Vaginal Gas and Fistula

[Bette66]

I know that this sounds gross but if any of you out there have had this problem you know how embarrassing it can be.  I was told that I had a possible fistula between my colon and vagina. I went in for a test and my gyn inserted some blue dye into my rectum then a tampon in my vagina. I left the office and came back in 1 hour. She took out the tampon and there was no blue dye. So she said no fistula between the colon and vagina. So I went home and went to the bathroom. Well there was blue dye in my urine. So I went back into the office where they drew some urine with a catherer. There was blue tint to it. So she said that it was between my colon and bladder. So I went to the Cleveland Clinic and was checked and they could not find anything. They even did a coloscopy. I might mention that I had a hysterectomy 10 years ago and my bowel was snipped, but my problem did not start until about 5 years ago.
I don't know what my next step should be. It occurs out of the blue and I have no control over it. If I am sitting up in bed and have gas it is clearly coming from both ends. You know if you have regular gas you would at least have time to walk out of the room, but with this you don't. I want to hide from the world.
Please help me and guide me as what to do next. I am totally at a loss.
Thank you

[msheather]

well there has to be something but when you get like a lotta air or whatever around there air can just sometimes go in there (that spot lol) but thats when that starts making a gas-like sound but you haven;'t went to the doctor since then?

[apryl999]

Maybe it's not normal to have a fistula but vaginal gas is normal and natural and if you dont feel comfortable with your partner it's embarrassing I suppose to an extent but I am 23 and young and if some guy is going to judge me on such a natural occurence that's his deal. Try a different position where youre not stretched to wide and there's not excessive pumping.  I know when i get air inside I feel sick and bloated it's uncomfortable.  If it happens I make a joke because I'd rather he know I didn't fart that it was from air from having too much sex. flatter him tell him it only happens when it lasts too long or there penis is too big.  How can he be disgusted then?

[Bette66]

Thanks for your response, but this has nothing to do with sex. I can be siting just watching TV or standing talking with people and I just happens without any warning.

[vart]

I can understand the embarrassment you face.  I've been having gas discharge from the vagina for the past 3 years, without the ability to control it or predict it.  I have not yet been tested for a fistula between the vagina and colon, however, the physicians say that it's highly unlikely as I have not given birth yet.  I am 27 years old, and have been very concerned with this issue, as it can happen as frequently as everyday, and can be loud, and long.  Sometimes, the gas expels for over 90 seconds or so, and is very loud.  

I was told by my gyn that it could be yeast or bacterial infection, however, the antibiotics only helped temporarily and the antifungal prescription did not help.  Over the past few years, I've also seen a correlation between gas in the bowel and from the vagina.  

I'm going in for a colonoscopy in 2 months, but it seems like ages, as this is very embarrassing in the corporate environment.  It happens that when I'm sitting down, the gas collects in the uterus, and then when I stand up, the gas is expeled from the vagina.  It is very disheartening that my gyn stated that if it's not due to a fistula, there may not really be a solution to the problem.

Do you have gas from the vagina or the urethra (bladder)?

[Bette66]

Hi, thanks for the response.  It is very hard to tell where it is coming from. I would think that if it were coming from the bladder then I would have problems with incontience.  I am 57 and I hate this condition.   I had three procedures at the Cleveland Clinic one was through the bladder, then they looked up inside my vagina in which I have no uterus, then I had a colonscopy. With all of that nothing  was found.  It is very frustrating to me and embarrassing especially in a crowd of people.  There is no control as you well know.
Please keep me updated and I will do the same. It is so important that we find out with is causing this.
Thank you again.

[Cajean]

I find I'm having the same problem.  I have diverticulitis and just finished a 10 day round of antibiotics but at first the Drs thought I had a perforation and might have to have surgery.  .  I had a Barium enema and  CT scan but the Drs didn't say anything about a fistula, which I understand is hard to detect.  I have a pain in my side form the diverticulitis and then I'll have vaginal spotting  (I've had a hysterectomy so I know it's not coming from there) and I'll feel gas in my colon but it comes out both places..really weird.   I'm afraid I'll have to go back to the Dr but I really don't want to have surgery..I wonder if fistulas close up by themselves??

