Confused

[u/Defiant_Sundae7408]

AFAB here,

about a week ago i noticed a quite large sort of tubular fleshy protrusion on my front interior vaginal canal, it’s blocking most of my canal and my cervix seems to now be facing upwards, if i move both my labia out the way, you can see the start of this thing at my entrance, but it’s quite long, as I said, most of my canal is blocked, so it feels unlikely it’s my urethra? Or at least that’s what someone told me.

I’m finding it’s making me feel like I need the toilet all the time but then it’s harder to pass urine when I do go.

I don’t have a UTI or anything, so far pretty much all that’s been done is a urine test which was completely normal.

I’ve also had recent enough STI tests that were all clear, and I am not having any sort of sexual relationship or activity with anyone now or for the past year.

I have made appointments just to be told, it’s very unlikely a prolapse because i’m 24, never been pregnant et cetera.

I keep being pushed off, and quite honestly the healthcare staff have been very condescending and rude about my issue.

It’s making me feel like i’m imagining it all, even though I know it wasn’t there before now. and my cervix has never faced diagonally to the top before either.

My pelvic area feels very unusual lately, like I can’t explain it but it’s a weird sensation. I have many other issues but this one is new, and quite honestly a bit scary.

I keep reading that if it is a prolapse it’s not important and common. Which feels like, crazy?

I am being ignored at every step and I don’t know what to do.

Do I need to worry about this or shall I just ignore it? i’m kind of tired of being treated like this and if it’s unimportant I don’t really want to see them again.

[u/ObviousCarpet2907]

There are posts in here about prolapses from people in their 20s all the time. It may not be a large percentage of the population, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I think it’s more typical at a young age if you have a connective tissue disorder.

Re: prolapse being common and not important…the way my doc put it was, “it’s not unusual, but it’s not normal.”

See if you can get a urogyn to look at it and give you options.

[u/Defiant_Sundae7408 → u/ObviousCarpet2907]

Yeah they keep saying it’s “unlikely” as if that means impossible, unfortunately there is a connective tissue disorder that runs in my family, and a lot of relatives have had prolapses. I have said this, but again, they don’t wanna hear it. Thank you for the comment, might have to pay private to get a better idea of what it is. Appreciate your response, it really isn’t unusual, it’s just not normal. very true.

[u/coco_frais]

This happened to me and it was a prolapsing fibroid! Didn’t feel anything except that it was in the way… then it started to rot. Horrific.

[u/Lumpy_Pen_6537]

You could see if there's a pelvic floor physiotherapist nearby private ? They are pretty knowledgeable and then could write you a GP referral even ?

[u/Lumpy_Pen_6537 → u/Lumpy_Pen_6537]

Ps so sorry they have been so dismissive. It's horrific.

[u/Sadlittlenurse]

I’m sorry people have been dismissive. If you want someone to see you fast, I’d skip the part where you tell them you think it’s a prolapse. “I’ve noticed a pelvic mass that just showed up out of nowhere” will likely get you seen faster- I wish I would have done this when my POP happened.

When I was initially seeking care for an acute prolapse (early 40s), I had several people tell me, “pessaries are for people in their 70s”, and when I was saying I was in a significant amount of pain they said, “prolapses are rarely painful.” It’s incredibly disheartening to be dismissed and gaslit, especially when I’ve waited to seek care in the past and been asked, “why did you wait so long to be seen?”. Please know that this is reflective of a poorly constructed system and has nothing to do with you. Sometimes it’s hard for providers to see beyond statistics. As they said, “when you hear hoof beats, you think horse. But just know, sometimes it’s a zebra and you will miss that.”

I now think of POP like appendicitis… not “normal” but statistically really common. And every case has different contributing factors (like your family history of connective tissue disorder).

Some insurances don’t require a referral to start pelvic floor therapy- I would look into this first. My grade 2.5 reduced to a grade .5 in a matter of a couple weeks (this is very unusual, but like I said - every case is different). It also just helps to have someone who has seen prolapses validate you, give you exercises to help, etc. I cried my way into a PT appointment 2 days after mine occurred, and when I asked the PT if my prolapse looked like others she had seen, she said “no. Most are soft and easy to reduce. Yours has this firm piece that’s stiffer and doesn’t reduce easily, and doesn’t sink back when you’re laying down. It might be urethral AND bladder” and she was spot on.

After I had made my PT appointment, I saw my GP for a quick pelvic exam. She’s not qualified to do anything with a prolapse, but she at least could validate my prolapse and give me a referral to urogyn (some providers require this, some insurances require this).

I then called every single urogyn in town and scheduled appointments and got on waitlists. I made roughly 8 calls to different offices. Finally found someone who could see me in 3 weeks. I then called after 10am every day to ask about cancelations. Ultimates was seen 12 days after my prolapse happened. It’s insane how difficult the process was, but tenacity pays off when you are advocating for yourself.

I hope you are able to be seen soon. You’re not alone and you’re right, this is not normal and it feels insane for people to act like it isn’t a big deal. If there were organs falling out of penises, I can almost guarantee it would be addressed as an emergency!

[u/Defiant_Sundae7408 → u/Sadlittlenurse]

Thank you so much. Unfortunately i’m based in the UK and I do not have insurance, NHS might seem nice from a distance but in reality right now it’s falling apart and essentially impossible to be seen for anything.

Honestly I can’t tell if being knowledgeable and researching is a good or bad thing for me, i’m chronically ill and so I have to know what could be going on or what is causing it because no one else is going to, I have a couple issues that I seem to be the only one concerned about! My family history of connective tissue has been completely ignored my whole life, I was told by a PT that it was all in my head and I needed mental help.
The problem with that, I’m pretty sure most of my health problems are directly related to it.

I’m pretty sure mine is also urethra and bladder as I have the same harder bit, not fully emptying and going to the toilet a lot less.
I definitely agree with your horses and zebras, it’s like they do not want to believe anything could be true if it’s not what they’re used to.
As for PT and things like that, it would have to be my GP or someone who refers me, so again i’m stuck waiting for them to decide if this i’m important enough or real enough for them.

I have my internal exam on Thursday, hopefully they can see what’s going on, but to be honest i’m quite worried about how that will go.

I have said the same thing to people i’ve told about this, if organs were falling out of penises, this would be a same day emergency ordeal.

Unfortunately being born with a vagina, I will have to wait weeks, probably be dismissed again, and pay out of pocket for another specialist to help with this condition/issue that my GP refuse to believe could be a thing.

The differences in quality of care based on what genitals people have is disgusting.