Aa
Big baby - rectocele and cystocele
Hi there,
I gave birth to my son 10 months ago and basically I'm convinced I have a rectocele and cystocele. Probably only mild yes but Im not sure. It all seems to 'move' down there depending on time of month, poop, needing to wee etc. Always constipated, always feel like i need to poo even after going! He was a large baby at 9 pounds 11 you see aswell. A quick and easy labour though...The thing that cheeses me off greatly is the fact I was overdue aswell by two weeks, I was induced this late on and yet they had concerns about him being big weeks beforehand. I feel like the whole farcical idealism associated with having a natural birth took over to be honest. (Thats how i feel about it now anyway. Yes I had a wonderful natural birth but bleugh!!) Given what i know now id have liked to have had a c section probably. (Here in england though its all about saving money so they don't promote the choice of having c section...natural birth is promoted more....looking at the profession generally thats the big thing i see........but yeah i don't see much awareness of the side effects of it being promoted though..)
Im just so annoyed by the whole thing. I've had various problems ever since and have been examined on numerous occasions and not one dr has ever mentioned either of those. I have even seen a gyn and again not a mention. Even when ive mentioned it to drs they just focus on the other stuff. Its almost as if its a 'normal' thing so it is just dismissed. Im going to the gyn again so I will put it to him then but yeah!!! Why is there such a lack of awareness of this stuff? Why have none of them spotted whats going on? Is it because everytime they examine you you are laid down? Its a complete joke. I feel like drs just don't want to know, like im making it up or something. Im only 24 so it makes it even more kind of depressing and being single too doesn't help as it means I can't really judge how it willl affect that aspect of life either yet. It's scary and worrying! AND this is only after my first baby....I wanted loads of kids :(
SO how do i go about diagnosis and actually making them see the thing?! What can I do to help it if that is what it is? Do kegels really work? I always did them before pregnancy without being told to....Still do them now. Always thought I had strong muscles and control so feeling a bit disheartened about it all! Why on earth hasn't technology moved on in this area. Even surgery can't really do anything for these things so I hear - too risky etc.
I gave birth to my son 10 months ago and basically I'm convinced I have a rectocele and cystocele. Probably only mild yes but Im not sure. It all seems to 'move' down there depending on time of month, poop, needing to wee etc. Always constipated, always feel like i need to poo even after going! He was a large baby at 9 pounds 11 you see aswell. A quick and easy labour though...The thing that cheeses me off greatly is the fact I was overdue aswell by two weeks, I was induced this late on and yet they had concerns about him being big weeks beforehand. I feel like the whole farcical idealism associated with having a natural birth took over to be honest. (Thats how i feel about it now anyway. Yes I had a wonderful natural birth but bleugh!!) Given what i know now id have liked to have had a c section probably. (Here in england though its all about saving money so they don't promote the choice of having c section...natural birth is promoted more....looking at the profession generally thats the big thing i see........but yeah i don't see much awareness of the side effects of it being promoted though..)
Im just so annoyed by the whole thing. I've had various problems ever since and have been examined on numerous occasions and not one dr has ever mentioned either of those. I have even seen a gyn and again not a mention. Even when ive mentioned it to drs they just focus on the other stuff. Its almost as if its a 'normal' thing so it is just dismissed. Im going to the gyn again so I will put it to him then but yeah!!! Why is there such a lack of awareness of this stuff? Why have none of them spotted whats going on? Is it because everytime they examine you you are laid down? Its a complete joke. I feel like drs just don't want to know, like im making it up or something. Im only 24 so it makes it even more kind of depressing and being single too doesn't help as it means I can't really judge how it willl affect that aspect of life either yet. It's scary and worrying! AND this is only after my first baby....I wanted loads of kids :(
SO how do i go about diagnosis and actually making them see the thing?! What can I do to help it if that is what it is? Do kegels really work? I always did them before pregnancy without being told to....Still do them now. Always thought I had strong muscles and control so feeling a bit disheartened about it all! Why on earth hasn't technology moved on in this area. Even surgery can't really do anything for these things so I hear - too risky etc.
I am sorry to hear of your symptoms at such a young age. You are not alone as I have heard of and also corresponded with other ladies who are also young with similar POP type symptoms. Even women of a similar age to you who havent even had a child can get POP due to heavy exercise eg gymnasts, due to the heavy impact of the landing or overly male type stomach crunches together with heavy lifting and also genetics can play a part.
From the way you describe your symptoms it sound like you may well have prolapse. I am also in the UK and feel you need to see a Urogynecologist to be able to get a proper diagnosis.
Unfortunately prolapse is not talked about enough to give us ladies a strong enough voice in the UK, but we are getting more and more active in spreading the word and getting the message out that prolapse is not a dirty word and 50% of all ladies who have had a child get this condition. There are supposed to be 5 different prolapses, however I would add in a 6th.
Rectocele - the back wall of the vagina from the colon
Cystocele - the front wall of the vagina from the bladder
Urethrocele - the front wall lower down from the urethra
Enterocele - the small bowel coming downwards which can be from more than one angle.
Uterine - the Uterus prolapses down the vagina.
Vaginal vault prolapse - after a hysterectomy, if the top of the vaginal cuff isnt supported it can fall down into the vagina and can also cause other vaginal prolapses if not treated.
Clearly you have had a difficult birth with a large baby and thankfully you have educated yourself enough to know that not only do your symptoms not feel OK, they are also in line with more than one type of prolapse.
