My update on cystocele and rectocele

I just wanted to thank you for your update post, and so glad you are in control of your pop and living a normal life dancing(that I also love) walking and swimming-I have yet to do that, but summer is nearly here and then I hopefully will have someone to go with. I certainly agree with you re: going to the toilet more frequently some days and drinking plenty of fluids of the same mix as you said.
Congratulations on the weight loss! well done Diamond!Thank you for coming back here and sharing with all of us :-) and hope to hear of you for a future update. Take care with love kiwigirl xx

I am 80 years old, have dealt with prolasped bladder for approximately 10 years since having surgery for cancer =endometrial adenoma carcenoma..complete hysterectomy...Thank God without chemo or radiation, I am cancer free since Nov.2000. I have just dealt with this problem, choosing from the beginning of my diagnosis of prolaspe NOT to have surgery. Still leading a good life, just the discomfort of the bulge...Perhaps Christines advise on posture will help. Just accidently found this site. Any more Advise?

I have cystocele and rectocele and for the past 3 weeks rectal bleeding when I pass a stool. Can this be a consequence of rectocele, and if so, what can I try before going to the doctor?

Praise2012, I don't think rectocele normally causes bleeding. Could it possibly be hemorrhoids?

In deed could be hemorrhoids.. I have a rectocele too and the only time I was bleeding was when my stool was really dry and hard. Get your stool to be more on the soft side and your bleeding should go away. If not maybe could be something else worth getting checked out, but first try getting your stool soft. When I first had my rectocele I had that problem and was hard to pass until I started taking miralax because my doctor told me it would help. I took it for a little over a month and now my stool for the most part is on the soft side. I find another thing that has helped on days I feel I need it I will put a little coconut oil up there and everything just slides out. If you don't want to do that you can also eat a teaspoon or two a day and by the 3rd day everything will just slide out without baring down and having to push.

I am just wondering how the posture advice has hopefully helped you. Such great courage you have. Way to go.

Dear Praise2012

I think it is important to realise that haemorrhoids is a diagnosis, but they are also a symptom indicative that stool is not moving through the system easily. I think haemorrhoids could be caused by the same thing that is causing the rectocele symptoms, ie intestines which have some constipation getting squashed down on top of each other, causing compaction of stool because of the kinks in the pipe and incomplete emptying, which means the stool is in there for longer, with the water being reabsorbed the whole time.

Getting your posture organised so that there is less downward pressure on the rectum from other intestines, and intestines become repositioned further into the abdominal cavity, rather than pushed down the cul de sac and into the pelvic cavity, will help all three symptoms.

Wholewoman posture, a better diet and some firebreathing may just do the job. You might need some laxative assistance to get things started, but with an appropriate diet and revised posture it should be relatively easy to maintain soft stool and eliminate the haemorrhoids in time.

Louise

What time of day is best to take coconut oil so you can have everything just slide out?

1st post...I have been visiting this website since Oct. 2011 when my prolapse presented itself.
2010 gyno exam: Had 3 uti infections in that year...so she did some blood and urine test, my usual pap smear ad sent me for my mamogram....all came back fine. She told me my skin was thinning since I had gone thru menopause 5 years now and was 51 years old and that something else was changing, or coming down...I can't remember exactly what she said., but I remember asking her what we would do about that issue and she said "Well it depends on why you have it"....and she told me to fill the scrip for estrogen creme to try and thicken pelvic floor, do my kegels and come back next year. I went home and after research decided I would not use the cream. I started an exercise program two months later and my spincter flipped out, wond up with spincter surgery (I had a spincter surgery after my 2nd child and hemorrhoid surgery 12 years prior) ..not fun. I suffered the flu and the shingles and found myself at a Naturalpathick Docs office for help. That doc did miracles for me and in less than 6 weeks I was feeling fantastic...homeopathic meds, herbs ect....i started another exer. program...this time great results...lost 9 lbs, coaching teen volleyball, riding bikes and doing fall clean up like never before. One day after powerwashing my house and up and down on a ladder...it happened...I felt like there was something between my legs like a tampon slipping out. So my prolapse showed up and I felt like my pelvic floor was a huge flared up hemorrhoid. I told my naturalpath about it, but that I didn't want surgery and he agreed...I found this site and ordered the book and DVDs...started the routine and had results that were measurable in a matter of 2 months. I could get on all fours and suck that prolapse right back up in there, do my WW yoga and get on with the day. I elected not to do my Dec. 2011 gyn appt and just went for my mamogram....I didn't and still don't want to hear her opinions of hysterectomy options... I will be looking for a midwife for my usual pap smear this fall. The bad news: In April/ May my allergies went haywire and I found myself coughing and sneezing...alot...my prolapse responded and it has bee difficult to keep it up and out of the mirror since. Last month I opened my pool and the chlorine really irritates me down there...in fact last week it was so irritating I thought i had a Uti, but I went for the urinne test and I have no blood in my urine, and barely trace white blood cells although she did give me bactrum for a week. I really love swimming in my pool and I would appreciate any advice someone has to be able to keep swimming a part of my life and exercise. Also, I am happy for the education here... Thanks to WW I now know what my doc didn't tell me about why this has happened to me....1st child was a forceps delivery...18 months later had 2nd child and hemorrhoid surgery shortly after.12 years later, at age 35 had 3rd baby...a dry birth, largest baby and tore terribly....wound up hemorrhoid surgery 3 years later.and again 2 years ago with a colonoscopy proceedure..now over a decade later prolapse...not surprising. Back to swimming...I think the prolapse has stayed so low so long that the vaginal tissue is just so irritated that I can't tolerate the chlorine????????????????/

