New prolapser - a few questions

Body: 

Hello all,
Have been reading the forum for a while and have benefited greatly from all the advice on posture. I have a cystocele. I do my WW ballet exercises nearly every day (should probably do them everyday!) and I can feel the benefit of doing them as on the days I neglect them things do feel worse ...plus this forum and the knowledge that so many women are here to help does keep me positive, however .....

I seem to get recurrent bladder infections. I'm not 100% certain that this is what it is as I don't have a stinging sensation, just a constant desire to urinate and a constant dribbling. It feels very uncomfortable but as there is no pain when I do urinate I can't be certain. I guess my question is, is it possible to have an infection without that stinging pain? It tends to happen frequently, stay for a couple of weeks and then go, only to come back a few weeks later. It's driving me crazy a bit and I find it hard to sleep.

Also, what kind of things can I do to relieve the discomfort? I've heard of D-manosse and Pyridium and was wondering if anyone knows of these tablets and if they would recommend taking them?

Lastly, with regards to the exercises, I aim to do a mixture of the ballet exercises, belly-rolling "kegels" and firebreathing for about 1/2 hour each day. Is this enough or should I be doing more?

Thanks so much for your help and thanks for this forum.

Laughing.

Hi Laughing, nice to hear from you. There is no set amount of exercise that is prescribed. Mixing it up sounds great. As much or as little as you can do will be fine. The exercises support the posture, and doing the posture all the time is your main goal. If you are in posture as you go throughout your day, you are working the right stuff! And of course, staying in excellent posture while doing all these exercise moves is the only way to do them. Sounds obvious, but it isn’t always, at first. If you get a little sore from overworking different muscles, it’s OK to scale back a little.

In firebreathing and belly rolls and anything that involves the breathing sequence, be sure you’re doing that correctly. Another postural thing often ignored – keep something behind the lower back when you drive, as car seats are rarely prolapse-friendly.

Any chance you are not emptying completely? There are lots of tips here for doing that. Move around, up and down, and wait a bit to make sure everything’s out. Get down on hands and knees in the shower. Lift up a little and forward on the toilet seat, as shown in Christine’s book. What you describe seems to be quite common from the posts we get here. You can use the search box up above to look for terms. WW posture will move your organs forward into the relaxed lower belly, and over time this ought to alleviate those issues. I’m not a sufferer myself, so better to look for posts by others and let the experts give their suggestions on the urinary problems. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. - Surviving

Hi Laughing. I am fairly new here but I did experience the difficulties that you are describing. I thought that I had a UTI in the beginning as well. Running to the bathroom many times a day, which was not like me. When I got to my gynecologist, they told me that I didn't have an infection but the running was from the prolapsed bladder. Sometimes what you drink will add to the mix. Any coffee or other drinks with caffeine will cause more trips to the bathroom as it is like a diuretic. I also was experiencing a pulling feeling in the lower left abdomen. Now, after a couple months of the posture and exercises, I am much better and not constantly running. I do still have those days when things get a bit uncomfortable but I keep in mind that tomorrow can be better. Much luck and best wishes to you......

The constant need to urinate could be due to pressure on your bladder, an irritated bladder or a prolapsed bladder. Similarly a poor flow or interrupted flow (if this is what you mean by constant dribbling and not incontinence) could be due to the same causes. Then again if you are frequently voiding then there would not be much left to void at certain times during the day and so flow would be sparse.

I would tend to agree that it is not likely to be a bacterial infection e.g. UTI if you are not experiencing stinging. Then again stinging in itself may not automatically mean there is a bowel infection.

As you possibly know UTIs are known to be tenacious and frequently return.

However, there are other things like Interstitial cystitis which can cause the symptoms you have mentioned and not necessarily cause stinging. IC also seems to go away and then has flare ups.

Then again many of us find that a bout of constipation can cause frequent urination. Constipation does not just mean difficult defecation, it can also mean irregular defecation, so keep a watch out there.

As for the Pyridium, it is recommended for IC. I am not familiar with it. For a UTI you generally need antibiotics. The D-Mannose is a naturopathic remedy, so there has not been much testing as to its effectiveness. Again, I am not familiar with it.

Cheers, Fab