pessary

I too use a pessary and have a copious whiteish discharge - enough to be annoying and sometimes give me the impression I'm leaking urine when I'm not. I used to get something similar when I was on HRT, before discovering my POP, and I attributed it to the oestrogen. It went away when I stopped taking the HRT.

Before I started wearing a pessary I read that it is important to have a strong healthy vagina for fear the pessary may erode its walls, and that therefore it is often recommended to start with a daily course of low dose oestrogen pessaries (cream or pills inserted in the vagina) for a fortnight before fitting the plastic pessary. I did this and the discharge came back with a vengeance, but nonetheless I have gone on inserting the pills twice a week ever since.

I realise this is not what most women posting here would want to do, as the oestrogen raises my risk of cancer and maybe other ills. It is my personal choice because I hope the plastic pessary may help stop my POP from progressing, and that is extremely important to me. Were my vagina to show signs of erosion at a checkup, the plastic pessary would be taken out and a course of oestrogen cream prescribed until my vagina was considered strong enough to tolerate the plastic pessary again. To avoid this scenario, I prefer to continue the low regular dose of oestrogen.

I have no experience of wearing a plastic pessary without supplemental oestrogen, but certainly the oestrogen without the plastic pessary did cause discharge in me. I do wonder if it is the pessary alone that is causing your discharge. Is it possible that you have unknowingly been prescribed an oestrogen cream or a pessary that is impregnated with oestrogen? (These do exist.) Once when inserting a new plastic pessary a hospital doctor, without consulting me, used gallons of oestrogen cream to lubricate it. The white cream plus my white secretions poured out of me for days. I would never have known what she had done had the nurse not told me secretly afterwards.

I am hopeing to hear from Christine on this as well!!!! I went to the uro/gn at Dartmouth Lebanon yesterday. Was SHOCKED to find out that my uterus is 1cm from the vaginal opening. I have NO IDEA what "stage" this is...does anyone???? I was fitted for a pessary and was told this is a good way to stop progression and return to my normal activity. He inserted one and I was told to walk around for 15 minutes...I went to the gift shop and bought a TON of stuff!!!! Within tree hours I had a pulling sensation behind my abdominal wall fron symphisis pubis too almost naval and then came the rectal cramping along with uring leakage. I had to take it out as I was so uncomfortable and it was painful to sit on my rectum. I nearly fainted when removing it from the discomfort!!! I continued to leak urine for a few hours.

Has anyone had these symptoms???? I am calling today to try and get seen to be fitted for something differnt..but I feel very discouraged. For 2 and a 1/2 hours yesterday I felt such relief and happiness at getting back to my life.

I wonder if my bladder or uretera was somehow damaged or just overreacting. I seem to be okay with no leakage this morning. ANy words of wisdom or anyone with similar experience???? Thank you for anything you can offer.

peace....sadie

Hi Sadie,

I hope you're feeling better by now. When the presenting part of the vagina is 1 cm from the opening it's about a stage 2.5. But this changes all the time - even from hour to hour. Nothing makes me crazier than hearing women say, "My doctor told me my prolapse is now a stage 3!" No one has better access to this data than us.

The pessary situation is tricky and each woman must wade through that territory on her own. I think we all need to at least go through the drill to see if we can wear one successfully - meaning that it reduces our symptoms with no other untoward effects. For most (?) of us, the pessary is a pain and we do better with posture, firebreathing, nauli, etc.

Sorry I can't be of more help - but it's kind of a matter of, either it works or it doesn't. You'll have to decide how many times you want to be fitted - you may get lucky!

Christine

Sadie, I believe there are many very different shapes of pessary, as well as different sizes. There are internet sites that sell them and have illustrations you could study. I have already tried two slightly different shapes (rigid ring and doughnut) and fitting the right size seemed to be very much a matter of trial and error, even when my doctor first used an instrument to measure my vagina. Personally, I have felt more uncomfortable and had more leaking with a tampon than with my various pessaries. At one point a doctor tried to fit a completely different shape, but it simply would not go in.

Long ago I was fitted with a diaphragm barrier contraceptive device which was like a flexible mini trampoline, so rather similar to some pessaries. I still remember seeing (with amazement) the whole range of sizes displayed on the wall, and they ranged from tiny to enormous. This tells me that we are very very various inside and one size and shape of pessary CANNOT fit all.