[tuxi]

I have had a similar problem for the past two months.  Mine started with a bladder infection.  I have also been to a urlogist and my internist.  They really have no answers.  But I wanted to ask one question of you all.  Just before expelling the gas I have a short sharp pain in lower abdomen that lasts only a short time but there appears to be a build up to the pain.  Thanks in advance for responding.

[Bette66]

No, I have no pain before, during or after the expelling of the gas.  I cannot for the life of me figure out why the Doctors have no idea of what this is. Mine has nothing to do with sex. I can be sitting in bed and it happens. My husband just looks at me and wonders why no medical person knows what to do for it. I can pretty much handle that. It's when I am out in public and there is no warning thats when I have a very hard time. It actually makes me want to stay home and be a hermit.
Doctors, if you are out there please help us find an answer to out problem.

[ajmom]

Hi. I have been haveing Vaginal gas along with some light pink discharge ( on and off)  for the last 3 weeks. At the start I had some sharp grabing pains real low down and thought maybe a kidney stone-s . Doing research I found I was prone for stones as was taking gega amounts of tums
( calcium) and drink lots of milk along with vitamins. I thought this was maybe from irritation of the urithra. Also If diebetic as I am gases can form in urinary tract because of sugars present . One remidi for the gas is to drink baking soda water, it helps with the gas in both ends ( as it too seems to be more presant if I have rectal gas too. I too have had a completehystorectomy/cervex removed  3 yrs ago.

[ajmom]

Hi. I have been haveing Vaginal gas along with some light pink discharge ( on and off)  for the last 3 weeks. At the start I had some sharp grabing pains real low down and thought maybe a kidney stone-s . Doing research I found I was prone for stones as was taking gega amounts of tums
( calcium) and drink lots of milk along with vitamins. I thought this was maybe from irritation of the urithra. Also If diebetic as I am gases can form in urinary tract because of sugars present . One remidi for the gas is to drink baking soda water, it helps with the gas in both ends ( as it too seems to be more presant if I have rectal gas too. I too have had a completehystorectomy/cervex removed  3 yrs ago.

[enelrad]

I am 69 and through the years, have occasionally had this vaginal gas. I have never approached my doctor with this as it really wasn't a problem for me. Two years ago, I had a hysteroscopy for a D&C. The doctor removed polyps and most of the endometriam. The vaginal gas seemed to disappear. Just today I was surprised that after sitting at the computer for some time, I got up to go to the bathroom and I expelled a loud and huge amount of vaginal gas. Upon looking this up online, I finally found your comment board on this problem. I really didn't know it was a problem. Reading some of your comments, I began to wonder if it could be from the calcium I began taking for the last month. I had stopped taking it for about a year and just now started to take it again. Someone menntioned having taken mega TUMS. It seems like a possible cause as I know that calcium can cause excess gas. I have never had any intestinal problems or trouble with gas and bloating. I will mention it to my doctor at my next physical and see what he has to say. I will continue to watch your comments. I am also due for a colonoscopy. Thanks for all the info.  

[Evie1963]

The fact that the blue dye ended up in your bladder via your colon  suggests there is a definite problem, then The Cleveland Clinic didn't find anything at the time and completely brushed you aside! I would be seeing another specialist and asking for an answer to why blue dye ended up where it shouldn't. There has to be a breach somewhere, which is also possible for the gas in the vagina. maybe a small hole from the bowel into the vagina. Think of it, when you have a tyre puncture on a push bike you have to hold the tyre under water to locate the hole, sometimes only a pin ***** but air escapes because of pressure. Maybe there's a hole so small the doctors are having trouble locating it. Keep trying. Good Luck!

