Would it be unreasonable of me to throttle the next member of my family to tell me to "walk off" my SPD?

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

I come from a family that subscribes to the "Just walk it off" school of medicine. I know this, and am in agreement to a certain extent.

But...

Why, when I keep explaining just how painful it is to walk or do much of anything, do my parents insist that the reason my SPD is so bad is that I'm not getting enough exercise.

I can see the rationale - more muscle tone in the area means less strain on the ligaments and more support - which is why I do the physio exercises. Walking, however, makes it much worse and can leave me bedridden and in agony if I do too much.

And yet they still go on and on and on about how much better it would be if I'd get out more and rest less!

What can I say to them to make them listen to me?

Is anyone else getting this? Am I in the wrong? Perhaps I should be doing more?

Help.

[suwoo]

Yeh, I can do some elements of it sitting down and people help with the lifting so its not all bad.
Just thank yourself lucky you don't have flap issues Crunch. Do you have a prolapse too?

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

Certainly have the "dragging" sensation at the moment, but not as early as you so am offering genuine sympathy. I was worried about the flap issues a couple of weeks ago - all pretty much as you described, but after sitting with my feet up for a bit it went. So clearly something else completely (thank God) and not at all another problem to add to the list, oh no, not at all, not one little bit [desperate emoticon]

[suwoo]

My prolapse is a severe 3rd degree one, so I will be having a section for this baby as I did with no2. At least that won't exacerbate the SPD. Undercarriage is definately better today thanks to the big fat towel cushioning it....oh the joys!

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

Horrible for you. Isn't it lovely what we go through?

[thumbwitch]

knee them in the groin and then tell them to walk it off. The women, I mean, not the men.

[HairyToe]

conkertree I had SPD with pregnancy no. 2 and I can honestly say I didn't notice it at all during childbirth - it didn;t seem to make it any 'worse'. I think maybe the intense pain of the contractions and sheer terror of getting the thing out (sorry TMI
!) kind of masked any pubic pain I had previously had!

youknownothingofthecrunch Pregnant with no.3 now and just starting to get sore again at 20weeks. Saw physio yesterday and she said avoid walking too much or going up and down stairs (I'll put my step aerobic banch away then ). I know how you feel though - when you try to explain how you can't do certain things and you get those looks and some bright spark always goes on about 'tribal womnen working in the fields until they drop' etc etc. Can make you feel like a bit of a malingerer.

[Lotster]

Also didn't notice SPD in labour as the as labour process took over, but being in the water pool made a big difference to al pains for a while.

Did end up on dry land with failed ventouse then forceps though , I insisted they got calipers to put my legs in as they have a closer gap than stirrups. But I had residual SPD pains for months which I really think was down to the forceps. I would avoid them if poss.

2nd time around I've been seeing an osteopath every 3 weeks who "resets" me, it's been wonderful and I'm so much more active this time.

[notcitrus]

Tell them you'll be doing lots of walking to rebuild your muscles after the birth. I've been doing loads and after 4 months the physios have given me a clean bill of health - despite being in a wheelchair for last month if i left the house. The physios were adamant that I should 'potter round the house' to keep moving, but no walking over 300 yards a day.

Contractions were a doddle in comparison - although the spd got worse in labour so needed an epidural for that.

Tell the hospital you'll need someone with you to help you sit up in bed, reach baby, etc.

[Lotster]

Good point, and for a bed nearest the toilet. I had this on my notes from my GP.

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

Hairytoe, sounds all too familiar

notcitrus - I will take your advice, thanks.

Thumbwitch if only kneeing didn't involve standing on one leg!

[thumbwitch]

• forgot that, sorry!

[Pinkmarshmallow]

This thread couldn't have come at a better time for me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head reading it. All symptoms explained here are just exactly how I feel. Yesterday and today I can hardly move with pain. I can't get in or out of the car without excruciating pain and then on the journey every little bump on the road sends shooting pain right through me. With every step I take, it's like as though the force of my feet on the ground (even though I walk sooo slowly and gently)sends like shockwaves of pain through my pelvis.

