Vaginal Prolapse

[Cindy82]

I'm only 25 yrs old, have 2 kids and have had my uterus removed due to other problems.
For about a year now I have been having severe cramping, Trouble urinating, constipation, feel as if I always have to urinate and leak on myself when I cough or sneeze hard.

I went to the family doc over and over again and was told it was IBS , Well the meds didnt help so they finally referred me to a urologist
I seen him this past thursday and after he examined me, did some kind of measuring and made me cough he told me I have a "fallen bladder" and would need surgery but he would not do the surgery until I lost about 50 lbs and quit smoking.

This is really upsetting me, I am so young for this and I am in pain all the time.
My medical insurance is ending also and we are moving states so dont how I am going to get this problem taken care of when we are in Texas.

He told me within 4 to 5 yrs it would be to the point that I am always leaking on myself so its important to lose the weight and get the surgery.

I keep reading about different surgeries, different treatments and it all seems so confusing.
Sometimes the pain and cramping is so bad I cant stand.
If I stand up for more than 5 minutes I feel like there is a something coming out of me and I cramp really bad.

I have 2 young kids one that I still carry a lot. I need to some how control this pain. Tylenol and advil dont help.

Does anyone have any suggestions on pain management?

Or can anyone give me info about this condition. All advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading

[loisanne]

Hi, I am much older than you. My neighbor is quite overweight and considering the lap band surgeyr for being overweight. However, she had no problem getting a urologist to operate on her for her dropped bladder. Seems like you need to see another specialist. One who specializes in uro-gynecology and surgery.

I have a dropped bladder and am having surgery June 4th. I have seen 4 surgeons and hope this one is the right one. A second or third opinion never hurts. You have a heavy load carying the kids. I was told to carry nothing over 5 pounds. No heavy lifting, no straining to have a bowel moment. After surgery it will be about three months or longer til I am better.

Hope you get another opinion.
Loisanne

[bigbadbetty]

I am also very young to have problems of this nature (just turned 27), and I'm not sure how much weight and smoking really play into having one's pelvic organs sag. I have always been very active in running, swimming, weight training, biking, etc and have maintained a weight of somewhere around 130-140 lbs for years (I'm 5'5'' and a size 6). I've never been a smoker. After having my son almost 2 years ago in Oct. '07 via cesarean delivery (he was breech), I now have a vaginal prolapse and possible sagging bladder and bowels also. The docs told me it was from running too much or lifting weights that were too heavy, or possibly from having a big baby (my son was 9.5 lbs) and gaining too much preg. weight. (Yeah, so I gained 60 lbs- oops!)

Ok people, is it from too much exercise or too little?! I agree that being overweight and smoking is bad for your health, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me that those reasons alone are cause for this. I think we can all agree that women's health issues have a long way to go to be fully understood and treated! But that's a whole other can of worms...

For now, you should find out if you have a fallen vaginal vault (apical prolapse) or sagging bowels (rectocele) as well because from what I've read, it's common for more than just one part of your pelvic organs to sag. I've also read that after a hysterectomy, a woman's estrogen levels that help with pelvic tone dramatically decrease and estrogen therapy can help. I would DEFINITELY research your symptoms and get second and third opinions before surgery of any kind. From reading women's stories on here and hearing first hand, surgery fixes aren't as simple as they seem! Go to www.moondragon.org/obgyn/disorders/uterineprolapse.html ----they helped me understand things a lot better for myself.

Try taking stool softener to keep from having to strain so much if you're constipated- it helped me a TON!! They sell it over-the-counter and it's cheap but can make your bowels dependent on it if you use it for long enough. But for now, I'd use it and not even worry about it!! Exercise is supposed to make your bowels function better, so maybe you and the kids can go for a nice stroller walk after your morning coffee and that will help things along! Try to drink more fluids too- that's really helping me.

My little boy is getting big and carrying him is becoming increasingly painful and I've been trying to train him to walk with me to and from the car, etc by holding my hand and he's learning to stay with me very well. I don't know what I'd do if he wasn't walking yet because I am in pain all the time now. It's hard to keep up with him. I feel like an old woman shuffling around after him, worrying about my uterus falling out! How old are your kids? Will you have any family around in Texas to help you?

I don't want to seem anti-doctor or anything, but you should read up like CRAZY on your issues and formulate LOTS of questions so that when you go in for a doc visit, you're more in control and less of a passive patient. (Not saying that you ARE, but still...) I have given docs all my faith several times before and been SORELY disappointed. Nobody cares more about your body than you (and maybe your hubby and kids!), and you owe it to yourself to know EVERYTHING before you go under the knife. Know about all the types of prolapse and what is thought to cause them, make a list of ALL your symptoms, types of surgeries and success/failure rates, types of materials they use in surgery and the options available (ie: mesh or organic material), what the types of testing can tell you (ex: MRI as opposed to renal sonogram) so they don't just use all their machines to check you out and run up your tab!, new procedures and how they changed from other ones and WHY, find which docs are in your area that ROCK and make appts to see them. Shop around and don't assume that just because they're docs that they know what they're doing! Some are passionate about what they do and keep up on the latest inventions and procedures and others just do the bare minimum. Sad but true.

I would say that if you are considering surgery, try your hardest not to let your insurance lapse because once you have a medical problem that has been flagged by the insurance companies, they either might not insure you at all or it could be expensive as HELL!! My sister has HPV and let her insurance lapse accidentally. Now she has no insurance at all bec/ the only company out of 5 that she applied for wanted to charge her $600 a month!! That's for a single girl in otherwise PERFECT health.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted on things and I'll be hoping for the best for you. Take it easy and baby yourself. Mama needs some TLC!!!

ps- I'm going in for a gyno visit next week to see about having surgery for myself and other options (pessaries look like a lot of fun!) and to see how bad things are. I'm more uncomfortable now than when I was recovering from my c-section!

[angelmama]

Hi, I'm 25 too! I'm turning in 26 soon and I am suprised to find other who are young and have this problem too! I do not know anyone who has gone through this and I have yet to hear of women my age with this problem. I have vaginal prolapse both Rectocele and Cystocele 3rd degree and could use some women to talk to my age who have one through this also. I am having a hard time accepting this has happened to me, I just found out this month that I have this problem after delivering my 2nd child end of June. I knew something was not right and it was only confirmed by my OB at my postpartum check up.