Frustrations with doctors and diagnosis

Body: 

Hello again. I went to my university Health Center today for GI issues and brought up my self-diagnosed prolapses. Because of my concerns an RN gave me a pelvic and rectal exam.

Good news first: no evidence of polyps, hemorrhoids, or rectal prolapse. It was just a rectal visual and digital exam but that means nothing was evident enough to warrant attention. I can live with that right now.

Bad news: yet AGAIN received a negative diagnosis on both my prolapses. Now, my rectocele has been feeling really small recently- only really evident during a bm. And the fissure line on the back wall (where the two parts of the vagina meet) has been feeling slightly wider but really unnoticeable.

But I am SO FRUSTRATED that she said my urethracele was normal tissue. It's not!! If I push back the bugle with a finger and firebreathe quickly, the bulge reduces. Why else would that happen if it wasn't my urethra pushing into my vaginal tissue?? It doesn't stay long right now but there is variance in it's size. And it's grape size! I even had her examine me standing up and she said there was nothing. Why is diagnosing mild prolapse so difficult?!

Excuse my tone but I'm just generally frustrated with the Western Medicine approach right now.

In other news I'm going on a primal-ish diet after reading Fiber Menace. It seems to be going okay apart from the hard BMs, but if I can transition well then that should clear up. Might switch probiotics as well to see if I have any die-off from candida. RN took samples so I'm waiting to see if those come back with anything funky in them. Hope everyone else is doing well. I'm continuing the posture work and my PT is strengthening my back and shoulders.

Hi larougefille.
Yes, many women do have these experiences with medical professionals when it comes to prolapse, so don't lose heart if their diagnosis is not the same as your observation and gut instincts. Just keep up the good work you are on. As always, wish you the very best!!

if the doctors frustrate you when it comes to your prolapse, why not just stop asking for their opinions? You are learning what you need to know to manage your prolapse, and they've helped you rule out other things, so feel free to move on. Clearly your 'celes are on the mild side, so just keep them that way with WW work and don't worry about what the doctors say, one way or another.

Curious about the hard BMs, as I've read Fiber Menace and his dietary recommendations are supposed to result in the soft unformed type of stools. Hope you can find a good balance there. - Surviving

I have to say, i did read some excerpts from this Fiber Menace, and I did want to ask you about this primal-ish diet you are thinking of going on. That isn't like the paleo diet, is it? I think you really have to be careful about drastic dietary changes of any kind. There are so many different books out there to read, and each one claims to be better than the rest, and each one contradicts the last one. Read from many sources and take the information that you may need from it, but I wouldn't take the whole thing hook, line, and sinker as complete truths. Just like all of us, everyone has an opinion when it comes to diet.
Slower changes to your diet, figure out what your body tolerates. It is so varied for everyone. For instance, I can't eat a lot of bread. I love it, I even try to eat sprouted and sourdough, but it makes no difference, too much bread binds me up. My hubby can it it all day long. On the other hand, I love lentils and bulgur. I get great wonderful and smooth bowel movements when I eat them, but my hubby gets bloody stool if he eats too many. So it can be a challenge cooking in my household.
What I am trying to say is that fiber may be a menace for some, but not all of us are built the same with the same genetics, culture, backgrounds. There is so much more to this. I found that just cutting out the sugar and processed foods was the biggest and best thing I did for my body. The rest is nit picking once those are gone.
And, if you are taking anti anxiety medication on a daily basis which does slow down the bowels, it may not matter what kind of diet you are on. I know when I was on them, and then weaning off for days at a time, my bowels did change dramatically. Just something more to think about.

I also wanted to talk about the probiotics. I know some of you swear by them, but I was listening to National Public Radio the other day, and they had this doctor on that was addressing probiotics. He was saying that in his research that he didn't really see any significant changes in people that were taking them, but it is not going to hurt you too take them. You just may not be getting the full affect you are looking for. Personally, I find that fermented foods have those enzymes readily available.
I have also heard of people that do have drastically low bacteria in the gut getting fecal transplants from someone with healthy bacteria. I know, gross, but very interesting!

I'm on some medications that might cause constipation, as well as I was eating really really (really really) high fiber for two weeks after my initial health issues, so I think I'm just cycling out all the fiber. My BM today was nice and soft. Not well formed, but I'll take it.

I've been doing a lot of research about diet recently, including studies about fiber, protein, etc. I've noticed some commonalities between some of the more popular diets out there, including paleo/primal, low-carb low-fiber, the Perfect Health Diet, and other various diets.

Most agree that gluten and processed food is terrible and should be cut out. Most agree that if dairy is triggering for GI symptoms, it should also be avoided. Most also recommend cutting out sugar. There is much debate about fiber and how much we should be eating, but more and more are agreeing that we need to eat more healthy fats and lean proteins. I think a lot also really didn't like legumes.

I'm eating a very basic diet of basically eggs, chicken, broths, garlic, spinach, berries, and butter. I'm trying to mostly stick with that and see what is bugging me, as I'm still getting some indigestion and bloating. I get around 10-15 grams of fiber per day, so it is on the low side. I think I'm magnesium deficient (hence spinach all day) but am debating about Natural Calm versus MagCit capsules. I'm "regular" so I don't want to take too much at the beginning. I don't really notice a difference with the probiotics because when I started taking them I changed a lot at once, but I am looking into making my own fermented veggies and kombucha.

Well, it certainly sounds like you are doing your research!! Good for you!! Having a healthy gut can go a long way in helping us have healthy bowel movements, and help to put less stress on our prolapse.