symptoms of bladder proplapse - gp v unhelpful!

Submitted by speeder on March 6, 2012 - 2:03pm
Body: 

Hello. It's lovely to have found you all - this website seems wonderful.

My beautiful second daughter is nearly 12 weeks old. I had a very difficult delivery with my first daughter resulting in a third degree tear (and haemorrhage) which I felt healed reasonably well and left me with few problems. My second daughter's delivery was much more straightforward - only a second degree tear!

However, I now think I now have a bladder proplapse. I had some "bulging" after my first child was born but this has become worse second time around. I initially didn't think too much of it as I hoped it would gradually correct itself. However I now have an overwhelming urge to urinate most of the time. It's particularly bad when I am standing or walking around - it's hardly there at all when I'm sitting or lying down. But, weirdly, I have no stress incontinence (which I did have when I was pregnant.) I also have minor constipation - which has never affected me before in my life but GP says there is no rectocele.

GP is totally disinterested and unhelpful. Says I do have a "minor" proplapse but it shouldn't cause these symptoms. So I'm left needing to pee all the time and wondering why my bowels don't behave the same way anymore.

Does this ring a bell with anyone?

I've bought Christine's book and am really hoping her exercises will help shift everything back up!

Thanks so much for any thoughts.

Forum:

curiousity

March 6, 2012 - 2:25pm

Hi speeder,
This totally rings a bell for me. Last year I had a constant urge for a few months. It was horrible. I can't say for sure what made it go away (if you search for a thread called "Hello and questions re bladder and cystocele/rectocele" you will be able to read about the whole saga) and I'm sure other will chime in with their advice and experiences but I think the general guidelines would be:
- avoid constipation and straining
- stay in posture
- do the bladder retraining thing, so try extending the time between toilet visits
- drink lots of water (I found it way worse if I tried reducing the amount I drank)
- try reducing or eliminating caffeine
All the best!

speeder

March 6, 2012 - 2:46pm

I read that thread - v interesting as your experience does sound v similar. Interestingly, I did some gardening last week (very light) so maybe that triggered it. I had tried those internal weight things too but I couldn't even keep the cone in, let alone one with weights in it which is a bit depressing!

I am trying the bladder retraining thing - but your description of not needing to go for 15 minutes and then being uncomfortable for 3 hours is exactly my problem (unless I'm sitting down).

When you mention the dog pose/head stand etc - is that from Christine's dvd or this website? I am in the UK and I can't seem to get hold of the yoga or exercise DVD!

thanks again and all the best to you too

Surviving60

March 6, 2012 - 4:36pm

Hi Speeder - Important not to think of the exercises as being what shifts the organs up. All of the exercises are to reinforce the basic elements of WW posture, and must be done that way (a basic point but easy to miss if you are just starting out). This is all to make you stronger in the right ways and to help you learn to make a habit out of this new way of holding your body, which feels very strange at first. I don't get many opportunities to work out to the video (though I'm working to change this and arrange my life so I have the time and space). But I am in posture all of the time, that belly is relaxed and chest is pulled up strong, and my organs have a place to go. See the FAQ's up top for a good description of posture elements, if you haven't already and don't have your book yet. Best of luck to you! - Surviving

curiousity

March 6, 2012 - 4:52pm

Yes, when I first felt the symptoms of prolapse my instinct was to get upside down. So I did dog pose and head stand. This was before I had found this site, so no they were not part of the Whole Woman workout. I haven't got into that side of things yet. I just have the book, but not any DVDs (yet). Like many of these things, I don't know whether the poses did any good or not. It certainly felt like it took the pressure of my pelvis, but perhaps a good lie down would have achieved the same thing.

I will let others speak for which exercises work for them.

curiousity

March 10, 2012 - 12:14pm

Just had a thought Speeder - have you ruled out having a UTI? These can give you severe urge symptoms.

And how is it going otherwise?

granolamom

March 10, 2012 - 9:32pm

congratulations on the new baby and welcome to the site.
yes, this DOES ring a bell for me. same symptoms I had. and just so you know, many dr's are very unhelpful when it comes to prolapse. fortunately, you're in the right place to learn how to manage and possibly correct your prolapse. I will tell you that it takes time and effort, but you sound like the sort of person who is up for that.
I will also tell you that based on my own postpartum experience, as well as the experiences of some other women here, it is relatively common for prolapse symptoms to be at their worst at around 12 weeks pp. so hopefully, you are at 'rock bottom' and now that you are arming yourself with concrete steps to take, you are heading in the right direction.
one reason you might not have stress incontinence is that the urethra or bladder has dropped far enough out of position to actually kink the urethra in a way that applies enough resistance against the increased pressure of a cough/sneeze/laugh.
as far as your 'minor constipation', could be anything from stress to hormones to just not taking proper care of yourself with two little ones. if you type 'constipation' into the search box you will probably bring up enough to keep you reading well into the night. one great tip I read here is vitamin c. anytime my kids are a bit constipated, I give them lots of vit.c until they start going easily. I did find that my nursing babies didnt tolerate my extra vitamin c intake well so I dont know if you want to try that if you are bf. but something to consider.
and my favorite tip from the wise women here (will be eternally grateful alemama!) is nauli. look for it on youtube. its a yoga move and omg it pulls everything up. and gave me the strongest abs I've ever had.

livetolaugh

March 10, 2012 - 11:08pm

Hello,
I had cervical cancer when was 29 and had a hysterectomy and a cystocele repair. I am now 57 and have a rectocele which I am hating! I looked at the dvd for elders and it mentioned that if you have your uterus it can help you. Any ideas for someone without one? This is a great site!

wholewomanUK

March 11, 2012 - 6:22am

Hi liveto laugh,
As far as I can gather the ww way is good for all women at all stages in their lives. Women need to work and live with ww posture in mind, within their own range of possibilities.
Have you seen the hysterectomy forum? This must be a common concern.
You may like to look at the other dvd's too. The others are more active and demanding than the dvd for elders. May be worth looking at on the website. There's a ittle overview of each dvd on the site which helps women to choose the dvd/s that suit each woman's particular needs. The first one '1st aid for prolapse' outlines the causes and treatent for prolapse in more depth than the following dvd's. They're all wonderful resources.
Good luck, wholeowmanuk

Christine

March 11, 2012 - 10:54pm

Hi and welcome Livetolaugh,

Learning about true female anatomy is very important for all women, no matter their surgical status. The problem post-hysterectomy is that you no longer have the muscular "engine" of the pelvis, not only pulling everything forward, but also separating abdominal from pelvic cavities.

The good news is, it sounds like you've gone 30 years without significant problems! That tells me your vaginal walls are long enough to close down against intraabdominal pressure, creating some semblance of normal pelvic dynamics. I understand that the rectocele is bothersome, but an additional rectocele repair would mean losing more vagina, so instead of a long tube that flattens when the intestines sit on top of it, your vagina might look more like a shallow cave (cup your hand for visualization), which more easily yields to the forces of internal pressure in creating vaginal vault prolapse (total prolapse that must be addressed surgically).

The unknown is, are your symptoms of rectocele actually the beginning of vault prolapse? I have no way of knowing, but if it were me I would certainly learn how my organs are supported over my true bony pelvic floor, and how I might keep them there through posture and changing habits such as how I sit on the toilet.

Long-term management of prolapse is certainly different for the post-hysterectomy woman, but unfortunately there is no surgical scenario that offers a permanent, risk-free cure. Special care and a large dose of acceptance might go a long way toward helping you live well with your symptoms.

Christine