Well this afternoon I had my MW appointment and was trying to expalin to her how I feel and what has me so is that she, the MW , told me to "walk it off"..... Aaaarrrggghhh. Does she know nothing?? I can barely make it to the toilet let alone go for a walk down the road!

Well, I have another physio appointment tomorrow so we'll see what she says about going for walks... I agree that I can't just lie in the bath/on the sofa all day every day, I do try to potter around the house (albeit extremely slowly and with much grunting and groaning in agony!) but hmmmm...

Also having probs with family or friends thinking I'm just being an attention-seeker and over-reacting. And everybody that you mention it to says "oh yeah, I have/had that too...." when in actual fact they haven't a clue what they're talking about. So, what I'm trying to say in all this ramble is that it's great to have the support of real fellow-sufferers on MN and thank you for the advice. Also, Hawkmoth , your post about labour and contractions was very encouraging to read, thank you. I'll let you know what my physiotherapist says about walking tomorrow...

[Gemzooks]

pinkmarshmallow, sorry you're suffering too. I'm 31 weeks and had it badly for the last 3 weeks. I can't believe people who write it off as a 'minor' pregnancy niggle or tell you to walk it off, walking is the worst thing ever for it.

Since resting, working at home (have 1 hour commute) and really cutting down on things like bending down to get things off the floor, it's got quite a bit better for me.

I really recommend the pilates in pregnancy dvd. it's not such an inspiring dvd but the exercises have definitely helped without question, especially getting into the right postures.

But the only thing that has really helped me is offloading tasks, either DH doing them, resting and just not doing them, changing my life around a bit to make things easier, e.g. getting 2 year old DS to climb into the bath himself over a chair with me holding his hands rather than lifting him...

You have to prioritise yourself and alter your life around it. Remind anyone who doesn't take it seriously that your health is important and that if you damage your pelvis now, you may have problems after the birth or even permanently. My cousin was in a wheelchair from 6 months preg with this and had to have a caesarian because of it. She's ok now but still has to be careful, can't go jogging any more etc. So it is serious and it's a matter of educating people. Ok, enough fuming, I should be grateful as DH baths DS as I type!!!

[domesticslattern]

Conkertree, I had a great labour with SPD. Doc said everything had already "opened up" as twere due to the SPD, so I just popped her out in six hours. TBH I found turning over in bed with SPD so utterly ghastly towards the end that contractions were better- at least they had a point to them and would end, wherease SPD just went on and on and on.

I was just turning over in bed last night and said to my DH "God I love being able to do this again! You don't appreciate these things until you can't do them!"

Think carefully about labour positions though- I was on my hands and knees over the back of the bed. It would have been very bad for me to end up on my back with my knees wide apart. Don't worry about it too much.

[domesticslattern]

You guys have all looked into support belts haven't you? I know not everyone finds their's useful but mine really helped me, and for £25 it was worth trying.

[MinnieMummy]

I found a support belt really helpful in second pregnancy - I got mine from the physio dept at the hospital, I guess it depends on the local area.

I didn't find it a problem during labour - managed to get into the birthing pool no problems (other than, well, being in labour!).

Definitely write it on your notes in big red pen so midwives are aware as some labour positions are easier than others.

Also get in and out of the car like a film star - knees together and pivot, if it helps sit on a plastic bag for reduced friction. If you make it down to the floor, get up by keeping ankles and knees together and push with your hands in a yoga stylie. Absolutely no shopping trolleys (good reason to get it delivered!).

Good luck to all, despite it being really quite common I nor anyone else I knew had heard of it before I got it. And my MW told me to 'go for a long walk' when I was 40 weeks... could have slapped her...!

[conkertree]

thanks for all the labour info - mostly sounds positive so will try and not worry and just look forward to the end result.

