Help! Air trapped in urethra, keeps popping out!

Body: 

Hi, there, this is my second post. I'm very glad to have found this forum, particularly as I feel I was probably headed for a hysterectomy (recently diagnosed with fibroids, extremely heavy menstrual bleeding). Boy, has this forum caused me to rethink! Never realized the uterus played such a role in keeping your "stuff" stable. Makes perfect sense, though.

Anyways, as I said in my first post, I had a failed endometrial ablation on November 30. Immediately after, and ever since, things haven't been right. I have had an almost constant feeling of air trapped in my urethra. I know I'm right about this, because I can shift certain ways and I can feel tiny air pockets popping out, and can actually HEAR a little pop. (Thank goodness, it's not very loud!) This is driving me crazy.

Adding to the problem is the fact that I became terribly constipated (from the anesthesia, is my guess). I was having a particularly difficult session with that one day and I swear I felt something move. No pain involved, just felt like something in there moved slightly downward.

Although I haven't been to the doc yet, my guess is that I have a urethral and/or bladder prolapse. Nothing is hanging out, but there's a feeling of something there - as someone described very accurately on another post, like when a tampon slips down and is out of place. Compounding this and I think unrelated, I had been diagnosed with urethral syndrome awhile back, and those symptoms have reappeared - burning urethra, mostly - no pain or stinging on urination, urethra just feels irritated, dry and burning. I am currently on UTA capsules for that and in seems to be helping.

I have had a couple of days where I felt normal, and didn't feel anything odd "down there." No tampon out of place feeling and no air bubbles. But mostly, there is something wrong. This air bubble thing is driving me nuts, I am constantly clenching my legs together or shifting to get the air to come out, and it does - but it starts right back up again. I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin.

First of all, is it POSSIBLE to have air in your bladder or urethra? Could it be coming from my vagina and I'm mistaking that sensation for it being in my urethra? If it IS coming from my urethra, what could be causing it? I did have a quick catheterization (in and out) during my surgery - I personally think catheters are Of The Devil. @:) Could this have damaged me in some way? Or if it's even coming from my vagina, what could be causing that??? Like I say, this is driving me crazy. I know this is a mild symptom compared to what many of you have so I feel almost ashamed in mentioning it, but if anyone can shed any light on this I'd surely appreciate it. This is all so new to me and I am devastated with it. I'm hoping against hope it's not a prolapse but some other problem, maybe the urethral syndrome, but I'm afraid I'm kidding myself.

I had what you are describing and I know it is no small thing and will make you so miserable. It is the one symptom I just can't tolerate. I thought I would go crazy from the sensation. My problem lasted for a month or so but then went away, so hang in there, it is probably not with you for the long haul. I started using lubricant daily where I felt the air-bubble (bliss balm, vitamin e, aloe gel, etc.) and I started exercising. Christine's firebreathing is a good exercise. It went away pretty quickly after I approached it in this way. I had some really bad days and nights at the onset and now it is completely gone. I HOPE to never make its acquaintance again. If you go to the doctor, they may prescribe a mild anti-depressant (is there really such a thing?) as that helps to settle the nerves in that area. If you go that route, take care as many say they are very addicting. I can't take strong prescription meds so I have to find other remedies.

One thing about the urethral burning. I've found the urethra needs moisture to stay happy. I was under a doctor's care with no help. I found this out on my own.

Take care, good luck to you. Kit

The air bubble sensation I felt was around my urethra, not coming from it. If that is what you are describing, it would probably be completely different from what I experienced. Kit

Hi Mytfly2day,

It sounds like you're unsure just where the air is coming from, but your symptoms should probably be checked out by a good urologist. Air in the bladder/urethra is not normal, but if it is indeed that, hopefully is escaping simply because the urethra is overly dilated. The normally sharp angle between urethra and bladder may be altered a bit as well. Air in the vagina is very common and also has to do with loss of normal pelvic angles, which flatten the vagina to an airless space.

It is not a surprise at all that you feel different since the procedure. We have had women describe the very same thing - our member Susan (howdidthishappen) experienced prolapse after a D&C and could not help but feel the two were connected.

