Uterine cramps and discharge

Hi All

Thanks so much for all your responses. It was just what I needed for reality checks.

The horrible pain has not returned this morning but it still feels like there is something in my pelvic area taking up too much room, and there are a few little stabby pains. I still have to be careful when I first sit down. I was up several times last night, once to empty my bladder but mainly getting drinks and just turning over because I was so uncomfortable. I don't feel quite so wiped out this morning. I don't feel like I have passed very much urine for the amount I have drunk but have had several small bowel movements (rectocele getting in the way). It just feels like my uterus is retaining a lot of fluid. I may be a bit constipated, which is often something that happens just before a period anyway. Unfortunately Ponstan can aggravate constipation because it relaxes muscle, so peristalsis slows right down.

I am aware that the time around menopause is when many women experience quite violent shifts in emotional wellbeing and the physical symptoms are worse, and that's where I am right now. But it does make it more difficult to judge whether or not there are other things happening that need medical attention.

Christine, thanks very much for your email. I think I needed that kick in the bum to face up to the need to see a doctor about it. It is at times like this that my worst fears haunt me. I know that doctors sometimes hit you with horrible diagnoses at times like this and I am prepared for that, and for the prospect of an argument about finding out about the cause, rather than just ripping it all out and sticking me on HRT, which the catastrophiser in me tells me the doctor may want to do. I think I am level-headed enough to pick my way through that minefield and stay in one piece if there is any way I can do it.

However, that is catastrophising, so I will be rational about it and just go to the doctor and see what happens. If it is something serious or complicated I will deal with it bit by bit.

Will stay in touch, whatever happens. It is just such a wierd thing to happen.

Cheers

Louise

ps I confess to putting myself in the shoes of pioneer women who experienced this sort of thing. These women often died in childbirth or as a result of simple things that we can easily have treated. I guess a pioneer woman would have struggled through yesterday and maybe collapsed into bed in pain last night, not knowing whether or not she would wake up today. Fear of the unknown can do horrible things to a person's head. Thankfully we don't have to do that.

Just letting you all know that I have made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. Now half the world knows I won't be able to back out of it. Thanks for your support.

Cheers

Louise

Hi my wonderful friends

Well I just got back from the Dr. She had a god prod and poke around internally and externally and couldn't find anything that she could pin it on. She did think it was possible that it was prolapse-related (ie to do with the uterus being pushed into an unnatural position and getting squashed by bowel and/or bladder), and compounded by some constipation that I was aware of a few days ago. She said that Ponstan was the best thing to take in the circumstances. She did also say that my uterus is quite small, contrary to what I thought, which is interesting.

She has referred me for an ultrasound to see what my kidneys are doing, then maybe a urologist who will talk to me about 'getting my bladder supported better' to protect my kidneys because she is somewhat worried that my bladder coming down and causing kidney problems if the kidneys get dragged down with it.

She operates on the principle that there is nothing short of surgery that will redeem these prolapsed organs of mine and sees it as inevitable that I will have further prolapse and incontinence as I get older and that I will eventually need surgery to stop all my organs from coming out of my vagina. Bla-bla. Same old story. I nearly laughed, then steadied myself and said "I beg to differ, but I will go along with this with the aim of finding out what the cause is." It will also tell her if there is indeed anything awry with my renal system as I have had periods of repeated UTI's, which she thinks may be caused by incomplete emptying of the bladder. Bla-bla.

She said she didn't have a diagram to explain to me how all the organs fit together and are linked by membranes. All her medical books were at home. So I pulled out my blue bible that I just happened to have packed in my handbag and said, "Here, I have plenty of diagrams". So she had a look and explained the bleeding obvious, so I cooed in an interested way and suggest that she borrow the book. "No, too busy". "Well just have a look at the endorsements at the front of it and you will see that it is well-received by people in the field." She did have a look, raised her eyebrows, and turned to the cover and read the title out loud to me. I said she could borrow it anytime she wants to. Baby steps.

I wasn't prepared to just leave the book for her, as she has a young family, and is really not interested in reading. I think I will just let the dialog develop as we go along. I do have a lot of time for her, as she is the first doctor to come to this practice in a while who is taking things back to basics and finding out where her patients have come from. She is obviously quite smart, and actually reading patients' records to see what has come before.

