Rectocele just creeping in...fiber? stool softeners?

Hi Mommi2three,

Labor and delivery are not what they used to be for a civilization of women whose spines/muscles/organs have changed from their original, stable design and function. From my perspective, the only thing to do is work slowly, joyfully, and with persistence to bring your body back to a stronger, healthier state. Surgery will not get you there, but will only attempt to address symptoms while taking your body even further from the ability to respond to a variety of tasks that raise intraabdominal pressure.

I think our member Anne just gave us a great clue

You're not the first person to ask that! I overdid the bent knees in trying to show "soft" knees - sorry! Just don't lock them, and by that I mean don't bow them back.

We all get used to this, mommy2three, but I know how hard it is at first! While slowly adapting the posture and a healthier diet (you have the rest of your life to do this :-)), try broadening your focus outward - to your clothing, exercise, environment, etc. and see if you can find the silver lining here. Prolapse does change your life, but from this side of the journey I, like so many other women have expressed, can't say it was necessarily for the worse.

Christine

I do use stool softeners, the maximum dose recommended for over the counter dulcolax (spelling?). But I'm using a drug that causes severe constipation. When I am off that drug, I don't need stool softeners if my diet is good. Lots of fiber, focus on fresh produce, whole grains and beans. I also don't avoid fat, because I find that fat lubricates stools, but if you're concerned about the health effects of fat, be sure to use the good fats. Cold pressed nut oils, olive oil, fish oil, avocados, heavy cream, and so on. Completely cut out white flour and white bread. More than anything else, white flour forms hard blocks of feces and are terrible for your health in general. I go light on even whole grain breads. If you eat right, you should have frequent stools of loose, disconnected pieces, just short of watery diarrhea, or an extremely soft and pliable bulk, that are NO effort to pass. When I eat right, defecating is as easy as urinating.

Based on my experience last year, I have become convinced that straining contributes directly to furthering the damage in the supporting tissues. I have a program now to completely avoid any excessive straining, even if I do become "blocked up". I keep laxatives on hand, but do not use them often. If it has been a couple of days since I've had a movement and I think I might be constipated, I will take a dose. Keep in mind that I am on a highly constipating drug and so I need this, but normally, you should not need to use laxatives at all.

If I get on the toilet and find that I am blocked with a hard mass, I do anything necessary to get it out without straining. I keep several Fleet enemas in the cabinet, and I will use one of those if needed. This next tip is very gross, but last year, before I changed my diet and my stools were very hard, if nothing else worked, I used a medical glove and personal lubricant, which I kept near the toilet, and digitally removed part or all of the mass. I made the decision to try this because I could see the almost daily worsening of my prolapse after every straining session on the toilet. I know that this is what they do in hospitals in extreme cases where a patient cannot get a movement out. I am not suggesting others do this; do it at your own risk. But I am just telling my personal experience, and that it is my firm belief this is preferable to further damaging my prolapse!! Most of the time it wasn't necessary. If I pushed on the back of the vagina a certain way, I could sometimes manipulate the mass to exit the anus with only minor straining. I think it is the really exhausting straining, that makes your face red and increases your heart rate that is really damaging. I have sworn NEVER to do that again. I fear if I do, my uterus will pop right outside.

Since I read about Christine's tip to rock forward, I am going to try that if I get really blocked again and see if that makes a difference. And I'm getting off this drug so hopefully with good diet I won't have the problem at all, but any of us could find ourselves in that situation if we need to get on a certain medication, or slip and eat a whole birthday cake. :-) For those cases, I do plan to keep Fleets around. Other people like the silicone suppositories, also. Anything not to strain!

Anneh

Hi,

My rectocele just sort of crept in there, too. I use a probiotic and do not have a problem whatsoever. I have not been constipated at all since I started taking it over a year ago. The probiotic I use is certified organic and is not a hard compressed pill.

Best of luck,

Grandma Joy

Every so often I do use Colace but without the stimulant. Lots of water and when sitting, bend slightly forward to "straighten the back" for a smooth transition. If difficulty presents itself, like what was shared, slightly lift and that should facilitate movement. If not, don't force and try again later.

I also find "sitting the posture" while on the porcelain throne compliments any effort.

Sybille

Hi Mommithree,

I just wanted to add something in here that might be helpful to you. I have suffered from constipation too in the past regaredless of how much fiber or water I drank! But not since I started getting some natural lhelp, and NOT from stool softeners. I use powdered magnesium in my morning protein shake and that's it! The name of the brand I use is called Peter Guillham's Natural Calm and it comes in flavors too! I have done a lot of reading about supplements and have read that we (our society) doesn't get a lot of magnesium from our foods. First off, it isn't found in lots of foods, and when it is like in nuts, it isn't in large quantities. By the way, magnesium is found in chocolate -- hence many women crave it before their cycles. You can monitor how much you actually need by how soft your stools become while using it. If you are taking too much, your stools be become too loose, etc. So you might want to give it a shot. It really works for everyone! Best of luck,

After reading a book on magnesium, I've been upping my levels and it's really making a difference on stool consistancy, whereas fiber never did before.

I'm taking one magnesium oxide pill with a full glass of water half an hour before each meal. My last BM was not the small hard pellets like usual- but a big soft log that just slipped on out! It was kinda gross, but also a welcome change.

Also, the magnesium seemed to help a LOT with menstrual cramps. At least a 75% pain reduction without drugs. Since magnesium is required in hundreds of cellular reactions, I expect *everything* to start working better soon. :)

Hooray for magnesium! :)

My gynecologist actually suggested magnesium to help avoid constipation. HOWEVER, my naturapathic doctor friend cautioned me to be sure to take a good multi-vitamin at the same time, to help prevent unbalancing my system with too much magnesium.

Hi Anneh

I am fascinated by your inclusion of heavy cream amongst good fats. I assume you mean double or triple cream made from cows' milk, or is there something else that is called heavy cream, that I don't know about?

We have what I jokingly call "the Fat Nazis" here in Australia, who seem hellbent on stopping us from eating butter and other yummy fats in the name of cutting down on heart disease and obesity, and their cost to the health system.

Have I died and gone to heaven? Tell me more about heavy cream!!

Cheers

Louise

Hey Louise,

Our cardiologist insists we use butter instead of margarine. One of the few!! Some things just taste better with butter. He says our body recognizes how to deal with it as opposed to a chemically made margarine. We do use it for a few things but for the rest we use organic virgin olive oil. He does not pass out statin drugs at the drop of a hat either. He has us on CoQ10 and he's always curious as to what we are doing, he knows we went organic, and he believes that's what's helping us. We just had our yearly and he was blown away by our blood reports!!! We only use certified organic butter, either the Whole Foods house brand or Organic Valley. Don't know what brand is down under though.

Grandma Joy