Straining, rectoceles, imcomplete emptying blah blah blah

Submitted by ChannelD on June 11, 2008 - 11:06am
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I am sorry if I am going over and over ground everyone else has covered. I did put straining into the search engine but am really not that adept at sorting through the posts. So here I am again. This issue of prolapse follows a lifetime of elimination issues. It seems my health curse is 'down there' ha ha. I have always from childhood had what used to be called shy bladder which always seemed like such a coy coochie coochie coo term but lately I found it is called social eneuresis which makes me feel at once more empowered and yet since nobody else has ever heard of it more embarrassed because I always have to explain it (like when I had a drug test, talk about trauma!) I wonder if my prolapse started with childbirth but I didn't recognize it because after my first delivery I was never able to enjoy sex again. It always hurt. It always felt like he was rubbing against something raw in there. (in there, down there, you get the idea) I did go to a gynecologist who told me I was frigid and expressed his sympathy to my husband poor guy. (this was back in the '70s - is that sort of thing better now? I don't know because I totally internalized his words and just gritted my teeth and endured intercourse.) I also at that time stopped being able to wear tampons because the darned thing would not stay in! It kept sliding down and eventually out. I was mortified at this because it just made me feel like a failure as a woman. Of all the basic tasks! So I stopped wearing tampons and (after the divorce) stopped having intercourse. As I went into my 40's I developed IBS which took years to diagnosae and eventually nearly killed me with an incarcerated hernia from both a congenital weakness in my muscle linings and all that terrible straining and diarrhea. At that time (after the emergency surgery) I was told to lay off the fiber. So I stopped all high fiber foods and it did indeed help with the IBS which was an enormous relief since really and truly I suffered horribly though silently - actually pulling out my hair and banging my head in the bathroom while the spasms racked me. Now here is this rectocele. And all the advice I am reading says high fiber is the way to go. I have never had constipation before but now I do - is the stool just trapped in there? Yuck. I am ordering Christine's book this Friday (have to wait for the old paycheck, dontcha know) and maybe there is advice in there. I will try all the advice I received about nighttime woes - the big glass of water, the Benadryl (washed down with the big glass of water, isn't that handy?) and what about the Uree tablets prescribed by the urologist? I have a feeling they help with the discomfort but maybe that is a placebo effect? Boy, what a long post. I guess because I try very hard not to talk about this to anybody around me because really nobody else wants to hear it and because I try hard not to think about it (except for Kegeling like mad because I feel I have to do SOMETHING for myself) because it is too easy to obsess over it that when I get on this forum I run on and on and on (kinda like I wish my bladder would do?) I'll cut it off now (kinda like my bladder does ha ha) and open my ears for your wisdom

Cynthia

Mae

June 11, 2008 - 2:39pm

Hi Cynthia,

I am so sorry for all you have, and are, going through. You have come to the right website for information. The women here have a wealth of knowledge and tremendous compassion. Take comfort in knowing that we are all in the same boat.

I can't tell you much about rectocele since my POP is a cystocele, but I am sure you will hear from others with the same problem. My cystocele became evident when I was 56 (I have just turned 61), although I believe it was there long before, just not showing. Like you, I became unable to wear a tampon. It just pushed right out. I think I was in my late 30's or early 40's when that happened. I mentioned it to my gyn who offered no explanation. So, like you, I just stopped wearing tampons. No other symptoms..nothing for so many years, for which I am now so very thankful. Then the prolapse. Of course the doctors all want the quick fix (surgery, which in my opinion, too often leads to other problems) or if you don't opt for that, the best they can offer you is a pessary, which I had no luck with. That left surgery, as far as the doctors were concerned. Having just had two failed surgeries on my pinkie for a cut tendon, I was extremely hesitant to have surgery anywhere else! Sometimes I think my failed finger surgeries were a God-send because they made me aware of how wrong things can go and they made me seek other alternatives to surgery...which brought me here to this Website and to Christine's wonderful alternatives...the Posture, exercise, healthy diet, all the things you will learn about when you get her book.

My suggestion to you is to learn as much as you can about what happening to you so you can make the best decision for yourself. You can always have the surgery if you decide to, but maybe you will find ways to manage this without the surgery, like so many others have.

