New with some specific questions, please

Submitted by kattnapping on May 14, 2009 - 4:36pm
Body: 

Hi, all. I've been reading for a bit, but this is my first post. I'm 36 years old and I have stage 3 uterine prolapse and mild bladder prolapse. I don't have any pain or discomfort in any way apart from the mental anguish of seeing the protrusion. I know I have had this for at least a year and a half, and I'm sure much longer but was officially diagnosed a few weeks ago.

I have bought the book and the DVD and everything and am pretty confident that I can learn to deal with this. I did hypnobirthing for my labor a few years ago and even though it didn't work out as well as I had hoped :) I fully believe in mind over body. So in addition to all of the advice and recommendations I find here for the physical body, I do intend to invest some effort into hypnotherapy or guided meditation to bring my mind up to speed with the efforts of my body.

Anyway, I do have a few specific questions, please:

I did firebreathing today for the first time since learning it and...it worked. Is it supposed to work right away like that? I mean...it went higher and then dropped back down again after a few minutes, but it did go noticeably higher. And so my question is - what exactly keeps it up there? Is firebreathing good for just a temporary feel better fix, but in a few minutes all will slip back down again, or is progress made over time? I'm not expecting a quick fix with it, I'm just wondering if all I should ever expect is a few moments of "up" or if it will ever be longer than that.

Is there really the possibility of my stage 3 getting any better? I don't need it to be cured - I know that's not possible. I don't even need it to be at stage 2. I just need it to not actually protrude. And it doesn't all the time, but it does enough for me to cry about it. If I continue with what I'm supposed to be doing, is there really a chance that I could keep it behind the curtains, so to speak?

I know Kegels at this point won't necessarily help it, but might Kegels still help my mild bladder prolapse?

Is there any certain position that I should avoid when sleeping? Specifically, I love to lay on my stomach when I sleep. Can I still or is that something I should avoid?

I know that sex can help push things into place for a bit. Again, I guess it's the same kind of question as above with the firebreathing - what helps keep it in place? Is it just that it's a larger organ going down a smaller tube and takes time to slide down? Do any of the organs swell at all to make the sliding down slower? I just don't understand why it doesn't just slip down right away.

Okay - I guess that's it for now. Thank you.
-Jennifer.

Christine

May 14, 2009 - 7:16pm

Hi Jennifer and welcome to the wild and sometimes emotional world of wholewoman,

What keeps the uterus in its proper position are natural fascial planes - fascia pulling in the right direction according to the laws of gravity, the shape of the spine, the force of our breath, and the weight of the organs themselves. Progress made over time is in answer to your second question and I would expect a young woman in your condition to have very good results with this work. The work is to pull your uterus forward with the firebreathing and then keep it there with your posture. Think of becoming very adept at balancing a ball on your tailbone. ;)

I am always careful to not refer to this work as a "cure" but am at the same time optimistic that you will be able to control this for the rest of your life. The uterus continues to cooperate as we age by actually shrinking.

I don’t believe sleep position has any bearing on prolapse and if it did, sleeping on your stomach places the bladder and uterus into anatomical position. Sex pushes the uterus all the way into position, so yes, it is helpful in that regard. However, I am fond of saying that the work gets done when we’re on our feet.

Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Wishing you well,

Christine