Pelvic prolapse symptoms

For me the main problem (or what it feels like) is that instead of my rectum pointing straight down to my anus it seems to have a bend in it towards my vagina and so when I need a bowel movement it can be difficult. I get a bulging feeling in my perineum (the area between rectum and vagina.) I think I read on here years ago that the solution was to make a small pad of loo paper and press on the perineum. This helps with bowel movements. Also avoid constipation if possible, ie eat roughage, fruit and veg. Sorry if this is too much info for some. Doctors are also very keen on lots of pelvic floor exercise to improve muscle tone. I find doing these regularly very hard? Recently I also find urinating needs more muscle control.

Saxifrage, I have the same symptoms, if I feel the need I have to go immediately. I take a water tablet every morning and wow they work...if I have somewhere to go certain days, I miss the water pill...don't take it till I come home.

I’ve just she a phone consult with my GP describing just what your post says Saxifrage. I have an appointment in three weeks

Have you tried using a ‘poop stool’? You put your feet on it when having a bowel movement and it helps everything move along, IYKWIM.

Apparently it puts the colon in the perfect position for pooing without putting pressure on the pelvic floor.

I’d read about them and was sceptical but thought I’d give it a go; quite cheap on Amazon - really works for me.

Additional information - about a year ago i got the energy to explain to my GP and was sent to a consultant, he sent me to a very boring pelvic floor exercise class at the local hospital. Then went back to him and he fitted a pessary ( a plastic disk) that was supposed to hold things up.It fell out on the way back to my car! I am afraid I then lost patience and thought sod it, I will cope as I have done for some years. Next month I have been called to a follow up with this consultant so I will go and see what he has to offer this time. An operation is possible but I will refuse that.

Thanks Lizzie, I had thought about that but not got round to it. Have now ordered one.

Hello there , I have a POP , cystocele and rectocele , diagnosed about 15 years ago following a nasty chest infection which involved an awful lot of coughing and wetting myself lol .
Prior to that I was getting a dragging sensation in my pelvis and after walking or being on my feet for a long time a bulging feeling in my vagina , as if I were sitting on a golf ball . I was offered a repair or to try a ring pessary to support it . I was told the repair could need doing again in the future and at the time there was a lot of bad press about mesh being used and leaving women a lot worse off afterwards . I opted to try the ring pessary . It's been a godsend . It completely eradicates my symptoms. It's fitted at my local hospital by a gynaecology nurse every 6 months and I forget about it until the next appointment. I also have estradiol vaginal pessary which I use twice a week prescribed by my GP to keep everything down there healthy . Initially it took a while to get the right size , too small and it falls out etc , but it's worth persevering. A simple gynaecological exam should determine whether you have a prolapse or not . It's very common in us ladies after menopause and childbirth but no need to be uncomfortable and it is very debilitating especially if you're active and like walking . Hope this helps

Saxifrage

Thanks Lizzie, I had thought about that but not got round to it. Have now ordered one.

Hope it works for you🤞

Might be too much information but, since using mine, when I have a bowel movement I feel like I have completely emptied my bowel, which I didn’t always feel like before.

Thanks Sparkle, encouraging story. I will follow up.

Similar experience to Sparkle. My symptoms (bladder and bowel prolapse): I had trouble peeing (owing to pressure on tubes) and could feel (and see actually, if look in mirror) a bulge protruding towards entrance of vagina. Have had a ring pessary for years and also oestrogen cream prescribed to insert twice a week. Has worked well. GPS and physios are obsessed with pelvic floor exercises. Found them ok when I was younger. Quite hard to do now (I am 68).

I also had a ring essay fitted by the local nurse. First one was too small and fell out after a few days, so I just suffered for another year. When it got so bad that I felt utterly miserable with the discomfort, I went back to the same nurse. She tried a larger ring this time and hey presto, the difference was amazing. It’s not overstating it to say that it has transformed my life. I wear panty liners at home and use the Tesco Free Spirit thicker pads if I’m going out anywhere just to feel secure. But please don’t suffer in silence. Go back to the doctor/nurse and try a larger ring pessary. Does anyone else find they get more frequent UTIs due to what I refer to as a “low slung undercarriage”?

Pessary, not essay!

