clitero-anal reflex?

Submitted by Shortcake on October 10, 2013 - 6:30am
Body: 

Hi Everyone,

I have a urethrocele (and possibly a cystocele....in person, my doctor has never mentioned it but i just got all my records and it is mentioned in the reports.... i dont even know what to think! ive had it with doctors!) and have been having trouble with bowel, bladder and sexual function. Naturally, I have assumed the bladder issues were due to the urethrocele but just this week, my doctor said the urethrocele had nothign to do with it and it is a nerve issue [she also recommended i get an InterStim implant in my spine--i have only been under her care for 3.5 months, i am 31 years old, never had kids, do not have any incontinence nor bladder retention--needless to say i am not getting the implant and have lost a considerable amount of faith in my doctor and her interest in my well-being].

Long story short, it appears that i have a mixed bag of issues (neurological, prolapse, muscle weakness) that are all working on the same area so Im not even sure what is going on. I requsted my medical records and in the reports, i found that my "clitero-anal reflex" is absent. Does anyone know what that means? Any searching i have done, comes up in very techincal writing and i dont really understand it. It seems to be related to the sacral nerve.

Has anyone had issues with prolapse and neuropathy? Do these 2 things go hand in hand in anyones experience or are they 2 separate issues?

Im sorry for jumping all over the place, im just a little lost right now, this has been the first mention of nerve damage to me and that has turned everything upside for me. I know i still have to just listen to my body and go by how i feel but when i thought it was just the prolapse, i felt like ti was manageable but if its a nerve issue, thats a different ballgame entirely.

Thank you :D

Forum:

louiseds

October 10, 2013 - 11:33am

Hi Shortcake

Sure is a mixed bag. You have given us a heap of medical explanations for stuff the doctor thinks is wrong with you. Could you please explain in your own words what you are experiencing in the way of things that are not right? You have urethrocele and possibly cystocele. What muscle weakness? What sexual dysfunction? What neuropathy? What bowel problems? Anything else? The clitoro-anal reflex thing sure sounds technical. It looks like a test that determines function of the "afferent and efferent arm of the somatic pudendal nerve". They can measure anything these days, but just cos they can measure it doesn't *necessarily* mean much in terms of what you do about it.

BTW, there is no TMI on these Forums. Just tell it as it is for you, and we will understand. Then we can give you an idea of where your symptoms fit in with other women's experiences.

Louise

Shortcake

October 11, 2013 - 8:26am

Hi Louise,

Thank so much for your response. Sorry for lack of information, my symptoms have been so varied adn mutating over the past couple of years, its hard to even keep it straight. My bladder problems have goen from never getting any urge to go to the bathroom (like even when my bladder is filled to capactiy) to now kind of always having a slight urge/discomfort but no true urge to really go and never any releif once i have empited my bladder (i am able to empty the bladder but to me, i never feel as if its empty even though it is). as for the bowel, i have been very constipated and have a history of extreme strainging (which is waht called my prolapse) and fine it very difficult to empty the my bowel, its as if im fighting against something, like im hitting a wall and that i dont have the strength to actually move the stool out fo my rectum. My PC and anal/vaginal sphincters are very weak. I have been have these symtoms since the prolapse for about a year adn a half, now suddenly a few months ago, i lost clitoral sensation and have a very ahrd time reachign orgasm and when i do, the muscle contractions are barely discernible. adn the feeling is muted. this is a drastic change for me, as i have never had any issues like that. at the same time, my hair and skin seemed to change. Im sorry if this is all over the place. I seem to have a lack of sensation, as far as urges to go to the bathroom (both number 1 and 2) and now the sexual dysfunction. also, even myself, like if i sticka finger in my rectum, it has no reaction, like it doesnt tense up at all.

Surviving60

October 11, 2013 - 11:06am

Quite a few issues there, Shortcake, and you are unlikely to get a lot of answers from the ladies on this forum. I truly do think that a direct consultation with CK (preferably before you see any more doctors) is really what you need most right now. - Surviving

Shortcake

October 11, 2013 - 7:49pm

Thanks, Surviving. yeah i am so sick of doctors. It seems to be a perfect storm of all these factors. Up until now, i thought it all had to do with the prolapse but now that it may be a nerve issue, its a whole other ballgame.

I was also wondering if anyone has heard of the urodynamics testing causing further problems? I had one done in July and ever since then, i went from never getting an urge (like i could drink 10 gallons of water and never have to go) to always having a slight urge.

Thanks again for your help :D

louiseds

October 12, 2013 - 12:35am

Hi Shortcake

I have not had it but I believe there is a catheter introduced into the bladder, which may have caused some irritation which has not yet settled down. Three months seems a long time to have irritation though. Have you considered a course of probiotics, in case there is some thrush in the bladder or urethra? It is a long shot but it certainly won't do any harm.

You can use the search box. Put in 'urodynamics' to see what other women have said about the procedure on these Forums.

123Butterfly

October 12, 2013 - 2:18am

Hi, Shortcake,
I'm sorry, you have to go through all this. I can't help a lot. Just want to say, my daughter broke her elbow last year and a nerve was damaged, too. The doctor gave her vitamins B and said, that these vitamins should help. I don't know, if they did, but her nerve is fine now.
Perhaps you could try these vitamins, too?

All the best
Butterfly

Shortcake

October 13, 2013 - 6:31pm

Thanks everyone. Yes, i do take probiotics and i have also been taking a B-complex for about a month now. I am still hoping that maybe after a few months of the vitamins and the "not" straining might help restore any damaged nerves.

savtahsavav

October 16, 2013 - 1:41pm

Hi shortcake,
i don't know if this will help or not but I have noticed with my prolapse that all my nerve sensations are continually changing. I am imagining that as pressure is put in different places according to my prolapse that it changes the dynamics of everything else in the area. As I ahve done the exercises for almost a year now faithfully my uterus and bladder have moved around considerably it seems. Some positions cause me to have incontinence and some cause sharp pains and some no sensations at all. I am just continuing ot exercise and hope that it will all be resolved once things are back where they belong. It is clear they are moving in the right direction because things are not as far out most of the time as they used ot be. Hope things improve for you.

Surviving60

October 16, 2013 - 3:04pm

Savtahsavav, do you stay in WW posture at all times, not just when you are doing the exercises? - Surviving

rose54

October 19, 2013 - 10:39am

When I went to my gyn and even the medical doctor with these very similiar bowel issues, they suggested a colonscopy since I am in my 50's and the gyn said I could have a hysterctomy, and I have a large uterine fibroid that is putting pressure on my bowel.
I have the same nerve stuff, where the bowel does not want to fully evacuate properly, and things do not seems to be working, and I do not have the ability to move it through, it's just stuck.
I have been trying for a couple years to figure out what on earth is going on!! Your comments on this forum have helped me realize it is not just me.
Unless I take natural laxitives (the kind you are not suppose to get addicted to), and soaked apricots, and beets to keep my bowels moving, i am in trouble!!
And sex is just totally uncomfortable. I totally can relate to what you are saying. And I am also looking for answers, in this clitoral-anal reflux, (dulling of nerves and I also have inflammation).