Very Scared Possible Rectal Prolapse

Submitted by flowerlilly on January 16, 2010 - 5:13pm
Body: 

Can this work for rectal prolapse? Im really frightened. I am very ill and have been fighing for my life. I lost tremendous weight and was as little as 92lbs at 5'5 and gained a little weight back but lost an inch in height. Ive been going like crazy trying to find answers and I made a terrible terrible mistake in getting a colonic in my conditon. INstnatly after I was done I felt my colon prolapsed. I beieve this is what caused a rectal prolapse. I have not been officially diagnosed but I have all the symptoms. Too sick and weak to get surgery. Not an option. I realize that this forum is more for pelvic prolapses but Im praying that this will also work for rectal prolapses. IM too scared to go the emergency room or docotor. I have been to many doctors for other conditons and its the reason I have become so sick. Also my mother had severe complications from a surgery that led her to be hospitalized for 5 months and is now disabled. I will try anything before I resort to surgery.

AnneH

January 17, 2010 - 8:01am

To be sure we understand, there is a difference between rectocele and rectal prolapse. I have not had rectal prolapse but quick googling yields this site which suggests a home solution:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001132.htm

I sure understand your desire to avoid surgery and reluctance to see a doctor. However this same site also tells you to contact a doctor if you have a rectal prolapse. There are complications that can be serious. Perhaps if you see a doctor you can insist they manually replace the prolapse and delay any surgery. Perhaps the prolapse won't recur. Remember, you NEVER have to consent to surgery as long as you are conscious and not deemed incompetent to make your own care decisions.

Christine I'm sure will know more about the benefits of her program on keeping this from happening again, I suspect generally improving your pelvic organ positioning and good diet, avoiding straining at stool will all help control this.

flowerlilly

January 20, 2010 - 8:35am

Thank you Anne for the info. I went to the ER and they only made things worse. Im in tears. They did a rectal exam and an xray and blood work and said they cannot explain my symptoms and sent me home. Meantime I have chills 24 hours a day, have fecal incontinence, unable to eat for 3 days, unable to have bowel movements, (the incontincne is mainly just water coming out), completely dehydrated no matter how much water I dirnk. Nausea. The pressure in the pelvic floor and rectum area was worse after the rectal exam. Im still not sure if its a rectal prolapse but from my symtpms it feels like this or maybe a sphicnter problem or even some perforation. When I tried to go to a specialist they told me I needed to go the hsopital. Im staying out of state for other health problems and treatment so my insurance wouldnt cover it out here. I wonder if Christine's DVD can help me even if it might not be the exact problems you are all experiencing. Can it help tighten the tone of sphincter muscles? I aplogozie if anything sounds graphic here. Im pretty much freaking out

louiseds

January 20, 2010 - 11:54am

Hi Flowerlilly

I can see that you feel very scared and uncertain about this, and it is quite understandable. How long has this been going on?

When they did the rectal exam did the doctor say you had a rectal prolapse. Did he find the bit of your rectum sticking out of your anus? What can you feel with your fingers in your vagina and around your anus? Is it different from your normal? Have you ever felt anything sticking out of your anus?

You say you cannot pass stool. If you have had vomiting and fecal incontinence (which sounds like diahorrea). Perhaps there is nothing in your gastro-intestinal tract to pass, especially if you are just passing water?

Did you see the x-rays? Were they explained to you?

Could these symptoms be anything to do with your other health issues? Did you explain the other health issues to the doctor you saw? You could be dealing with several different things, which may or may not be related.

The chills are a bit weird. I am no doctor but your symptoms might not be due to prolapse of anything. You are certainly ill. I really think you need to go back to the ER and ask for answers to some of these questions, particularly if you are no better.

We are not medically qualified, and cannot give medical advice. Sorry I cannot help you more. If they think it is prolapse of pelvic organs, come back and we can help you to get control of it.