Hi, I have had a vaginal prolapse for 5 years and it’s managed very successfully with a pessary. You just need to find the right size. I manage my own for taking out and washing and have checks twice a year with dr. I’m 80 just for reference. I don’t know it’s there. Good luck

moth62 yes , frequent uni's. I've found they have greatly reduced since using topical oestrogen . My GP also prescribes me a supply of nitrofurantoin to keep so I can treat it as soon as the symptoms start but the oestrogen has definitely helped in this department .

I had a rectocele and surgery was advised. It worked, I feel so much better and apart from a little soreness was fine quite quickly.

Please can I have the name of the poop stool some of you have used. It sounds useful. Thank you

I had lots of uti’s in the past and was referred to a continence nurse, she explained that with low oestrogen levels after the menopause it can cause uti’s and suggested I use an oestrogen cream or pessary . I too have had a ring pessary for 20 years, was measured by a gynaecologist at local hospital but as I refused a “mesh” operation she referred me back to my gp to have it fitted by a doctor. Have it changed every six months by my gp . I also have Vagifem oestrogen tablets in a syringe type applicator similar to a tampon ti be used twice weekly. No problems since then 🤞🤞🤞

I had a bladder prolapse about 25yrs ago and opted for the mesh to be inserted. I had it done privately as I had private health care through my job. It has been wonderful for me although I know many people have had awful problems with it. However at the time I was also advised when taking a wee to sit forward resting my elbows on my knees, apparently it forces more urine out so your bladder is completely empty and therefore you’re less likely to get UTI’s. It seems to work for me.

My bladder, bowel and uterus prolapse started with a severe pain on my lower right side - so much so that I originally thought it was a hernia or a grumbling appendicitis. I was one of the women fitted with mesh in 2010 and I have had no problems at all. About 3 years ago I started having urgency to go or I would wet myself. I was also having frequent UTIs and soreness. I am now taking Mirabegron for the urgency and Vagifem suppositories for the soreness. I now have my life back.
I did hear about ring pessaries but as my son was 11lb at birth I wouldn’t have been able to keep anything in!

HelterSkelter1

Please can I have the name of the poop stool some of you have used. It sounds useful. Thank you

If you google ‘poop stool’ or ‘toilet stool’ lots will come up. Or you could go onto Amazon and search ‘poop stool’, similarly Argos.

I just bought a very basic white one from Amazon but it depends what might suit your bathroom.

Here’s a link to the poop stool on the kegel site:
www.kegel8.co.uk/products/go-better-toilet-squat-stool

There are also videos about the benefits of a poop stool on YouTube.

LizzieDrip

HelterSkelter1

Please can I have the name of the poop stool some of you have used. It sounds useful. Thank you

If you google ‘poop stool’ or ‘toilet stool’ lots will come up. Or you could go onto Amazon and search ‘poop stool’, similarly Argos.

I just bought a very basic white one from Amazon but it depends what might suit your bathroom.

Here’s a link to the poop stool on the kegel site:
www.kegel8.co.uk/products/go-better-toilet-squat-stool

There are also videos about the benefits of a poop stool on YouTube.

I’ve used a stool for some years. The position it puts your pelvis in makes perfect sense.
It’s the way people in the far east have always deficated.

Thank you Lizzieddrip and Petra I will google.

pably15

Saxifrage, I have the same symptoms, if I feel the need I have to go immediately. I take a water tablet every morning and wow they work...if I have somewhere to go certain days, I miss the water pill...don't take it till I come home.

I take my pill last thing at night. Works for me

My symptoms were of having a feeling of something hanging which was diagnosed as a prolapsed bladder, discomfort below when walking, sitting, doing normal day to day stuff and some incontinence. Mine was quite bad as it looked like I was about to give birth as the prolapse was visible. It would gradually feel worse and more uncomfortable by the end of the day so I would tend to go easy on alternate days. I've just had a pessary ring fitted and I can honestly say that it's given back my life. I don't feel the ring, I know it doesn't cure it but it's enabled me to get back to being able to do things which have been taking far longer to do before. Today, I've been gardening all afternoon whereas before I'd only manage half an hour max. I too now sit bending forward after a wee which then helps to empty my bladder further. I put off getting a diagnosis for too long through fear of what might happen but the nurse was great and she'd fitted the ring before I even realised.