All of these procedures are extremely invasive, which I know doesn't help to hear after the fact. D&Cs and ablations often cause much more trouble than they cure because the fine line between endometrial and myometrial cells gets mixed up and embedding, if you will, the endometrium into the deeper tissues of the uterus. The subsequent condition (which may take months to develop) of heavy bleeding and cramping is labeled 'adenomysis' and is one of the most common reasons for hysterectomy. It is a trend that can be seen very clearly that hysterectomy often follows ablation by two or three years.

Catheters ARE the devil, as are ablations, dilations, scrapings, burnings, colporrhaphies, slings, mesh walls and bridges - all 'standard' treatments that one day will be looked back upon as nothing less than barbaric.

The answers to long-term health can only be found by supporting our native anatomy and physiology with gentle, restorative therapies and lifestyle habits. I hope you will keep us posted on your recovery.

Wishing you well,

Christine

I edited my comments below having read your post late last night and not remembering it quite accurately. C.

Thank you Kit, and Christine, I certainly appreciate your replies.

I cannot be certain this air is coming from my urethra and may very well be coming from my vagina. I know that things are not the same anywhere "down there," so my V may have simply gone through some shifts and changes wherein air keeps getting trapped there. It's very hard for me to tell where it's coming from, I guess I have been assuming it's my urethra. It's just the most horribly annoying thing possible. I have an appointment with a urologist in a couple of weeks and depending on what my nurse practitioner says Monday, I may or may not keep it. I have already decided if I do keep the appointment I will make it very clear up front that I want NO invasive procedures done. The idea of a cystoscopy lying on a table in a doctor's office puts me in mind of the Spanish Inquistion.

I do wish I had found this forum prior to the D&C. I guess the heavy bleeding and clots, which were so much NOT the norm for me, scared me, and the ablation sounded like a good solution. I wouldn't have thought before that simply the act of putting a scope through the cervix could move stuff around, but I started thinking now that I don't know how much pulling around, etc., he was doing while he was in there. I am convinced, though, that the procedure itself shifted all my "stuff" around somehow, because things are just not the same. I'm starting to wonder if it might be possible this might be alleviated somewhat by time. I have read a lot on here about how women after pregnancy have this problem and is alleviated at least in part by the passage of time. I don't want to be overly hopeful but if I don't get some kind of a positive attitude about this I'm afraid it's going to paralyze my whole life.

I have noticed over the past couple of days that the worsening DEFINITELY seems to be related to constipation. Not good for me, because I've had IBS all my life, and no doubt this has contributed greatly to my state of being. I am definitely trying to make some changes there, and am refusing to strain any more. Hopefully I can turn that around and that will also help me some. I have noticed, too, that the air bubble thing recedes when I start to feel better.

I can't wait to get my book and start trying to help myself. It's a shame that women are not told about these things. I always thought a "fallen bladder" just meant your bladder shifted downward slightly but that all the problem it would ever cause would be maybe some incontinence. What a shock for me when I started finding pix on the web of women with their whole vaginas hanging out. I'm quite sure my ob/gyn would cheerfully perform a hysterectomy without ONCE mentioning the risks of prolapse, or any other risk for that matter.

Let one man get a uterus, and this would all change . . .

Emily

There are so many procedures they do on women "down there" and whilst we are under the anaesthetic I am sure they take absolutely not care whatsoever. Just go in, get the job done and out again with no regard to what damage they may be doing and its usually always men performing these procedures! Its us who have to live with the consequences.

I had a D&C after my first miscarriage because I was told I needed one due to the heavy bleeding. They were not sure if tissue had been left behind and being completely naive to this, as you would be, I agreed. Who knows what damage that did. I had another miscarriage after that but no D&C this time even though the bleeding was just as heavy. I then had my son and the birth was NOT what I had imagined AT ALL. Again I did what I was told and ended up with an episiotomy which I did NOT want and I will never know whether my perineum would have remained intact had that not happened.

