Tell me about experience of SPD

[vix1980]

Ive been thinking i had this for quite a while now and finally came to ahead on friday evening when i just could not stand or walk, i was eventually given crutches on saturday but i feel they make me worse somehow.

Today ive been referred to physio but my midwife told me basically there was nothing that can help just have to wait till the baby is born, im only 23 weeks so have quite a while to wait.

I feel okish today just been to do a bit of shopping and drove there and back but i really dont want it getting any worse as i dont think i could cope, im alone all day working from home so have to fend for myself anyway.

anyone have any experience of it or could recommend things to help me suffer with it, does the physio actually help or am i wasting my time... only been told to take paracetamol so far too which also doesnt help!

Hello, I have had PGP in this pregnancy and had days when it was worse than others. At its worst I couldn't move without crying in pain.

I went to the GP and got referred to a physio, who I saw three times. She did some manipulations on me and gave me some exercises to do. I also started pregnancy yoga and (because I work from home) lay on the sofa to work with my legs supported by a cushion under the knees.

Anyway, before the third appointment with the physio the pain had completely gone. She was surprised and it is impossible to know quite what improved things for me. But I thought it might help to know that it CAN improve before the baby is born. I had it from about 22/23 weeks until about 30 weeks I think. Can't remember exactly.

Having a warm bath eased it. Using a gym ball also helped.

Fingers crossed you will be lucky like me and it will go off with some help. But I would suggest that you push to get the physio appointment asap, and that you read the pelvic partnership website carefully.

Thankyou so much for giving me some hope, Im hoping my physio will kick in and I've been reading up on it, lots of people say it can help to have the pelvis realigned whilst still pregnant so hopefully this can be done for me too.

Either way im sooo looking forward to the labour as i know all this will be over then. I was a bit skeptical after reading about the physio and how useless it can be, but am hoping for a miracle right now as i cant spend the next 4 months in this much pain.

you could also consider acupuncture. No miracles, but I've gone from being destined for a wheelchair to be able to get about with a few grumbles. Physio, tubigrip, hydrotherapy etc did fuck-all for me.

You can take stronger painkillers too - 30mg codeine with paracetamol can be prescribed to pg women.

Hi Sockspence,

can i just ask where you referred for acupuncture or did you pay for it yourself? I've been reading about that today and it seems to help a lot, last year i had severe neck problems and when nothing else would work the last resort was acupuncture and touch wood I've not had a niggle with it since.

Physio made a huge difference to me. I went private because I didn't want to wait.

I really feel for you. I had spd from about 20 weeks 2nd time around and it was hell. The physio was really helpful and I found a bearable way to walk with the crutches taking miniscule steps- but still I was on bed rest about 2 days a week, and tubi-gripped from nipples to knees. I found a hot water bottle helped a bit
I was on morphine for the last couple of weeks and would reccommend asking to see the consultant if the pain gets really bad- my GP was reluctant to prescribe any painkillers strong emough to be any use.

Amazingly it totally disappeared immediately I had the baby. I went in to hospital barely able to move and was striding around the ward a couple of hours after a c section!

I'm loving hearing how it just vanished once the baby was here, gives me some hope and something to live for cos at the moment i just feel like i cant stop crying and am feeling very sorry for myself

The physio just rang before to say she could squeeze me in at 11, otherwise i would of had to wait 4 weeks, so fingers crossed for me it all goes well!!

One of the things my physio told me - which up until then I had been given the opposite advice by people who should know better - if the pain continues after birth, breastfeeding will help, something to do with the natural hormones helping regulate and strengthen the ligaments.

People who should know better were telling me that the breastfeeding would continue the pregnancy hormones which caused the SPD and I would not get better until I stopped that filthy habit

To be fair, 16 months later I still have some SPD symptoms (not terrible, a bit aches if I do too much walking) and I am still breastfeeding, but that doesn't mean they are linked.

vix1980 I got acupuncture On the NHS for high BP when I was pregnant with My DD. and it worked.

Aw, you poor thing, it sounds like you've got it bad

I had SPD from about 20 weeks with DC2. I never got as bad as needing crutches, but there were times when it felt like I couldn't move. these passed after resting.

I found that it would be worse not during, but after exertion. Or after, for example, sitting in one position for a prolonged time - eg after a couple of hours in a restaurant.

I went to a chiropractor with what I can only call miraculous results. I waddled in in pain, walked out normally. She did very small, gentle, manipulations of my pelvis and spine. Although sometimes the sounds of bones cracking can be alarming, I was very reassured by my chiropractor who talked me through the process.

It was very expensive - 12 visits at £30 a pop, but I would have paid anything to be pain free again.

I'm now pregnant with DC3 (21 weeks) and have felt the first twinges again. I've started chiro again in the hope of nipping it in the bud.

As others have said, my symptoms did disappear once I had the baby, so I really hope you can feel like This Too Shall Pass.

Good luck OP.

Well just got back from physio, she told me i dont have spd although both midwife and doctor have said i do?? anyway she did some exercises such as sitting in a chair and moving my legs apart, then she puts this belt on me and asks me to do the same thing again, i must of moved it maybe 1cm more than before if anything, so she says "without sounding personal you do seem to have a belly on you already, did you have one before, are your tummy muscles no good anyway" "the baby is lying low so this is obviously whats caused the pain and it will stop as soon as the baby has moved.

oh right so is this why im still in agony then and also constrained into this torture belt! Ill give it a day or two as it has eased a little but if nothing else happens ill go back and ask for acupuncture as im more hopeful of that actually doing something.

WTF?

That sounds less than helpful!

you're only 23 weeks FFS! the baby is still relatively small in your womb and probably free to move around A LOT. (I know at my 20 week scan last week the baby was changing position every couple of minutes while the sonographer chased it around).

what absolute crap.

Are you able to see a chiro/osteo/acupuncturist who may be able to actually DO something for you?

This makes me so cross that there are treatments out there for women in very real pain, and NHS practitioners don't seem to have a clue

I had severe pgp from my 8th week onwards... Did the physio and all the exercises religiously with no improvement. Then finally at around 32 weeks I decided to try acupuncture and the pain literally vanished overnight. After my babies arrived though I wasn't able to keep going every week and the pain returned. It's only really started going away now and they are 6 months old.