[Evie1963]

Read this.
www.geocities.com/dinimerz/rectovaginal_fistula.htm

[raesma]

Hi there
I too have been having air escaping from my vagina..It's not sex related and doesn't happen after physical activity, it just happens anytime.  Most of the time it happens when I stand up or sit up in bed from laying down.  I have no pain, there is no smell...they just fall out lol.  It didn't start until a little while after I had a cesearean (first and only child).   When I mentioned it to my GP he looked at me like I was coo coo and just kept asking me.."it's coming from your vagina??  You're sure it's coming from your vagina?"  Almost like he didn't believe me, lol!  I told him "trust me, it's coming from my vagina!"  All he could say is that he had no idea why air would come from there!  I KNOW it has something to do with the pregnancy or birth or something related to it or the c-section!  Just not sure what!

[boddy]

i had exactly same reaction from GP, didnt believe air was coming from vagina, (i think we as women know our bodies) - I find it a very distressing condition, took 10 years for doctors to believe me, and i discovered a rv fistula by my own test despite numerous probing including a colonscopy, doctors say surgery could make fistual bigger so i have to live with it, it would be helpful if the medical profession supported women more after childbirth and with such embarassing conditions. I find it hard to believe with medicine as far advanced as it is that there are no solutions to ease these symptoms or acknowledgment of the distress it causes! I sincerely wish those who suffer this could be helped more. kind regards

[holistic37]

I occasionally have vaginal gas as well, usually accompanied by rectal gas.  I have never had children.  It often happens when I stand after sitting or laying down.  It's happened before through sex, but that is obvious.  Lately it's happened more frequently, but thankfully, I've been alone when it's occurred.  I'm 37 and have always been pretty healthy (eat foods with little to no preservatives, whole foods, nothing  hydroginated, etc.).  Over the past few months, I've had gas more frequently, both vaginal and rectal.  I'm wondering if it's diet related, but the vaginal air is troubling.  

[49donna]

HI I have had problems for years. I'm 49 years old. Than in Oct 05'  I was told I had a bartholian cyst.  Had day surgery but it kept coming back!  I was treated like a idot by my GY which did my C-section and had been my doctor for years I have one child born in 83'.  The same doctor proformed my hysterectomy in 97' I also had hemorrhoidal surgery at the same time.  Well the cyst wasn't a bartholian it kept coming back had to stopped going to a Dr. I had trusted for years he actual told me I didn't hurt and nothing was wrong like i was crazy. And I went to another gy but he examined me vagina and rectum said it wasn't a barth.cyst and sent me to a Gyn/oncology well he did the dye test and biopsy of the cyst this cyst would be hard as a walnut then soft other times this Dr. would exam me all the time and was rude,had a ego old man problem would tell me one time he never saw it (what the hell did I come to see him to began with!???) that knew everything was a teacher at UAMS, LR, AR. We did ct scans, Colonscopy,small bowel series, upper gi tract, he final cut me open (May 05')from belly buttom to C-section scar and didn't do a damn thing but take out good ovaries and my appex. said the mass was attached to the rectum and I was to young to do a colostomy on!!! Which I didn't want. But I still had the problem.  Than thank God he had a heart attach and retired!!! I wished many a day he had one up his *** between his balls and in his penis. and was told well we'd have to cut your penis off to get rid of it!!!  Okay now I went to other Gy/onc @ UAMS he did a MRI and said he could remove the mass.  They knew I had a pelvis mass vs abcess fistula.  I have always passed gas from the vagina during this time for years it just kept getting more & more freq.  Which any Dr. that doesn't believe this you need to keep seeing diff. ones till they help you because fistulas can close up and open back and build up infection and it will expell thought your BM's and you don't even know.   Do you have bleeding from your rectum. Well I went to another quack!  On the MRI which he didn't go over in detail with me before the surgery Just He could remove the mass.  Which he did Oct 07'.  I was still hurting after surgery.  I asked for a copy of my MRI 11-18-07.  Get this I have two diff. Fistula's  one at the Anterior rectal wall at the Pubococcygeal line (end of spine) two hernia sites one causing  part of the urinary bladder pouching. This dr. was also going to lift my bladder during surgery but this wasn't done as schelduled???which i ??? they ran out of time my surgery was delayed due to low potassium.  I didn't really get excuse!!! All doctors are quacks.  I have my regular family doctor that giving me pain medication and zoloft now valiums or I'd killed someone by now!!! I hurt all the time like a knife up my *** and told I have got to have a colostomy if I every want a normal sex life back. Or try the Cleveland Clinic they have the techlogy.  Now your saying they would help!