If only it were possible to turn back time and rectify things.

i know the sensation you refer to ... Weird as can be. in fact i just can't get over
all the odd sensations and symptoms that come and go during a cycle. I find that
the first half of my cycle - after bleeding, is My most difficult phase. Everything
feels loose and my cystocele is at it's worst. Incontinence is by far my most frustrating
symptom. I hate the sloppy feeling when having sex. My DH seems to really have a
tough time finding any friction ...and w/o going into detail.. it just breaks my heart.
I feel so inadequate.
I have been having an emotional relapse... After quite a few weeks of coping fairly
well. Exploring my acceptance of the new parameters. I have come (almost) full circle
and am overcome with grief again. Today we made love in the morning and he had
such a hard time of it... I cried much of the morning. quiet crying, where the tears just
seem to endlessly leak. Not so much fear or self-pity, just deep deep sadness.
To use a visual ( that a man would appreciate ) I feel like a gorgeous sports car...
with a blown engine. Looks good, feels good to sit in, but she ain't goin 100mph.again.
Not without an overhaul. And how I wish i could get fixed. Guess I've temporarily lost my
acceptance haven't I ?
Zelda

Oh Zelda, My heart reaches out to you! I really feel your pain.

I too have had those endless weeping stages where the tears just spill out and cannot be stopped over all of this.

While I might not have exactly the same issues as you do, I so know where you are, and this too shall pass. It really is stages of grief as you can tell by my "re-grieve" last weekend after so long of thinking I was fine.

I think these stages feel like they are taking us back, but in fact they are moving us further forward as indeed I have discovered this past week. All in good time dear Zelda, let yourself weep and weep if you need to. Crying is a therapy, what on earth else could it be for?

I am with you girlfriend! Huge hugs! xxxx

I am so grateful we all have each other. i mean really.. I just can't
quite articulate how comforting it is to have this incredible resource,
the exponential heart, soul and mind here. This incredible forum.
Ukmummy- You feel like one of my peers, directly. You aren't doing
"babytime" either are you ? This has been a bolt out of the blue ? I'm
not saying we aren't all peers here but some of us have different reasons for the
onset ? Here I was feeling like I was on top of the world... and BAM ! my
parts is fallin' out ! Not that ANY of us have an easier time accepting this.
It's just that I was taking SUCH good care of myself ! Sounds as if you were too.
I suppose it's all just intellectual games. In the end it just IS. But still, It's
nice to imagine someone understands my ABSOLUTE frustration at losing
my former active life. Many here wish they had done this or that... we WERE.
I feel like I'm living some half-life... I'm a bit scared I may become somewhat
bitter, as I just don't see the quality of life I formerly enjoyed. I don't know
what to replace that with ? This is so damned hard and I'm just so tired of trying
so hard to keep my attitude positive. KWIM ?
Hugs to you too...really.
Zelda

I'm having the emotional relapse as well. I was feeling so much stronger about all this but these last few days have been torture and I was leaking tears too yesterday, they just quietly kept falling periodically throughout the day.

I have a definate worsening of my symptoms and I feel I am having to grieve all over again not to mention I am truly panic stricken as to where this will end. I just keep thinking please spare me the organs hanging outside my body as I really don't think I am strong enough to cope. So far I am still able to go to the bathroom relatively normally, well apart from sitting strangely so I guess I should be grateful for that and I am not suffering any incontinence.

I have had another awful cough these last few weeks and I know that puts terrible pressure on the pelvic floor but these things are part of life and we cannot avoid them. Coughs, colds, vomitting, diaorrhea - we can't stop them from happening but I get so angry that I have to panic everytime something happens. Before prolapse I would have just taken care of myself and concentrated on getting well but now all I can think is what the impact these things have on my prolapses and I can't just lye there and rest, instead I am tense and worried.

I don't think I ever reached a part of acceptance, I don't think I will never accept this but I was learning to get on with my life and get out and about and now my comfort level has changed again and I am terrified the wrong movement will cause it to pop out.

My husband asked the other day about going on holiday later this year and instead of getting excited and looking to book something up I hestiated worrying about how I might feel symptomwise. I don't feel like I want to make any plans for the future and how sad is that.

Oh well, I am hoping given time things may settle again and I can once again feel stronger.

Anita

Zelda,

I guess I am almost past "babytime" now in that I have a two year old, and a four year old. (sob!) I still long for more but have resigned myself to the fact that this will not happen which was hard enough in itself. I am so grateful for my beautiful girls.

This all happened to me a week post partum after my last baby. I always thought that it was worse somehow it happening at that time when one is so very fragile, but have come to realise that it is just as devastating and awful at any time of a womans life.

I am also so grateful for this place and the family of women that have carried me through many a dark day. It is this amazing sense of community that separates this place from others I think.