Louise

kiki

January 20, 2010 - 3:26pm

Just to reiterate what Louise said--prolapse would not cause chills, diarrhea, vomiting, etc... sounds like something serious going on that needs figuring out. When did you have the irrigation done? wondering-can you get an infection from that? have no idea, but do talk to doctors and find out--explore all possibilities as you don't want to be that sick!!!

separate from that is your feeling of prolapse, and is it a rectal prolapse or rectocele? quite different... first you need to find out what is going on and then come talk to us.

take care of yourself and let us know how you get on!!!

Kiki

AnneH

January 21, 2010 - 10:04am

I know you only feel worse after going to the ER and you have insurance problems but I do agree with Louise, I think you need to keep going back until they sort this out. I think it is much more than simple prolapse, and could be related to whatever disorders they were treating you for, prior to the colonic or it could be a complication of the colonic itself.

flowerlilly

January 27, 2010 - 7:17am

Thank you for all your responses. I will have to wait till going back from out of state to get an evaluation but scared because after the rectal exam they made things worse for me. Since Im so delicate any prodding and poking only makes things worse. They have with any kind of treatment I have done. Im certain without a doubt it was from the colonic that caused this although I probably had a weakened system from having been ill with chronic fatigue. I will pay for a pelvic MRI out of pocket on Thursday and wonder if a prolapse can be diagnosed this way or how you have been diagnosed? I felt like the phsycian assistant at the ER did not know how to do a gentle pelvic exmaination and made things so much worse for me. I strained so much because it was so incredibly painful. It feel ike it worsened the prolapse and I had been having more discomfort since. It was so truamatizing for me. Surgery isnt an option for me because Im too weak and will not survive. I have been crying nonstop for 2 weeks because Im so scared and alone in this. As I exmained myself I noticed I Have a bulge in the perinium area and I beleive there is where I feel the prolapse. It was hard to tell at first. My symptoms feel like either incredible pressure in that area at the end of my rectum and feeling like I have to go but cant or leakage and no pressure. I hear everyone talking about urinary incontince but has anyone had fecal incontince? Mine is more mucus and water. Im afraid I can never had sex again and Im single and 38 and sick and feel like men will reject me for this and so many other problems. Im so utterly devastated and depressed to have this problem when I was dealing with so much already and finally making some progress after all these years.

louiseds

January 27, 2010 - 8:29am

Hi flowerlilly

It is not clear to me exactly the nature of your medical problems. I can only trust that you will seek advice from medical people for those conditions. We are in no position to comment on how well, or not, you have been treated, but I can see how you are not keen to go into medical treatment. You have obviously had a lot of pain and discomfort, some of which may have resulted from medical treatment.

I am also not sure what you are seeking from us, but in my humble non-medical opinion you could have something to gain by attending to your posture, your diet, your clothing, exercise and how you go about your everyday activities, in order to get your internal organs into positions where your colon is less likely to collapse on itself during evacuation. There are no guarantees in this work. All we aim to do is to create as optimum as possible configuration of organs so that the body can use its own structures to maintain what integrity it still has.

To my knowledge we have not had any Members with rectal prolapse who have been able to manage it with Wholewoman techniques, but I could be wrong there. Other Members may respond. You could try putting 'rectal prolapse' into the Search box and read the topics that mention it. We have discussed it in the past.

As you seem to have significant digestive problems I would think seeking the advice of a dietician would help you to adjust your diet in a supervised way, rather than just adjusting your diet yourself and risking worse digestive symptoms than you currently have.

Many women are diagnosed with POP through a doctor, whether it be a family doctor, a gynaecologist, or a general clinic where annual tests are done. There is a Self Exam in Saving the Whole Woman, Christine Kent's book, that you can buy from the Whole Woman Store online. Other women use this Self Exam. Prolapse is s strange condition. It is a bit like flat feet, not life-threatening but uncomfortable. There is nothing wrong with the pelvic organs. They are just not in the right places to be comfortable, and that misplacement sometimes causes secondary negative effects. You don't need a doctor to diagnose it, but it might be useful to talk to a doctor about it. Rectal prolapse might be a different case altogether because protruding tissue can get squashed by the anal sphincters, whereas organs prolapsing into the vagina simply protrude. The tissues may become irritated, but the organs will usually recede again easily when the woman lies down.

You will probably find other websites which host Forums about rectal prolapse.

Louise