Been diagnosed with a prolapse..... help!

[Pepperwand]

I have two DCs aged 3 and 9 months. After DC1 I had physio as I couldn't feel my pelvic floor at all and was full on wetting my pants multiple times a week. Things improved somewhat although I still had stress incontinence and couldn't run or jump without leaking.

Fast forward to DC2 and I had some increase in incontinence issues but not as bad as previously and I could twitch my pelvic floor but not much else. I thought keeping up with kegels and trying to lose some weight would help (BMI is 29) so at the end of last year I hit the gym pretty hard including lots of weight training. I suddenly noticed that I don't seem to be emptying my bladder properly as when I go for a wee I then need to go again shortly afterwards. I also felt some heaviness so went to the GP and she told me I have a cystocele/bladder prolapse and a very weak pelvic floor. She didn't say how severe it is but I can clearly feel it inside as a bulge and if I bear down I can see it at the entrance to my vagina.

I've been referred to physio but this is consuming me at the moment and I feel so low about it. I'm going to stop any high impact/weights in the gym and stick to rowing/cross trainer/cycling for now until I can see the physio but I just feel crap and like my body is broken. Everything I read says to do kegels but I can hardly feel that I'm doing anything other than a slight twitch. I'm only early 30s and feeling really rubbish, please does anyone else have some words or wisdom or stories you can share?

I should think weight training is making the situation worse, did they suggest giving it up?

I’m 32 with a bladder prolapse and damaged pelvic floor too - you’re not alone!

Have a look at Haley Shevener’s Popuplift on instagram - honest, positive, proactive approach to prolapse and really helpful for feeling a bit less alone/broken.

Mine hasn’t improved in terms of grade of prolapse (ie the bulge is about the same) but is LOADS better in terms of the horrible feeling of heavy/draggy pelvic floor and feeling like everything’s going to fall out. I’m also fully continent these days (hooray!).

I did...
Pilates with a post-natal specialist who knew about my collapsing fanny and helped me modify where needed.

Went to specialist nurse at local hospital. Borrowed a ‘neurotrac continence’ which is an electrical stimulation unit for pelvic floor muscles (you buy a probe that goes in your vagina and basically shocks the muscles into contracting) - helped as I also had nerve damage from the birth which made it hard to recruit the muscles myself. Also downloaded nhs Squeezy app on her advice and did 4 sets of 10 long/10 short squeezes a day. Was also just a flicker of contraction for ages, keep going anyway!

Saw urogynaecologist who said I’ll need surgery to reverse the prolapse but as I don’t want that and might want more babies, prescribed me topical estrogen pessaries to try (meant to firm up vaginal tissue - think they helped a bit when I was breastfeeding more) and fitted me with a ring pessary to use for impact/weight-bearing exercise at my request.

Bought a pair of EVB support shorts for running.

I focussed on core/pelvic floor stuff for the year post-partum, then gradually reintroduced running (which is the ‘bad for prolapse’ thing I love) - having a bit of a house-buying-stress/winter blues slump in my training at the moment but in the autumn had got to the point where I could run for 4 hours in the mountains with dry knickers and my bladder not falling out, so there is absolutely hope! Keep on keeping on.

There’s a breath-based technique called hypopressives that some people have had great success with too - worth investigating maybe.

Hi OP,

It’s crap when you first realise you have a prolapse, isn’t it? As Vebena87 says, there is a lot you can do to improve the situation. I think about mine now a lot less than I did about a year ago.

Regular pelvic floor exercises using the NHS Squeezy app, seeing a pelvic physio, Pilates with someone who knows how to adapt exercises for prolapse, and lots of swimming have helped me.

Come and join us on this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_health/3332405-Any-Pelvic-Organ-Prolapse-Surgery-success-stories?pg=1

Lots of info and support here.

I saw a physio who recommended Mutu System but I haven’t tried it myself yet.

Thank you so much for being so kind, I think the fact that people don't talk about this in real life makes it seem like you're the only one this has happened to.

The GP did say to ease off on weights and high impact exercise for now so I'm going to do that until I get my physio appointment through. It's good to hear that others have managed to regain some strength in their pelvic floor.....it's so disheartening when you try kegels can't really feel anything happening.

I'll definitely check out pilates and hypopressives, thank you so much.