I think for me now I am almost totally accepting of the condition which is I know made a great deal easier by the fact that I have few symptoms. I think I am one of those women who would not have known anything was wrong had I not had the original severe uterine prolapse which has completely receded now.

All I can do now is try not to think of what might happen and manage this thing so that hopefully it will stay put. If things should worsen, my goal will be to try to get to a place where I have few symptoms doing whatever it takes non surgically. It took me a long time to get here but you will too, I am sure of that!

I often wonder about women who have been here grief stricken, and have posted once or twice and don't again. I remember the story of a zoo keeper who had to give up the work she loved because of prolapse. That about broke my heart. I am sure all of these women keep right on going despite thinking they can't, and are all out there, around us, living just as well, if a bit differently as before. That thought always kept me going.

There is no doubt in my mind though that unless you have experienced this thing, you can't even begin to imagine the emotional implications for a woman. Very hard, but also very do-able. xxxx

I also wonder about the future but also about 'what did women do in the past for this, what do women do about it in poorer countries where healthcare is not as it is here'?

But - I would not let your prolapse dictate to you as to whether or not to have another child. I was this way that was for so long that now I feel I missed the boat. And kinda miffed abut that lol

(Getting old maybe methinks)

But to truly take control you hafta make sure IT does not control your every thought and every decision. That is so hard. I think I am too weak for that one, as it beat me out over the years...
Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg

I haven't written lately because I've been so busy with school. I know exactly what you guys mean about the ups and downs of this thing. I think depression makes it all worse. I think those days we feel really bad about this makes the symptoms worse. I wonder if peace at home helps? I think part of the low is the winter, the gray skies, the more sedentary life with too much to do and not enough time to really enjoy things. I know vitamin D helps. You get that primarily from the sun, but you can take it in a tablet and in milk that has it.

Winter used to be my favorite time of the year, but this winter has been cruel. Yesterday my daughter found a tiny freezing kitten on the sidewalk where she works begging for help. She brought him home. He's a skeleton with tufts of hair, God love him. It was 5 degrees here last night. This can be viewed as horrific or as hopeful as can our situation.

There are so many really bad things out there that could have happened to me, but I'm lucky it's only a prolapse! Otherwise I'm strong and healthy and able to function. Yes, sometimes it's hard like when I'm on my feet twelve hours a day, and it feels as if my bladder is reaching for my knees, but next morning, it's better, and so am I.

PLEASE don't let depression into your lives! Please look into the mirror and see your beautiful faces and smile, then pour a drink and toast yourself that you're beautiful and you've got moxie!

I love you,

Judy

PS has anyone tried tea tree oil for this?

Oh Judy...I've been sitting here trying to compose some sort of post around all this and yours said it all!

There have been so many menopausal women with sudden prolapse lately, so many depressed women, and there are so many connections we are only beginning to make.

What I'm learning about hormones and health is just astonishing and I can't even begin to write about it here but do want to say that "we are how we think/feel/love". We KNOW how important collagen is as well as vitamins, minerals, exercise, yada-yada. But did you know that science has just discovered over the past decade that we make all of our sex steroids in our brain (and I *think* peripheral nervous system) as well as our ovaries and adrenals??? This is a phenomenal discovery and *maybe* the reason some women fare better than others as ovaries and adrenals wane.

Something signals cells to begin the process of steroid production from the raw material cholesterol. That *something* has me entirely beside myself because I feel quite certain it is coming from either the pituitary or pineal gland. It is a *message*, but that message has to have either a chemical structure or atomic wave or vibration.

Did you see the movie Lorezo's Oil? It came out years ago and I can't even remember what disease the little boy had that was cured by his parent's discovery of a certain oil that supplied a particular chemical to his brain, but I was reminded of it recently as I wrack my brain trying to figure out what this particular *messenger* is. The pineal gland is so very mysterious. And psyche drugs so very risky.

At any rate, my experience with Lichen Sclerosis has suggested to me our emotional state and attitude play key roles in pelvic health! It is clear that stress shuts down the adrenals, but beyond that I *think* grief and anger shut down the *messenger* as well. This probably sounds a bit nutty unless you have suddenly lost all your sex steroids and witness the horrific experience of having your vulva literally asphyxiating.