So I am off to the ultrasound factory then off to the urologist if it indicates any problems. I am interested in following all this up, as I did have nephritis as a child, so I am kidney-aware.

I really am feeling better today and slept well last night, much better than the previous night. Still no sign of a bleed. I was feeling quite vulnerable there for a couple of days. I will just diary my symptoms and keep going. (Sex is still OK, so things are looking up!!)

When I think of it, I have been doing some quite heavy garden work and my cervix has been persistently low, as it always is late in the month, and currently peri-menopause-wise has been low for longer at a time each cycle. I wonder if this is why hysterectomy is so common around the time of menopause? If the cervix is low for much of the time it would be easy to think it was on its way out! It makes me wonder if this is the reason why folklore tells us that prolapse gets worse at menopause. I wonder if, in fact, low cervix is just another thing that happens in perimenopause because of the long second half of the cycle? It may be nothing to do with prolapse worsening (just cervix peeking for more days per cycle) or with my exertion in the garden at all. It certainly happened last cycle, when I was not doing a lot of heavy garden stuff, then moved up again once I had a bleed.

What happens after menstruation ceases and the uterus becomes smaller is the big question! I'll tell you this in a couple of years. Watch this space...

What experiences have others had?

I'll report back to the Forum with the results of the ultrasound and the urologist if it is deemed necessary by the ultrasound.

Thanks again for your support. I don't know who I would talk it over with if it wasn't for WW. I certainly don't know any other bunch of women with so many collective experiences, who are so available and willing to give input.

Cheers

Louise

Hi everyone

Well guess what! Yeah, it arrived. I have never greeted menstruation with mirth before. I can let it all go now. Funny how I go from retaining to letting go, both physically and emotionally when bleeding starts. I also find that my bowels free up and I start weeing a lot as soon as I start the bleed. I guess it is the resolution of the fluid retention.

Kit, you mentioned that I talk about sex a lot. I think you are right, possibly too much, but this Forum is a place where sex is very close to the subject at hand. Sex was not important to me at all for all those years when it should have been. It now is, for some reason, and I am celebrating it. What's more I am in the company of women who are willing to discuss it, and I have learned a lot from many of you. It's also nice to know that there are women out there who are interested in good wholesome sacred sex. It is so often reduced to smutty talk out there in the real world where sex sells everything. There should be more discussion of it, I think.

If we can share our experiences we can make it better for the younger women and encourage them to be open and joyful about their sexuality, use it for good, and become more complete women for it. I guess underneath it all I am a child of the 60's and a young woman of the 70's and I don't have a lot of time for repression of anything so deeply human as the sexual experience. Sure, we are probably a lot more conservative in the noughties but I think there was a lot of logic in the free thinking of those years, in spite of the fact that it all eventually got hijacked, and many people were exploited by the hedonists and the media.

Anyway, I'll stick up for freedom of expression any time, and the more conservative we become the more I'll be screaming it from the rooftops.

I've got to go make those appointments then I'm off to a Blues Festival for the weekend. Catch you Monday.

Cheers

Louise

Never!

L

Thanks Christine.

Well, it has been one mother of a bleed! But now settling down. I will go for the ultrasounds, in the name of eliminating insidious other causes.

While I was at the Blues Festival I spent some time with my wicked friend Alison, who has a slightly different take on most things. She "hasn't had a period for years" but is still plagued by hot flashes. She has however, found some uses for them. See below. ;-)

1 The hot flash is the best time to get up for a wee in the night when it is midwinter and the toilet is out on the back verandah. (You can see the frost on the grass from Alison's outdoor dunny).

2 The hot flash is the best time to get into bed in the middle of winter when you don't have an electric blanket.

3 The hot flash is also a good way to warm up the sheets.

4 The hot flash is the best time to get out of bed and getting dressed on a cold, crisp morning when you would rather lie in.

And a hot tip for cooling down when you have a hot flash in bed. Turn your pillow over and put your head on the cold bit that is on the underside of the pillow!

My friend Alison is a gem! I love her.

Cheers

Louise