Loss of sensation in clitoris? (UPDATE: pudendal nerve topic most likely)

Body: 

Everything is happening so fast, it seems like I have a new heartbreaking discovery every day. Today I noticed a distinct difference in the feeling of my vaginal lips (labia majora) - they used to be firm, squishy, puffy, like there was muscle underneath. Today they feel like balloons that have been deflated, like the air has been let out of them, and the muscle-like feeling underneath is gone. They're just hanging there, loose. My inner vaginal lips are also protruding down and outwards more and getting irritated in my clothes.

Even more alarming is that when I rub my clitoris, I don't feel very much sensation. I have always achieved orgasm using clitoral sensation as I don't like vaginal penetration. And now when I rub my clit, it doesn't feel like anything!!

I am shocked and alarmed and devastated. Mentally, I am not feeling anything remotely sexual because of the trauma of my new prolapse symptoms, so perhaps I'm just not in the right frame of mind... but I'm thinking about a few episodes in the last week where I experienced shooting pains in my vagina and rectum and thinking these may be nerve-damaging or neurological changes that have shifted all the tactile/experiential nerves down there.

Does anyone have any insight into temporary loss of sexual appetite and sensation especially in the clitoris that eventually does come back?? Am I doomed to lose yet another part of myself to this horrible condition?

I am absolutely crushed. I have a very loving partner and my sexuality is core to my identity. Please tell me there is some hope at the end of this very long journey!!

I am also on prescription valium which may have added to loss of sexual appetite as well as depression... but pelvic dysfunctions can also lead to nerve damage along the pudendum... which is connected to the clitoris... hopefully will find a way to still express and experience my sexuality during this journey...

Realize I'm talking to myself here (thinking out loud) but now that I'm looking at older posts on this site I realize it's probably related to pudendal nerve pain/entrapment... there are quite a few older posts on that. Will read those and not freak out and just understand what I can do that is within my power and let go of that which I cannot control. Namaste everyone...

I can't help much but reading old posts is a great idea. Prolapse typically would not cause a loss of sensation down there or it doesn't seem that it does from the posts I have read. I understand freaking out would be natural.

I expect there is definitely an emotional aspect to it as I think it takes all of us a bit of time to be comfortable again. Sex is a common topic on here and people finding peace again with that.

@ActiveandLapsed thanks for the comment, I have commenced freaking out for the night - it's 2 am in New York and I've spent the entire day and night obsessing over all things POP on Google/the internet... need to give my mind a break... . ::deep breath::

Reading through this post and your original one......We are definitely not medical people here on the Forum, but if you have a consult coming with Christine through your DPF purchase, I think you should make that a priority. Prolapse does cause a range of discomfort and sometimes pain, but I don't think it causes smelly mucus from the butt. Nerve damage is most often related to some kind of trauma or a badly-managed birth. Shortness of breath, no, not unless you are letting your anxiety take over. Loss of sexual feeling might be related to your medications and general stress and being so overwhelmed by everything.

There are a lot of stages to go through, in coming to terms with all this. Prolapse itself is rather a benign condition, uncomfortable and scary as it may be (until you learn to manage it). I wish that you would consult with Christine first, before you schedule any of those complicated and invasive procedures. You may well have other things going on, and a little guidance in what to look for and what to expect would be in order. She could tell you which things to pursue, if any.

Don't overdo the work; take your time, focus on the basics of posture, remember this isn't a quick fix but a way to break away from the fear and dread that this can cause initially. Talk to Christine. - Surviving

Breathing through the belly, and not the chest, is a very importannt part of this work. If you have been chronically holding your belly in tight, then you may have reversed natural breathing, as so many of us did. The relaxed belly and strongly lifted chest of WW posture has you breathing correctly in and out of the belly, and I have noticed over the years that many women have to correct their breathing first. I didn't.....I had to work more on relaxing the belly, and the belly breathing followed. But this is why I say, it ALL starts with the posture itself. - Surviving

@Surviving.. thank you so much for your words... I think you are right that I have much more going on than just a prolapse (if indeed that is what is going on, no one can confirm this with me!!). The smelly mucous is definitely a weird one that no one else seems to have, I think it has to do with more of a rectal mucosal prolapse, I am just frustrated that all my specialists keep pawning me off to the other. I am determined to speak up for myself and demand answers to this complex puzzle! I haven't eaten or slept in days and experiencing shooting pains in my pelvic area which is another symptom that doesn't seem to be common to prolapse. I'm worrying myself sick and just need to start finding answers soon. Praying that I can find compassionate health professionals to help me.

BeingHuman,

I could not speak on the medical aspects of what you are experiencing, but I can say that upon first discovering my POP (which included pains in my abdomen and worsening of others symptoms barely noticeable to me before POP) I had for the first time in my life, little, mini-panic attacks. It's all so new and sudden and shocking. I too noticed the hanging, deflated female parts which used to be plump and pretty. I can say that on good days and most days in general in the posture the healthy look and sensation has returned.