I do want to address all this fear that everything is going to fall out. STOP IT!!! We have many elderly women amongst us who are living proof that prolapse does not change beyond a certain, mostly livable, degree. The photos posted on surgeon's websites are by-and-large of vault prolapse, which is a completely different animal.

That said, if your tissues are being starved of antioxidants prolapse is bound to become worse, but it would be extremely rare to have it become much worse than an uncomfortable bulge.

The vagina shrinks over time and whole women will eventually be glad for any "looseness" they once experienced. Posture and exercise pull the vagina into its proper alignment, strengthen the muscles and narrow the hiatus. If the vagina feels too loose, try having sex in the posture...really!

Gotta run,

Christine

Very interesting things to think about...

* I wonder if peace at home helps? *
THAT could be one thing at this present moment that is not as it once was in my life...

And I haven't been takig my multivitimins - Just keep forgetting - Must try to remember them - If that helped - would be great!

This post and the one above it have really got me to thinking...

How do we know if we have enough antioxidants in our bodies?

I am not one for delving much into food (Thats why i never comment on those posts ya notice) lol
I eat low fat - High fat makes me feel absolutely cruddy

Like last night - They wanted a KFC all of them - OK I said

They bring back this stuff - covered in shiny slick and icky stuff. I ate it and felt sick all evening, gas, belly ache the works. Thought i had food poisoning for a while there - In all effects I DID - Poisoning from the MANK they put in the stuff, and the fat-laden poison.

Suffice to say that stuff wont get past my lips again.

When i cook for myself I dont get this ill feeling. I do if anything I buy has alot of soya in it though for some reason lol

I will re-read these posts alot, cos what you have said Judy and 'Christino' has made me really think.

And suffice to say I personally will do ANYTHING at all possible to avoid any surgery, and even pessaries. I wanna get through this without Doctors. I wanna get through this, I guess in a way my way (But in all effects 'our' way - Thats all of us - Whole Women - Holding hands accross the planet :-)
Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg

Christine,

So glad you wrote about these things. I'd love to hear more. These are the things I think about when wondering why certain things happen. I do think the hardest thing about this is to accept it all. Acceptance takes time and a kind of philosophical approach, but you have to have the tools to do this and the time.

Hormones are such a basic part of the human being. I've learned this from first hand experience. And they change day in and day out! I have two friends entering menopause right now, and I see myself a couple of years ago. You can't do enough work on this, Christine. Men just don't get it. I have always told my girls that sex for a woman is very different than for a man simply because sex occurs inside our bodies and outside theirs. From that simple truth, many truths follow. Our whole hormone system is internal not external, so how we feel is much more caught up in whole body blues. When we reproduce, the child comes from inside, we make food from inside. Men couldn't begin to understand from inside! It's like plumbing - indoor plumbing is much more sophisticated than outdoor plumbing!

I did not see Lorenzo's Oil - I don't think - I've been through crazypause, and I don't remember the other side well.

As for the guts falling out idea - I think it's the bottom line - no pun intended. I think when we are at wits end, we think, "My God, my guts are falling out," and then we emotionally crash. When we begin to pull ourselves into posture again,;) we come round to knowing that our bottom lines are going to hold and we are Old Kinderhook again!!!

As for the cholesterol, I find that very interesting. I've always been a meat eater. I know from reading, meat is the only food you absolutely must eat to live. As a meat eater, my cholesterol has always been a big issue. I wonder if trying to get it down by diet helped my prolapse arrive? I think I was trying to force down a count of about 250 at the time I noticed the prolapses. Interesting. Thanks.

Now I use green tea to bring the cholesterol down. My husband uses Lipitor, but Lipitor causes memory loss. I wouldn't touch it.

Blessings on your work always,

Judy

Dear Sue,

It really isn't the prolapse that made us decide not to have more children, though it was hard at first when I thought that might actually decide for me.

My age is a factor, (I will be 40 this year), and while that is not old I know, to me it feels older than I would like of course!

Also, I am in a similar situation to Marie in that my husband has never been on board for us to have another child. It would have required a HUGE compromise on his part for us to have had another. I have come to the conclusion after much thought, that I am the one who needs to make this compromise and be happy with the beauties that I already have. (I do always secretly hope for a small "accident" though! :):)

I think I am a woman who could honestly have gone on having more and more babies but I started a little too late for that I am afraid and that is really not a good enough reason to keep doing it anyway. I hope I am a good enough Mother for my girls and that they will grow to be happy, fulfilled, empowered women. That is what I truly wish for.