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

Pinkmarshmallow I hope your physio is better than your MW. So far my MW has been quite blase about it - just said, well you've had it before and you know your own body. So not very helpful, but at least not unhelpful. Looking forward to hearing what your physio says.

I have a tubi-support thingy as well as a support belt I've bought. Sometimes they help, sometimes they get in the way.

I've got a MW appointment next week, I have a terrible habit of talking everything down, so describing agonising pain as a twinge and saying it's all fine when I can't move. Which is not helped by my determination to stride in there despite the pain, so I don't look feeble. Which is ridiculous. I think I'm going to ask for crutches, I've been using walking sticks, but they put a lot of strain on my arms.

[gingersarah]

Thanks for all this great stuff, revelatory.

Does anyone have a link to the pregnancy and pilates DVD on amazon, or is there only one?

[Gemzooks]

gingersarah, I think there's only one... it's called lindsay jackson's pilates in pregnancy.

[Pinkmarshmallow]

Well I'm back to report on my physio appointment today, as promised.
About the "walking it off..." I told the physio what my midwife had said and she agreed that the recommendation is to keep as active and mobile as possible and that walking can actually help PGP/SPD. BUT listen to your body and if you feel it is too much or only making things worse, then try not to walk too far. I think that there are so many varying degrees of PGP/SPD that for some people, walking will help, but if you're worst case scenario like some of us poor unfortunates here seem to be, then walking, as we have proved, only makes things worse.

My bad news is that she says I need crutches so trying to get used to them now. They are helping ease the pain and pressure when I walk, but are such a nuisance and get in the way. Not sure how to look on all this... for some people, it may help them see that I haven't just been making this up. Others, I have already proved, think I'm even more pathetic. I was with friends for coffee this afternoon and one of them burst out laughing when he heard about the crutches, thought it was all a big joke. Most people, I guess, will think when they see me "who does she think she is using crutches, she's only pregnant, not cripple." They somehow expect you at least to have a bandage or plaster on your leg for you to be using crutches. Even pregnant women who had/have PGP but to a lesser degree than this will think I'm making a big fuss over nothing, ie. a preg woman I met yesterday was one of the ones who, when I mentioned it, said "oh yeah, I have that too." Yeah right she had.... she came rushing into the room, wearing high heels, sat slouched in the chair, with legs crossed. NO WAY has she got PGP, or you couldn't do any of those things. Grrrrr. Anyway, let's hope I have an early delivery so I don't have to put up with this much longer...

So, the message from physio is to listen to your body and you will know your own limits. Hope that helps some of you...

[youknownothingofthecrunch]

Thanks Pinkmarshmallow. Sorry to hear you're surrounded by idiots too

Anytime you need to complain about the rest of the world not understanding, then this is the place! A little haven of people who actually get it.

[thumbwitch]

I was worried I might get this because I have an unstable pelvis and see an osteopath regularly - but I didn't get it during pg. I got a minor version of it afterwards, mostly when lying down bf'ing (initially the only way I could feed DS). Getting up in the mornings was, to say the least, interesting - and I couldn't walk very far at all before it came on (15 mins, could get to the shops, but not round the shops). My osteo was brilliant and helped loads with it.

I am not comparing it to what you ladies are having to put up with (a friend of mine was threatened with a wheelchair with hers if she didn't take it easy, and was told to absolutely refuse to lay on her back during labour - she must have had a MW who had suffered from it herself) but I am suggesting that, if you don't get satsifaction from your MW/ physio etc., find a registered osteopath (or chiropractor) who has dealt with it before. They might be able to help you.

[Pinkmarshmallow]

Thanks, youknownothingofthecrunch, it's good to have a shoulder to cry on!

[MustHaveaVeryShortMemory]

I know a physio whose specialist topic is spd. She has had some great results with some new techniques based on recent research. She will treat anyone after 20 weeks of pregnancy. No, I'm not on commission! Just thought about her when I saw this thread. She is based in South Manchester, will post her number if you're interested.