Glad to have found this site - I have a cystocele & rectocele

first take a deep breath
next, try to stop panicking
your dr will most likely diagnose you and recommend either PT, or surgery or estrogen or at least that's what seems to be the most common recommendation I keep hearing about.
a move to china is not going to impede your management of pelvic organ prolapse. because its all within you. try to get your hands on the book asap, and start learning the posture.
that's what's going to be your saving grace. not the medical care you have at your disposal (unless, of course, it isn't a prolapse and is really something that needs medical care).
so what are you going to do?
you sound like a smart and motivated woman. so my guess is, you will start implementing the posture, clean up your diet and avoid constipation like the plague, and heal yourself. could be you will never have a complete reversal of symptoms, but there is good reason to remain hopeful that you will be able to live well with prolapse - and no surgery!
its gonna be ok {{{{hugs}}}}

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Here you will find a lovely bunch of ladies with great advice and support. You have come to the right place.

If you go to the home page under the "FAQs" section you will find a description of the posture so you can start implementing that whilst you wait for your book to arrive.

Come back and post all the questions you may have or even just to have an outpour of emotion.

Take care,

Anita

Did you manage to get a copy of the blue cover version? The yellow cover is the old version and the blue one has all the latest most up to date information plus the firebreathing and ballet workout. I ask as I made the same mistake, I ordered mine from a seller on Amazon in the UK but it was the yellow cover.

Your prolapses had probably been there for some time but you were asymptomatic and its just that they have worsened and now they are at the opening you can feel them. I think for most of us its a case of one minute we were fine and felt nothing and then almost overnight we had this strange sensation. I started to notice that during the time of my period it felt like my uterus was about to fall out so I had a rummage around and found my cervix really low. When my period finished I went back to feeling normal so ignored it. Two months later the feeling came back again with my period but this time worse than ever and the feeling did not subside with the end of my period. I FREAKED out, have cried ALOT and then found this site and absorbed as much information as I can. I have since developed a cystocele and rectocele and its been a very emotional time.

Do let us know how you get on with the gyn on Thurs.

Take care,

Anita

Nanciasa,

Just like you I got my prolapses one fine day. I believe in my case it was a last hurrah after a terrible menopause. One day I was fine; next day I had interior balls! I'm 56, and find it's terrible some days and OK others. I find the day after yoga it's better. If I keep my spirits up, I'm good to go. I have never trusted doctors because periodically they try to kill me, so I keep my health to myself.

My son and daughter in law lived in China for nine months. They found the dirt the hardest part of it. They lived in a place called Zibo. My son works for a Belgian Company.

Judy

Nanci,

My son works for a Belgian company that builds Proton Therapy Units. He and his family loved the people in Zibo, but said the dirt was unbelievable. They had trouble with some of the food because cooking it was wok only - high or low. They had nice apartments, but nice in Chinese is pretty poor by US standards.

Not sure of the Changchun area. Travel for them was limited. I know Brendan said he was very grateful for his American passport every day he was there. There were a lot of beggars in Zibo - can be dangerous.

I do Bikram Yoga. I work out three times a week when I can. Right now I am only doing the standing exercises - something Christine said that I'm trying out. I do sweat yoga in 101 degrees. I'm 56, and I can do it fairly well. What Yoga will do for you is increase your core strength, your balance, and your stamina. I notice on the day after yoga that I just feel 100% better than when I don't practice. One yoga practice will bring that insufferable ball up to a manageable position! What I would like to do is Vinyasa yoga for the movement and the increase of body strength, but I need to have more stamina than I have now to do it well. You should look it up on Internet.

Judy

you are a riot
love the comment about getting interior balls. and that dr's periodically try to kill you.
love reading your posts, love your attitude

Hi Nanciasa-
I was diagnosed with the same problem as you just before xmas, but have the added issue of urethra prolapse as well.

As the other ladies have said, there are good days and bad days- I have noticed posture can make a difference if I've been doing my pelvic floor exercises and don't get blocked up. If I have a bad time going to do a #2, then it all feels terrible again. Diet has been key for me on that front- slip into bad habits and I get bottom pain for a week (but this may be a split making the cystocele worse- unless they too are related?). I'm still figuring out what is what, what's hurting/worsening/a symptom etc.

Unfortunately, sex seems to be flaring everything up too. Yoga is a tricky one- I feel great after doing ashtanga, but you have to modify certain poses and not overdo it- I found keeping my legs bent in poses where you have to bend forward helped, as doing the normal poses brought the heavy feeling back! There is an article on this site about modified poses, but be aware you will need to discuss with your yoga teacher so they know why you're doing it differently (mine stopped me in class as didn't understand what I was doing and he thought I was doing a bad pose!)

Exercise does help-but on bad days you just have to hang in there and wait for things to get better. I'm waiting on the Whole Woman book as well to see what else I can learn.
I've been seeing a dietitian to deal with getting everything settled down- an anti-candida diet, supplements, and quitting caffeine (chocolate/tea/coffee), and alcohol has been helping, though having the willpower to stick to it can be tough! My cystocele is irritated by caffeine, sugar and alcohol particularly. Keep an eye on that...Diet and posture/exercise is the only surgery-free option, and if you're anything like me, you don't want to think about surgery!
The women here say things can and do get better over time- mine's so new I'm probably not painting a pretty picture, but its not an easy thing to live with! And I'm hoping that over time with perseverance and determination, that things won't feel so bad.

One thing I would say is if this is getting you down (and I've been veering in and out of bad depression since being diagnosed), make sure you have someone to talk to. Especially if you have the combined issue of moving overseas to China- I moved interstate and found that very isolating and too much when combined with all these physical problems. And make sure hubby knows your limitations...it took mine a while to grasp how profoundly these issues had affected ordinary activity. Lifting laundry, shopping and children can all bring that awful feeling back- only takes a non-thinking second...

Hope this helps- I'm finding it very hard to find information about the urethra issue- its making life a lot harder as it seems to be easily irritated.

Anyway-
good luck!
bluemama.

Thanks, Gmom.

I spent so many sad years during pericrazypause and crazypause, I just cannot return there. Depression is evil. It's about the most destructive thing I can think of. I think it makes this POP think a hundred times worse.

When I read some sad and frustrated posts by some of our ladies, I just die for them. It's so hard to be a fine good woman in a crazy world, and when the odds stack against you in a painful or demoralized position like POP brings on, it's just so easy to give in to it and become so sad. But we are the same sex who forged across not only this country, but countries like Australia, places in Africa, and Asia. We were on those boats and we did our share, plus we gave birth and raised all the kids. This little pelvic hockey puck can't be the downfall of womankind.

I think it's necessary to realize that a "crotch ball" is not ovarian cancer. Sure it's bothersome. I feel mine all day long. I try to find a table to sit on as often as possible, and I do yoga as often as I can because yoga strengthens my body, and I need all the strength that I can muster for the energy and the wit I need to get through my days.

I've only been doing the standing exercises lately, and that seems to have helped!

My heart breaks for those women who believe that a changed vagina makes a woman different. It's not like getting a big wart on the end of your nose or a big unsightly scar. It's a vagina. It's hidden - thank God - and who cares?

The attitude of humor and peace is a necessary thing to assume and to perpetuate simply because we are the stronger sex and the more determined. For those who believe, remember: God did not make woman first; he made man first; then he had to make women to hold up man - that's why he gave HER the rib!

Judy

These are the reminders I need, Judy....I have been trying to keep myself in check and find I keep sinking and bobbing back up...guess it's a process of it all settling in...and then keeping it in perspective...
please continue reminding us!