I don't think you should persevere with any pessary that hurts, but it might be worth experimenting in the hope of finding one that suits you.

By the way, not all doctors know that holding a ring pessary or doughnut under the hot tap before inserting temporarily softens it and makes insertion MUCH easier. My latest one went in at once, with no discomfort at all, even though it was a size larger than before. Good luck!

Yes tinour, I have the white discharge. It's just something that tends to happen with pessaries, I mean, you should rule out infection, but usually it's just the body's reaction to the pessary. Most of mine tends to get hung up behind it and doesn't really bother me until I remove it. But I've got the type now called "ring with support". It's a ring but has a solid sheet within. Before I had the doughnut, and I think with that one I had more discharge.

I wear a Lunapad mini-pad all the time now. They are just so comfortable and you don't have to buy disposables, and I do have some urine leakage, so that handles everything.

Yes, Sadie, I had all those symptoms with my other pessary at times. If it was sitting in there wrong, I'd get the bowel cramping and urine leakage. In fact, urine leakage WITH a pessary can be normal if you have a cystocele because without a pessary, kinking of the urethra prevents loss of urine. When the pessary "fixes" it, the weakness of the leakage is allowed to flow, which is one reason I refuse to have my "dropped" bladder "fixed" surgically. Don't know if that makes sense. I think Christine can explain it much better.

I do urge you to be fitted for something different. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors just don't know how to fit a pessary. You might have to research on your own to find somebody else to go to who is more expert at fitting you. When my doctor left the practice, a younger female doctor replaced him and she re-fitted me and gave me a much better pessary. And I'd been fairly happy with my first one, so now I'm VERY happy.

A pessary is an individual experience and if you get one, you don't necessarily need to wear it all the time. I wear mine really very little. I just use it when I feel like everything is just too heavy and too falling out, and my husband is gone for a week, ha ha, have to remove the silly thing for sex.

Dearest Christine,

Well I have finally had the oppurtunity to do the WW workout. NOT as graceful as YOU I might add, AND the kitchen was NOT the best place to do it!!! Too little room for all the leg lifting!!! I just wanted to thank YOU an ALL who have responded to my questions. I went back and got another Pessary the day after my painful experience of the first one. I needed a smaller one. I do have urine leakage with RUNNING and I have attended kickboxing and such BUT I am listening to my body and if I feel pressure (yes even with the ring) I take it down and do what I can do. I have altered my wardrobe to nice sweats from Sahalie and tops that cover my bowl!! I have swithched to a somewhat raw diet and organic. If we eat out I have to eat regular and I did also for Thanksgiving etc.... BUT I am enjoying the diet when I eat raw, I feel better about things. I find that since I got the Pessary that I have to really remind myself of posture. Before the pessary I was so symptomatic that I was ALWAYS aware of my condition. Now I feel myself and have to be MORE cognative of it. But it will come in time I am sure.

Christine...I jsut loved you in the dvd....I LOVE your kitchen!! I will never sew BUT I can live with the clothes I am able to find. I DO LOVE YOUR TOPS however!! I see you had jeans on with the stroller demo!!! Did you make those too, or are those the Levis I believe you spoke of. I hope over time that I will find the time and knowledge to have a kitchen like yours. I live in New Hampshire and we do not have the farmers here who are ORGANIC growers. I do not have the abundance of corn and things that you have. I would LOVE to have the cookie recipe you talked about on your DVD and MAYBE you could do a WHOLE WOMAN cookbook!! I am going to buy the grinder.

I just wanted to thank you so much for your help, your gracefulness, your appreciation for who we are and HELPING us. You have made for me a devastating situation hopeful, and even enjoyable. Thank you Christine. Sadie

peace....sadie

You are so welcome, Sadie, and thank you ever so much for your gratitude. No...I don't sew jeans. My grandmother sewed all the jeans for her five boys and while I admire her strength, I'm extremely grateful for Levi's!! I'm very happy to have inspired you, for this is what I think we are all supposed to do for one another! Inspire means to breathe in and a perfect world would be consistently breathing in the love, kindness, creativity, intelligence and humor of our fellow human beings. You have inspired me!

:) Christine