I also was "freaked out" and "thought" that I had lost sensation in my clitoris. That turned out not to be the case. Once I began to practice the posture and breathe thru these many panic days and nights (very common for many new to POP), things began to return to normal. Your situation is not like mine but I suspect that like you said, the anxiety can be mentally and thus physically debilitating. I contemplated taking a zanax for the first time in my life. Thought that I would never get any sleep or peace if I didn't get some relief from the anxiety.

Listen to these ladies, the posture and the breathing will help. You are lucky to have the consult with Christine. I am sure that you will get the most important (big) questions answered. In the meantime, feel at ease that you are surrounded by a group of women who understand and can help with a good portion of the physical, psychological and emotional issues that may drop in your lap periodically (like they did me). Everyone responds differently, but if you find yourself scared, know that we are out here and understand how these early days can feel overwhelming.
We are here to let you know that there are good days on your horizon, if you can breathe and practice the posture in the meantime. - Sierra

BeingHuman, in my premenopausal days, I developed very sensitive bowels. Loose, urgent, even kinda slimy at times (sorry folks, TMI). Somewhere buried in my subconscious, I think there is a memory of some kind of mild food poisoning or gastric disturbance of some kind, which was the trigger for this. I was surely developing prolapse at that time as well, but wasn't aware. But ever since then, and even now, my bowels are extremely responsive to stress and bad food (two problems I've never totally solved).

The WW work made this better in many ways, because with my organs in a more natural alignment, there is just overall a better degree of control. I can still fluctuate back towards the constipation end of the spectrum at times, as well.

In addition to everything else you're going through now, you're on some drugs which might have been prescribed to help, but may just be complicating things. Drugs are like surgery......there are certain acute conditions that they may help solve, but for chronic conditions like these, they can do more harm than good. Talk to Christine. - Surviving

PS: I just googled Linzess and I see that it is prescribed for constipation, and has diarrhea as a side effect. Now I'm getting confused, why are you taking it?

I would hope that Christine could give you some natural options to help you cut-back and eventually eliminate the medications that you are on. I would certainly consider including that in your consult. - Sierra

Thank you Sierra and Surviving. I am taking Linzess because otherwise I don't feel the urge to go to the bathroom. It's complicated because I've had GI/colon issues my whole life, and the prolapse issues have a direct relationship to it (the constipation makes it worse, and the prolapse makes it difficult to evacuate).

In addition, after researching symptoms, I'm fairly sure I have pelvic floor dysfunction, perhaps all the shifting of the pelvic organs have triggered a nerve because every night I have shooting pains across all three areas that the pudendum affects: rectum, vagina, clitoris. It's very frightening but in addition to WW work I am looking at PT options like Beyond Basics, who have programs for rectal prolapse/bowel issues related to the pelvic area: http://www.beyondbasicsphysicaltherapy.com/bowel-disorders.

Your comments are saving my life. Thank you for the reassurance about these dark early days.

BeingHuman, I haven't checked out your link, and I don't want to overwhelm you any more right now; but suffice it to say that there is a LOT wrong with conventional pelvic floor therapy, and many members here whose own experience supports that. I know there is a tendency at the beginning to want to throw every possible solution at this problem, but with prolapse, more is not better, if it's the wrong stuff. So proceed slowly and do schedule your consult soon. - Surviving

Surviving, I think you are right... I have put my body through a lot in the last few weeks trying to find a quick fix... I'm just so desperate for answers as I have not just prolapse symptoms but difficulty having a normal BM and evacuating. I am canceling my PT appointment now and will reschedule if needed and after I know more about what's going on in my body and what kind of PT they offer.

It's just scary because normally I am very sensitive touching my vagina and butt and this morning (here comes the TMI!) I took a lubed gloved finger and inserted them in both areas to have a poke around and felt absolutely nothing. Just numb. Not sure if I've just gotten used to touching those parts or if something else is wrong. Not sure who to reach out to next - tomorrow I'm contacting my GI doctor and another urogynocologist to see if I can push for a diagnostic. I need to know what's obstructing my BMs :(

Sherrie Palm has written a great article here about the differences between entorocele, rectocele, intusussception and rectal prolapse: http://www.pelvicorganprolapsesupport.org/enterocele-rectocele-or-both/ and I suspect I have the latter two probably in addition to some degree of the first two. But I don't know. I have felt for bulges in my vaginal wall and can't quite tell, rectal wall feels normal too (and I've had about 4 doctors and surgeons feel as well with nothing abnormal) but this morning while trying to have a BM I pushed on the perineal area and that seemed to trigger a weak peristaltic response and get things going, and when I push on the ring like muscle surrounding the anal sphincter on the left side that seems to release things too. Wish I had a better grasp on anatomy to help me figure out what is going on inside.

Whew! Okay enough of me blabbing, trying to schedule my WW consult today! Thanks again Surviving for helping me slow down on the PT until I need it. Haven't read others' experiences with it yet but will...

Joyous and peaceful Sunday to you all... it's sunny here after having snowed all yesterday...

I too am in the northeast, so I know what you mean!! Keep the faith. - Surviving