As to what women did in the past and in other countries with prolapse, I think they "put up and shut up". Really, I am sure there are millions of women who never had and will never have the information that we have to even know what was going on with their bodies, quite apart from being able to take control. Mind boggling really.

Christine,

Your comment about the vagina shrinking over time reminds me of a thought I had a while back.

I was looking at pictures of prolapse on the internet and came across one of atrophy of the vagina in relation to menopause, and the associated drop in estrogen. Many women avoid this problem now with the prescription of HRT, and while I don't want to enter into a discussion about the possible dangers of that, it did cross my mind at the time that this kind of shrinkage provides a smaller exit for prolapse to emerge from, and in it's way might be natures way of preventing prolapse from getting worse. I am sure it is not fun having this condition, especially if one is still sexually active, but it does kind of serve a purpose for the many many women who have probably developed prolapse by their later years. Another kind of natures pessery perhaps?

Anyway, just a thought I had :)

I had a hysterectomy in february 2006 and had the annoying air and lots of trouble after that for the first time in my life with UTI'S. I finally went to a urologist and he gave me some hormone cream and put me on low dose antibiotics and sent me to a obgyn. The OB doc said I have a combo of prolapse going on with the bladder and the rectum and vaginal wall--and told me not to do heavy lifting and wants to see me in 2 months --I have to go back to the urologist next month-- the cream seemed to help the air problem and I know exactly what you mean by squeezing your legs together because it is so annnoying --the first ob doc I told this too-- said to me "not to worry about it --that the sensation wasn't painfull-- I feel that the worst thing I ever did was have the hysterectomy -- I had to have it because I had very bad prolapse of the uterous after an almost 10 pound baby. I lived with this prolapsed uterous for years and then when I was close to age 57 I had the hysterectomy -- my mom had the same problem and was on my case to have this hysterectomy --she is a nurse--and she had one --and she kept telling me --I would be less tired--now maybe I should have got a pessary --but I did not relish that suggestion from the doctor --so I chose the hysterectomy and this seems to me to be the start of all these problems-- I wanted to write you about the air--because I THOUHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD WHO HAD THIS PROBLEM--I have been bothered again the last few days by it. I just want you to know you are not alone--God Bless

Grammiejoie, thanks for posting. I kind of wondered if that might be my problem, too - everything has just kind of sqooshed in together and there are some spaces in there that weren't there before that are letting air in.

Not to worry about it??? It's the most annoying thing ever!!! My practitioner precribed some Urised for me yesterday, also some betamethasone cream, which is not a hormone cream, but we'll see how it works. Believe me, I thought I was the only person in the world who had it! I can't say I'm glad that you do, but since you do have it, I'm glad you posted - I think unless you've had this particular symptom it's hard to relate.

I think you can't look back now and blame yourself for having the hysterectomy. You did the best that you could with the information that you had at the time. I think you have to look from this point forward and see what you can do to help yourself. I think we're all too young to give up. I just don't know anyone else - either friends, or coworkers - who have this problem so in some weird way I feel like I'm the only woman I know who is aging!

The air thing does seem to get better when the whole total of the symptoms get better. I hope I will get stabilized and my stuff won't degenerate any further. Hang in there as I am trying to do - @:)

.... more and more these days too. Since the prolapses have decided to grow in size I am getting that feeling like I need to squish something out and when I squeeze my legs and butt together air bubbles come out.

Oh its just so horrible and like you mytfly2day I haven't come across anyone yet to suffer this considering it is so common, well apart from us here!

mytfly2day

Thanks for writing back-- I am in the US, I felt so alone with all of this and I asked the latest ob doc the question--- "what was the percentage of women walking around with these problems" and he said that this is a very common problem and that is another reason they are in business to deal with these kinds of problems. So, I hope this is helpful to you also--I guess we all worry about further surgeries and if things will get worse. After I dilivered the 10lb baby I was right back in the docs office with the prolapse for an exam and at that time the doc said to me --some people's tissues are weaker than others --but noone ever died of a prolapse. The recent OB doc also said to me that this tends to run in families --if my mother had it --which she did --then I would probaby have it and so would my daughter--I just read an article that most women have had some kind of prolaspe by the time they are 80 years old. I also said to the recent ob doc "Boy, the Good Lord could have done a little bit better in the engineering department of the pelvic floor" :) --to which he agreed. So, hang in there --I will keep you in my thoughts and prayrs --and I guess we need to just keep trying to take good care of ourselves. God Bless