Hi Kikirawbird

Do you do your own pool maintenance? I would think it might be a pool chemistry problem. Some chemicals have to be left for 24 hours before you swim. Some chemicals take a while to do their work. It can take a few days to get it properly balanced, with a little bit more of this or that each day. If you can't get your chemistry right, which can be quite an art (or a science), an ozone sanitiser will reduce the amount of chemical that is necessary. We have one on our spa. I don't know whether or not it would be economically feasible for a whole pool. The other option would be salt sanitation, but it may involve changing some of the hardware as well, because salt water is so corrosive on metals.

The other option might be to use a barrier cream on your vulva and in your vagina while swimming.

Louise

Hi Kikiraebird - I enjoyed reading your post - it serves as a great reminder to all of us that setbacks do occur. The WW work never really stops. You know that this works, so you'll be able to get back to whatever is the "new normal" for you, with patience and extra efforts. I am about 2 years into this myself, post meno, and I have only just recently started a good walking program. Kicking myself for not starting sooner, because the steady effort is paying off. Swimming is great so keep using that pool! Louise is right, maybe all you need is a barrier of some sort. I use a little common ordinary zinc oxide diaper rash cream when the external areas get irritated. You probably don't need to put anything too far up to feel relief. - Surviving

Empty_Inside35
Thanks so much. The cocont oil is working to help everything slide out.

I was diagnosed with a grade 2 cystocele back in 2007 when I was 47. I had a myomectomy when I was 37 to remove 21 fibroid tumors. After the surgery I was able to get pregnant naturally, and had my son when I was 38(csection) and had my daughter when I was 41(csection). When I was 45 I had to have 3 hernias repaired from the last csection and had a tummy tuck. After all that I still had a huge fibroid that was sitting up high on the left side of my uterus. This has caused me alot of pain and I think the weight of it has added to the problem with my cystocele and rectocele. My doctor says that I need to have a hysterectomy and they also want to make a sling for my bladder with the mesh. I am so depressed and sick over all this. I am 53 and don't take any medications. I love to exerice, run , and swim. This has slowed me down but I still am fighting for my body. I did 5 sessions of pelvic floor therapy and do kegels all the time, but it's still there and by the end of the day it's really out there! Please heip me if you have any suggestions!!!!!

Hi Mosey and welcome. I’m going to jump right in with some important “no” items. First the obvious – “no” to hysterectomy and “no” to mesh. Now the not-so-obvious: “No” to all that kegeling. We’ve all done it, many (like me) for decades, and it didn’t help. In fact, it made things worse, and you can read how and why if you click over to the Blog tab, and put the word “kegel” in the search box. Christine has written several excellent articles on the subject.

For an overview of what Whole Woman is about, I’d start over on the Video page (look under Resources tab) and watch the first one the page – an excellent 20-minute look at the concepts involved. There is so much to read and watch on the entire WW site. There is a lifetime of reading right here on this forum. Read read read, and let it start to sink in. I’ve been here over 3 years, managing my ‘celes with no problems whatever. I am so grateful to land here before going down the path of no return…..

I don’t honestly know if your hernia surgeries and tummy tuck would have an impact on your ability to make this posture correction. You need to learn to relax your belly, lift your chest and give your organs a place to go……hope they left you with plenty of skin! Just kidding, but seriously, tummy tucks and WW posture are a topic I haven’t seen discussed here lately; I’m quite curious about that.

Come back with your questions – you’ll have plenty, and there are lots of wonderful women here. - Surviving