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts soon. Hang in there. We have all been where you are to some degree, in one way or another, and our hearts go out to you.

(((Hugs)))

Mae

louiseds

June 12, 2008 - 12:26am

Hi Cynthia

Just wondering about this Benadryl you have been taking. It is an antihistamine, right? And it does give you some benefit wee-wise, right? I am wondering if your bladder woes and your IBS may be connected with an allergy. Take antihistamine and the allergy effect is lessened? How is your IBS when you take the Benadryl???

The other thing that Benadryl does is to suppress the cough? Not sure about this. There are several Benadryl products. Which one are you taking? If it suppresses cough, perhaps it also suppresses other sorts of spasm, eg urethra (and maybe gut?). You could ask a qualified pharmacist about this, ie how the different active ingredients in Benadryl help, and why. Pharmacists are great for specific drug effects and side effects.

Is drying out one of the effects of Benadryl? If Benadryl is drying out your stool and slowing your gut it might not be terribly beneficial for your overall wellbeing with the IBS. It could be a case of 'on one hand ... but on the other hand' with this drug.

If the urethra spasm is the main wee problem there may be physical therapies that would relax it, maybe even chinese medicine, which may be able to address both conditions holistically.

Cheers

Louise

ChannelD

June 13, 2008 - 8:39pm

I only tried that once as per a suggestion from another member. It didn't really do anything for me (I just took the little pink pill I keep in case of an allergic reaction) but the suggestion about drinking more water did help a lot. I was still up several times peeing but as the member suggested the process was much less difficult and irritating. It did seem counter intuitive but it helped. Thanks! But I dropped the Benadryl idea.

I do find that ibuprofen is helping - it is an anti spasmodic and it does seem to make me more comfortable. Just the reassurances I have been reading that this is something I can get on top of (so to speak, ha ha) and manage and that it will not drop down to my knees (as someone said) makes me feel a lot better. Just getting in touch with everybody makes me feel a whole lot better. I cannot thank you all enough.

cynthia

cissiesmom

June 14, 2008 - 7:55am

Hi Cynthia, I have a cystrocele and a rectrocele . The bladder prolapse does not cause me any problems but the rectrocele can be very uncomfortable, especially when poop becomes trapped. I have a small pocket in my colon from being constipated. And I have tried eating fruit, drinking more water, adding flax seed, and taking harsh laxitives, nothing worked. What does work for me is Miralax, a laxitive too, not harsh, no cramping, but one that works. I call it Mira-cle. And I only take it 3 times a week, instead of the reccommended daily dose. I am now constipation free, and I feel human again. And my rectrocele, doesn't bother me at all....Marilu

ChannelD

June 15, 2008 - 11:49am

Hi Marilu;

Thanks so much for the suggestion! I will try it. I am baffled by the constipation as never before have I had this problem - with the IBS it was always the other way around! I do know that when I am constipated it is far far harder to pee so I put the Miralax on my shopping list and try it out.

Cynthia

ChannelD

July 26, 2008 - 8:38am

Marilu I cannot thank you enough. This one thing, the addition of a (for me daily) stool softener has been, as you said, a miracle, or nearly. It has improved my quality of life enormously. I appreciate you and the fact that you took the time to help a stranger, more than I can say. Thanks!

Cynthia

sandi

November 14, 2008 - 3:29pm

I have had a rectocele since last September (2007), and have really been struggling with it until recently. Now I find that if I drink plenty of water, take a cilium husk product regularly (Lepicol) and use two stools (pardon the pun) either side of the toilet to enable me to squat over the toilet, it has become much more bearable. I also need to support my perineum as I evacuate my bowels, but 5 mins of unpleasantness every morning saves me from discomfort and upset for the next 24 hours. I really want to avoid surgery, so I am looking at the whole thing as 'management', and keep thinking that some people have much worse things to do on a daily basis.

cissiesmom

November 15, 2008 - 4:24pm

Are you still using the Miralax? And is it still working? I continue to have good luck with it myself. As long as I stay Non-constipated and do no lifting over 10 pounds, I have no problems with my prolapses.....cystrocele and rectrocele. For sex, it takes a lot of lubricant, I am post - menopausal so that would be needed anyway. Hope things improve for you...Marilu