I am posting for the first time to this site. I have been searching for a forum where there is another human being that has experienced this very uncomfortable sensation of air down there. My gynocol., who is female, sort of understands and she sent me to Woman's Therapy. I was mainly instructed on different forms of Kegal exercises. They have helped with that feeling of my insides falling out but the air popping continues. My sister-in-law has a PhD. in Pharmacy and she is also perio-menepausal. She tells me it is normal and part of menopause. Am I going to have these sensations for the rest of my life??? They are making me crazy. So I feel your pain. I believe they are mainly part of the repositioning of the uterus and bladder caused in pregnancy and older age like the doctor and therapist have stated. What else could it be? I plan to continue my Kegals although I will get surgery if the Doctor thinks it could help. Very frustrated but hanging in there... belianne

hello belianne, and welcome to the site

before you follow a dr's recommendation for surgery to correct this problem, be aware that the surgical techniques almost always involve restructuring of the vagina. so instead of the closed tube it is supposed to be, the vagina ends up (post surgery) looking like a tent, with this side or that sutured up and tacked to something else. I'm not so sure this would solve the problem. In fact, the literature shows that this actually oftentimes contributes to future prolapse.

on a positive note, I used to have the air popping thing going on and I don't anymore. for some strange reason, after this last baby it stopped. I'd like to think years of posture and firebreathing had something to do with that

Since I first posted this I did realize that the air is coming from the V place, and not the urethra. This last trip to the doc, when I went to the urogyn, he said this was very common. Well . . . it's not common for ME. I do recall that after having my first baby, I experienced this for several weeks, and assumed that during birth air got up into the uterus and was just making its way out.

So, I have to assume that maybe during the D&C, air got into the uterus and is gradually making its way out. If it's not that, I feel that it must be that the surgery rearranged all my "stuff" in there, and that the vagina is NOT staying flattened, but rather pooching out a bit somehow and letting air in and out.

I still have this going on - what, almost a month later? It has gotten somewhat better and I do not have the slipped tampon feeling. But even as I write, I feel the trapped air. I still can shift certain ways or clench my legs and move certain ways and it comes out. However, the problem comes right back.

Hoping that this will go away at some point. I think Christine had pointed out it is NOT normal to have air in your urethra and I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that at least in my case it is NOT coming from there.

I still feel so betrayed by the medical community. Why didn't my doc tell me before the surgery that it could rearrange my insides and cause possible problems??? They HAVE TO KNOW THIS. They just aren't telling us. It's that same dishonest "this might feel uncomfortable" nonsense they throw at us when they are about to do something to us that they know is going to be extremely painful. They are making judgment calls for us without giving us the facts so we can make our own judgment calls. My doc should have said, ok, there are things that can happen after surgery of this type - x, y and z - knowing this, you need to decide if you still want the surgery. Instead, HE decided I needed the surgery so HE weighed the risk for me and made that decision for me.

When my babies were born in 1983 and 1990, why didn't the docs tell me that an episiotomy most likely would cause problems with perineal weakening later in life? They didn't even ask, they just did them!

Well, anyway, got sidetracked on a rant here . . . but I do sympathize with the air thing. I wish someone could explain it fully.

For heaven's sake, and I can't stress this enough, before you let ANY doctor perform any type of pelvic reconstructive surgery on you, please research and research and research. This forum is wonderful. I have also found many other sites that do concur about the risk of these surgeries and the true success rates. Be aware that many women have additional or worse problems afterwards, and many have to have repeat surgeries.

I was reading in particular yesterday that the surgery for rectocele can make intercourse extremely painful afterward, and this site estimated that something like 30% of women who have it done don't EVER HAVE SEX AGAIN because of the pain. Surgery for cystocele can actually CAUSE permanent incontinence - even when the woman was not incontinent before the surgery.

