

I have the triple whammy - bowel, bladder and uterine prolapse. I've had them 13 years since childbirth.
I completely freaked out when I found out. I was depressed, anxious, felt broken. Honestly, I never even think about them now. You can do exercises, get a machine like Kegal 8. This woman is great. She's a physio who has a prolapse herself. Her exercises are extremely helpful: Hab-it Exercises - Hab-it
Obviously there's also the pessary option or surgery.
You will be OK, I promise.

Yes less bulgy. It does seem to change a bit though my cycle too. I honestly done think about it too much now.

I went to see a women's health physio who showed me how to do kegels properly and recommended using the Squeezy app

Hab-it is great isn't it?! And such great value for money.

Yes definitely! I find the exercises more effective than the usual pelvic floor exercises.
OP - I forgot to mention that lots of women use an internal oestrogen gel that strengthens the vaginal walls so the prolapses are less noticeable. I'm planning to do this after menopause, should I need to.

If it's any consolation, it shouldn't affect your ability to have sex - at least as far as I know in the majority of cases. Realistically, if this was something that stopped women from being able to have sex with men, it would be a lot better resourced, treated and funded, because we can't expect the poor men to go without their sex can we?

As it only affects women, it's not discussed widely and too much suffering in silence happens, but, there are options and it can improve a lot

Thank you. You’re completely right of course. I realised since that I was so distressed in my GP appointment that I broke down, and she didn’t offer me any mental health support, check I was ok or signpost me anywhere. I’m lucky to have access to that stuff through my work, but I think it’s indicative of the level of care given to women’s health issues in general to be honest.
I know I can likely still have sex, but I just feel very unattractive with it bulging out like that. I hope I can fix it.

Listen to the podcast Why Mums Don't Jump. This will have you crying and laughing and will give you all the knowledge you need to manage your prolapse ❤️ it is so very common, no one talks about it.

There’s a really good insta account, Holly and thea and she’s recovering from a prolapse, she couldn’t even pick her daughter up but now is doing well.