Thankfully you are young enough to have your natural hormones for many years and yes you are correct that kegel exercises are very important.. whether you have an operation or not. I do feel seeing a womens physio is very important in order to assess you pelvic floor and make sure you are doing you kegels properly.
I have more that one POP as well as intuss and recognise you symptoms as being very familiar to what I also experience. It is very important that you have picked this up early as well as having already started to gain information about your condition.
There is not point in worrying about what is going to happen to you at 60 right now as you have over 30 years to go before then and you need to focus on getting diagnose properly to find out where you are now and look at what options you have for now... and during your journey of diagnosis, support, exercise and consideration of possible options you will slowly process where you are now, how you want to deal with your condition and what is the best way forward for now and also for the future... Be prepared to re think, to get more than one Urogye opinion and to join groups of women who are happy to talk about prolapse on this forum and also on more local terms to where you live. Women are getting more relaxed about talking about POP, and a huge number of us have one or more prolapse. You are not alone. It is possible one or more of your own family suffer from prolapse in one form or another.
Later on in life... you ask about age 60 or above. This is a long way away for you, but I take on board your concerns. I am now 53 and use vaginal estrogen cream which helps to keep the tissues supple without taking HRT. Some ladies take HRT and this works for them as well, however, using the cream directly into the vagina is helpful if you can use this due to the estrogen receptors around this area including the bladder area. So it can help ladies with POP, but nothing can make our vaginal 'hernias' disappear altogether apart from maybe a successful operation so we need to work at our vaginal upkeep with exercises done correctly together with maybe other womens physio, avoidance of heavy lifting or stomach crunching and no you are not being selfish. I feel the same way you do even at my age. Try to keep positive and remember that you have a great advantage being so young as you have your hormones to help you together with a great deal of good intuition and intelligence.
Keep asking the questions and let us know how you get on
From the way you describe your symptoms it sound like you may well have prolapse. I am also in the UK and feel you need to see a Urogynecologist to be able to get a proper diagnosis.
Unfortunately prolapse is not talked about enough to give us ladies a strong enough voice in the UK, but we are getting more and more active in spreading the word and getting the message out that prolapse is not a dirty word and 50% of all ladies who have had a child get this condition. There are supposed to be 5 different prolapses, however I would add in a 6th.
Rectocele - the back wall of the vagina from the colon
Cystocele - the front wall of the vagina from the bladder
Urethrocele - the front wall lower down from the urethra
Enterocele - the small bowel coming downwards which can be from more than one angle.
Uterine - the Uterus prolapses down the vagina.
Vaginal vault prolapse - after a hysterectomy, if the top of the vaginal cuff isnt supported it can fall down into the vagina and can also cause other vaginal prolapses if not treated.
Clearly you have had a difficult birth with a large baby and thankfully you have educated yourself enough to know that not only do your symptoms not feel OK, they are also in line with more than one type of prolapse.
Thankfully you are young enough to have your natural hormones for many years and yes you are correct that kegel exercises are very important.. whether you have an operation or not. I do feel seeing a womens physio is very important in order to assess you pelvic floor and make sure you are doing you kegels properly.
I have more that one POP as well as intuss and recognise you symptoms as being very familiar to what I also experience. It is very important that you have picked this up early as well as having already started to gain information about your condition.
There is not point in worrying about what is going to happen to you at 60 right now as you have over 30 years to go before then and you need to focus on getting diagnose properly to find out where you are now and look at what options you have for now... and during your journey of diagnosis, support, exercise and consideration of possible options you will slowly process where you are now, how you want to deal with your condition and what is the best way forward for now and also for the future... Be prepared to re think, to get more than one Urogye opinion and to join groups of women who are happy to talk about prolapse on this forum and also on more local terms to where you live. Women are getting more relaxed about talking about POP, and a huge number of us have one or more prolapse. You are not alone. It is possible one or more of your own family suffer from prolapse in one form or another.
Later on in life... you ask about age 60 or above. This is a long way away for you, but I take on board your concerns. I am now 53 and use vaginal estrogen cream which helps to keep the tissues supple without taking HRT. Some ladies take HRT and this works for them as well, however, using the cream directly into the vagina is helpful if you can use this due to the estrogen receptors around this area including the bladder area. So it can help ladies with POP, but nothing can make our vaginal 'hernias' disappear altogether apart from maybe a successful operation so we need to work at our vaginal upkeep with exercises done correctly together with maybe other womens physio, avoidance of heavy lifting or stomach crunching and no you are not being selfish. I feel the same way you do even at my age. Try to keep positive and remember that you have a great advantage being so young as you have your hormones to help you together with a great deal of good intuition and intelligence.
Keep asking the questions and let us know how you get on
I forgot to say...when i say 'move' i mean i get bulges like both top and bottom...It changes depending on how full bowels are ,how full bladder is and stuff....
So i don't know? Would this be bothe cystocele and rectocele?
Im just so annoyed that I can see and feel this and the drs cant!!!
Just dread to think what will happen in future. Im only young! What about when im 60?!!! I hate sounding so selfish and what not about it!!! urghhh
So i don't know? Would this be bothe cystocele and rectocele?
Im just so annoyed that I can see and feel this and the drs cant!!!
Just dread to think what will happen in future. Im only young! What about when im 60?!!! I hate sounding so selfish and what not about it!!! urghhh
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