I am hoping that they will eventually find some way to make these surgeries more successful. I'm sure they are somewhat better than they used to be but still fraught with problems. I also am sure some women are satisfied with their surgeries. I'm just saying read up. Someone else had mentioned, I think, the HysterSisters website, which is also quite interesting. I was reading some surgery horror stories on there yesterday.

I believe I'm in peri (I'm 47) and any advice and/or sympathy from anyone is welcome! I never knew things would change so much!

I appreciate all the replies. Since I am not one for surgery unless it is absolutely necessary I will hold off. I had an appesiatemy(sp?) after my daughter was born and that was enough play down under for me. I have never felt the same after that and as I approach menopause(I'm 47) I feel so many bodily changes I want to scream. I am thankful that other woman can relate to what I am experiencing with the air bubbles as so many woman I know look at me clueless when I try to talk about this stange sensation. Just because there is no pain the discomfort can drive one nutty. It all started during a nasty yeast infection about three years ago. I thought I had a tampon stuck inside but it was the beginning of the air bubbles and the feeling that my insides were falling out. Kegals help the falling out feeling and incontenence(urinary). But, I am my Mother's daughter as my Mom has had a lot of female problems. I am trying to loose weight(I figure about 25 pounds) and wonder if the extra weight puts pressure on the female parts. I do exercise regularly and eat well. My doctors tell me that they can find nothing wrong except for a slight repositioning of my bladder. They say that is normal for a woman who had a vaginal birth. Sex is fine and my partner tells me I am beautiful and perfect to him. So, I will just pray that this strange air bubble feeling eventually disappears and keep reading this forum for support. Thanks and much appreciation to all my fellow sisters out there. belianne

Hi Beliane

Judy wrote the other day about being in transition, and linked it to the transition that we experience just before the baby's head crowns at the end of the first stage of labour, when we get grumpy, restless, impatient and upset. There is also the transition from being fertile and perimenopausal to the end of fertility, being post-menopause when the monthly hormonal ups and downs decrease to be almost a straight line rather than distinct waves.

Then there is a transition from having high pelvic organs to having prolapsed organs, that unnerving period when they drop bit by bit, and one at a time, kind of like an ice sculpture melting, until the descent stops (I think/hope) and there is a new equilibrium.

Often the transition out of fertility accompanies the descent of pelvic organs, and may be related. The first can be hard enough to handle with all the unexpected, wierd things that happen to the brain as well as the body. It can feel a bit like being invaded by aliens, or possessed.

But the second is like your body falling apart, bit by bit, and you don't know when or if it will all end. I think I am at that prolapse equilibrium now, and have been for about nine months, but who knows?

It is like every morning when I wake up I am a different person, and find it hard to handle the unexpected moods of an unfamiliar personality during the day. Sometimes I feel like just locking myself away for a couple of weeks so I don't offend or hurt people, and hope that this new person will just go away. Often she is gone again in a couple of days, and I have in the last week or so shed her after she has been in my body and brain for several months, and I didn't know she was there until she left. I knew I wasn't myself, but couldn't put a finger on why!

There are numerous transitions we make in life, and we can often handle one at a time, but two at once can really rattle your stability and wellbeing. I reckon this Whole Woman work is great because there are active things I can do to keep my life on track and not become disabled by it. It has been like coaxing an equilibrium out of an unstable state of being.

I guess it is pretty horrifying to find prolapses affecting you while in the middle or, or even without having babies. I really feel for these women, who really will be the ones who will test out WW techniques for the longest period of time.

Oh well, on with strange old life. I wonder who tomorrow will bring?

Cheers

Louise

my name is leah and i have a little boy aged 16 months and i have the same problem of feeling air bubbles in my urethra. while in labour i had to have a catheter as i couldnt get up to urinate. i dont know whether this caused the air bubble which never seems to disappear but i dont what else could have done it. i havent yet told a doctor or seeked any medical advice and dont know if to bother at all. just wondered if anybody had been through this and could give me any advice on the problem.

Hi Leah_08

Welcome to the Forums. Bodies do all sorts of strange things, don't they? This topic comes up periodically.

Just wondering if you have read all the posts in this topic? Start at the bottom of the comments and work your way back up, to read them in chronological order. The early part of it went on for quite some time. I think we came to the conclusion that it was mostly air in the vagina, rather than the urethra. What do you think about the possibility of this theory in your case?

Cheers

Louise