Help  Help  Help

Donna50

[dixiegrl20]

I have been having vaginal gas for the past couple days and it's usually after lunch at work.  It's very embarrassing and uncontrollable.  I wonder if there is a correlation between it and me trying to start my period.  I'm 24, married, no children.  I've been trying to start my period this week but haven't been able to, just the spotting, accompanied now with this vaginal gas.  I also wonder why my vagina hurts a little this week, it's all too weird to me.  It's as if I need to start (I know b/c I'm on the pill) but since I can't, I just get the gas?  

Or would it have to do with diet?  I've changed my diet, adding more fiber and I wonder if it has something to do with that?  Please advise.

[Novascotia150]

I have to have the dye test tomorow (rectum) for a suspected fistula due to my crohns, as I have gas also from my vagina. I am on REMICADE and this is suppose to help close the fistulas but so far no luck.
Has anyone had the rectal dye test and what prep if any did you need?

[daisy60]

I am 47 years old, had 3 pregnancies from the ages of 26 to 30.  I have never had any female reproductive organ problems and have been in good health.  However, I have had vaginal gas for the last two years.  It only occurs after I have been sitting in one place for a long period of time; such as sitting at the computer at work, watching TV, or a 2+ hour car ride.  It is uncontrollable and does make audible sounds.  It is very emabarrassing.

One technique that I use to expel the gas, when no one is around, is to press on my lower abdoment and bend slightly forward.  Sometimes standing then squatting can have the same effect.  It forces the air in the pelvis to be expelled.  Also, because it happens on standing after a long duration of sitting, I can usually stand and get to the bathroom before the gas expells.  This gives me an opportunity to force the gas out and avoid embarrassment when I return to the room.

I have not asked my doctor about this as I have read too many stories of women feeling like they are idiots because it can't be possible to have vaginal gas.  I hope this helps someone out there.

[daisy60]

Something else I would like to add to my previous post is that I have 2 sisters who both have vaginal gas.  However, we have all had different physical experiences.  For example:  As I stated, I had 3 normal pregnancies.  One sister had 1 pregnancy and a hysterectomy.  The second sister has never been pregnant.  We are all over the age of 40 and have different diets and varying degrees of vaginal gas.  Therefore, there appears to be no connection between childbirth, sex, or diet and vaginal gas.

[montrealaise]

Finally, a site that lets me know my problem is not unique.  Before stumbling upon this site, I could not find any reference to this problem on any medical website.  I've had vaginal gas on and off for over 10 years. When it first began, my internist suggested it was sex related.  I did not accept that.  Since then, I consulted my GYN who suspected a fistula, even though the gas is odorless.  I had an ultrasound, D&C, barium enema and colonoscopy, all of which failed to detect a fistula.  My GYN also asked me in wonderment "Are you sure it's coming from the vagina?"  My new internist thought it might be a yeast infection and suggested probiotics.  But the annoying problem continues, although as some of you have reported, I never had an embarrassing moment -- yet.   There must be a medical genius out there who has an explanation for this.  

[gayle035]

I just recently started having the vaginal gas as well. I have several checkups and I am healthy. No std's, no infections, nothing, I think it is a natural bodily function. I started exercising those muscles there (like doing butt pushups) and exercising my abdominal area, moving like a belly dancer. It is not sex related, I am sure of that, at least for myself. I think this is just a natural occurance for women.

[Mustang1995]

I just started having this problem too! At the same time as all of you- getting up from my chari at work- and i relaly cant tell if anyone has heard me yet or not- gosh! I feel like it might gbe due to not having strong msucles down there- I am at my heaviest weight so far and i dont exersize. Maybe i shourld start- duh! i will let you all know if it helps...