Rectocele - am I causing more problems with this little maneuver?

Hmmm . . . well I don't know about the "maneuver" but daily long-term laxitive use can cause the opposite of what you want, i.e. constipation and the reduced ability to move your bowels. Perhaps you could wean yourself off of these and try chia seeds, flax seeds, or the like along with two big extra glasses of water a day? Just a suggestion . . . as with all advice, feel free to ignore! :-)

I'm not sure either, but i agree...taking pills to get things moving is not ideal. You may well have tried everything, but what is your diet like? How much fibre do you eat? What type? How much exercise? Do you eat meat, dairy, gluten. I'd personally try radically shifting diet if you haven't. and try natural things to get things moving, like lots of stewed plums. I know that a large daily helping of beans or lentils is crucial to my system, along with lots of other fibre, water, exercise etc.
Maybe there is another solution?

Hey Nikki- have you considered allergy? What would it hurt to go on an elimination diet and see how you do?
some thoughts that come to mind: 1. enema. this may be better than any colace tablet with senna sort of thing you can do- in the evenings when you are so uncomfortable try it and see how you go.
2. are you familiar with the whole "changed anatomy" deal- where you have a bulge and it is from the intestine falling into the vaginal wall? well that bit of intestine causes a kink- when you crouch and spread it helps change the angle on that bit of intestine and then you can empty easily. I don't think you are causing any long term damage that way- but I think you need to work to find some more solutions to this inability to poop.
3. consider taking cod liver oil, D3 supplement, and a calcium magnesium supplement, eat lots of chia and flax- get rid of your colace and senna. get rid of wheat and dairy totally and work on getting plenty of greens. Try this for 1 month-
honestly it has been three years- it is only getting worse for you- why not do something drastic?

I'm with Alemama

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Hmmm.

L

I have been doing "shots" (about 2 tablespoons) of this for the past few weeks before meals. I have it first thing in the morning. I really have noticed a difference. I have also eliminated all gluten too.

Hi Nikki, I do sympathise with your plight as I experience some of the same problems, but just from time to time. I have had some good experiences using glycol pessaries to bring on a bowel movement in about 10 - 30 minutes (please see my previous posts for details). Of course they only work if there is a bowel movement ready in there but failing to come out. Like you, I sometimes get that uncomfortable feeling when there is nothing ready to come out, and in those circumstances the pessaries just cause trouble. I eat a high fibre diet and normally expect to have a bm twice daily. I have resolved that whenever I haven't been for 12 hours I will use a pessary to avoid painful hardening of the stool, and resolve the discomfort.

I recollect Louise has written some helpful posts about the problem that sometimes our bodies just seem to lose the plot and fail to respond appropriately to expel a bm that is ready to come out. Personally, I don't think we need to worry that our efforts to help things along will make anything worse (provided we don't strain, of course). It is commonly said that taking senna type laxatives regularly risks de-skilling the body so it can't function without them. However, I have read a credible article claiming that this is quite unfounded - a medical myth. How much less can stretching, splinting etc make things worse?

I find that sometimes when I am on the loo and the bm has stalled, kegels help. Also, I visualise a little train with many carriages passing through a tunnel in beautiful countryside. I try to relax and feel that string of carriages coming out of (my) tunnel one after another. It really does sometimes help!

I am sure that the mental/emotional has a role here. I notice that I can go for hours outside the house feeling that I need to go but unable even when there is a lavatory available, and then the moment I return and open my front door the urge to go is suddenly so strong I wonder if I'm going to make it upstairs in time. I think using any method that may help is a good idea to lift us out of a downward spiral, where we come to associate going to the loo for a bm with pain, failure etc and so go there with dread and an expectation of failure.

Finally, I always have reading matter in the loo, so that I can relax and let things take their time if necessary while I focus elsewhere.

I do hope you find something helpful here.

I swear by LIQUID glycerin suppositories to ensure a bm when my rectocele is acting up. They can be kind of expensive, especially for frequent use, but they work like a charm. Fleet makes them (in US). They come in a box of 4 for adult size and 6 for pediatric size. I find the pediatric size is often adequate for me. The liquid glycerin works faster and easier than the hard glycerin suppositories, in my experience. The hard ones sometimes get stuck in a pocket and take a while to come out. The amount of liquid in the suppositories is much, much less than in an enema. Also, I find enemas to be messy and cramp-inducing. Of course, if you are very constipated, sometimes only an enema will help. Best of luck in dealing with this.

Thanks very much for the tip. I shall try to add liquid suppositories to my amoury - the more resources I can turn to, the more relaxed I can feel about this problem, and the more likely I am to need none of them.

In the UK, as a person over 60 I am kindly suppplied with the glycol pessaries free of charge on prescription. This is just as well, as the only time I inquired about buying them from the chemist he looked terribly shocked. I think he thought I wanted them for kinky pleasure!

oh it's so hard to figure out what our bodies need and how to get things going! For me, beans / pulses are really crucial--lots of them. for someone else, something else. but i do think the answer is somewhere to be found.
I would be so wary of laxatives and keep searching for another answer. The damage is real, and you have to keep things moving for a very long time... I sometimes find what you describe, and then i just have to be patient, eat a good hearty meal of beans or something like that, have a good walk, and be patient. If i'm in danger of getting saggy in that time, i use a tampon for a bit of support. not ideal but so it goes...

i just found this strange link on constipation that i thought i'd share. Any thoughts on this?
i'm not going to go eat raw egg so doesn't work for me, but wondering about the thoughts behind it...

Hi Kiki

Might be something to it. I can see the reasoning. The reasoning might be true, but there are no references, so it is hard to believe. The info must have come from somewhere. Why isn't it listed? Perhaps it is just semi-informed opinion?

I think it is too simplistic to take seriously, but it would be interesting to try the raw protein idea. Saw something about that on Alemama's raw foods site about that. It does also say less wheat and dairy, so that's relatively mainstream by our standards.

I have always believed in the oil thing, so that's OK by me.

It also ignores the stress factor which is major for me, and I think many women, particularly in the second part of the menstrual cycle. Perhaps it was written by a person who has never menstruated?

It also does not differentiate between the sort of constipation that results in hard stools, as opposed to the sort where peristalsis slows down and the train just stops, and no mention of the kink in the pipe.

Apart from all that, it looks fine.

;-)

Louise