Anterior Wall prolapse

hi Carrie97
an anterior wall prolapse means that the anterior wall of the vagina is bulging into the vaginal canal. but really, its the organs on the other side of the vaginal wall that have moved and are pushing the wall into the space. those organs could be your bladder and/or urethra. it seems that sometimes a dr will say 'anterior wall prolapse' instead of urethrocele or cystocele if its very mild. sometimes they just call it that and who knows why. but its the same thing. I guess maybe it could be just a stretched out wall (say from recent childbirth) that's lumpy. not sure. anyway.
symptoms can include pressure or feeling of bulging in the vagina, fatigue when standing, sensation of bladder fullness, incomplete voiding or incontinence. some have reported various types of pain.
there is no fix. there is surgery, which attempts to cut out stretched tissue and suture tissue to bone. this is not really a fix, it trades in one set of symptoms for another and often times needs to be repeated.
and there is management. what we are doing here at wholewoman is management that often times leads to relief of symptoms as well as repositioning of organs to where they are supposed to be. but its not a quick-do-this-and-then-forget-about-it fix. its ongoing because once you achieve some level of stabilization and/or reversal, you want to keep it that way!
so with due respect to your dr, I disagree that surgery is the best option. and while I believe that one shouldnt ignore prolapse and hope it just goes away on its own, I dont think its terribly serious. terribly upsetting, yes. but it is not life threatening. you can try the whole woman techniques for say, a year or two before deciding if you want to throw your dice with the scalpel. time is soooo on your side.

Carrie, can you tell us a little more about yourself? Sometimes it helps us give you more specific answers or women with the same circumstances as you will reply....We are interested in you age in general, if you are post menopause or postpartum- if you have children or if you never had children. How long you've felt this way, previous surgeries....just stuff like that.
I can tell you that many people have reported the same things you are already saying- dragging, bladder and bowel problems, and the sense of urgency at just wanting it fixed right now!!!!
I can tell you that so many women (myself included) have been helped by this wholewoman work and have totally avoided surgery and most importantly, have had improvement in the very symptoms you describe. All by adopting wholewoman posture and by making some lifestyle changes (what you eat, what you do, what you wear).

Hi Carrie

It sounds like you might have several different things happening at the same time. Prolapse at 18 months Postpartum is a bit unusual, from the experiences we read here. Prolapse happens when your rectum, bladder and uterus move out of position, in ways that the normal support mechanisms for them don't work. For the rectum it means usually bulging out into the lower part of the vaginal space. The bladder and uterus move backwards; then the bladder bulges out into the front vaginal wall. The uterus may come down the vagina or might be dragged down the front vaginal wall because it is attached loosely to the bladder. So the bladder kind of collapses down on itself.

I can hear that you feel a real mess and that you are not sure what to do about it.

You seem to have a lot of inflammation in your abdomen and pelvis. Is it possible that this is related to your thyroid condition? And have you asked your endocrinologist about this?

The inflammation will make less room in your abdomen. If you are gaining weight this will exacerbate the lack of space.

Are you constipated?

I would say that the prolapse is the result of other things that are happening. Correct the other things and your prolapses will be much easier to manage.

You don't have to have an operation. There are many women who have visited this site over the years who are managing their over mobile pelvic organs so that their symptoms are minimal.

Visit the FAQ's Tab at the top of the page for some answers to questions, then come back and ask more on the Forums.

Louise

I know little about thyroid disorders. I was just wondering how much you knew about your thyroid condition. I wasn't trying to play doctors.

Yes, now you have clarified that, I do think the defaecation problem is to do with prolapse. See my reply to Ozmama a couple of minutes ago. LoPo could be useful for you too. Search the Forums for constipation topics and LoPo. You will be reading for days. Controlling constipation and keeping your bowel light are critical for getting on top of constipation, and allowing your rectum to become longer and thinner again, and making more room in your abdomen and pelvis for your organs, so you can start moving them around to safer places for your prolapses.

Wholewoman posture will help you to get your organs moving, your uterus forward and on top of your bladder, your bladder forward onto your pubic bones, and your rectum, signoid colon and other intestines, up and stretched out a bit more, rather than being squashed down behind your vagina.

Check out the WW posture at the FAQ's link at the top of the page, and call back for more answers.

Louise

No probs Carrie. It is all a part of clarifying what is happening for you.

BTW the Ozmama topic is, "Trying not to lose faith but getting worse".

Carrie, how's it going?

Hi Carrie

Yes, it does seem to be normal for prolapses to worsen in the second half of the cycle and behave themselves better in the first half. I have now passed menopause but I remember it used to drive me nuts that it just got worse, for no reason at all. In addition to that I used to get PMS in the last few years of menstruation, so I would feel POPpy and emotional vulnerable at the same time. Eventually I would realise that it was all related to the menstrual cycle, and I knew I just had to hang in there for a week or so, and it would all go away. My period would come along, and suddenly by day three I was feeling strong and vital again. It would get me every month, and every month I would have to remember anew what had happened the previous month. I can laugh about it now, but it was a bit distressing at the time.

The good news is that now I am not menstruating I do not get the black clouds and POP symptoms any more.

I am learning something new here every day! I have had the same feeling that in the second phase of my cycle I am somehow worse...It is good to know and "treat it more normal..." THANK YOU.
Ivonush