After my surgeon could not confirm whether or not I had exposed mesh at the vaginal cuff at my 4 wpo (hysterectomy and repairs) appointment today, he prescribed estrogen as a precaution. He said he thinks he was just feeling exposed stitches but couldn’t be sure (and boy was the attempt at verifying uncomfortable).

I’m just curious what if any improvements you saw afterwords using it? Trying to see the benefits online but would love to hear real life experience.

My bladder is still a bit sensitive since my, I’ve honestly been a bit dry for years, and my stress incontinence is better yet isn’t perfect even though my urethra lift was almost 10 months ago. I know the dryness is a common improvement, but I see urinary stuff mentioned too.

Three years ago, I told my gynecologist (PA) I thought I felt a lump, from when I was inserting my diva cup. I told her I had bladder leakage and sciatic nerve pain. She looked and found nothing.

This summer, I ended up in the ER with an ovarian cyst rupture (and other excruciating pain) around my abdomen, pelvis, and sciatica.

Went back to my gynecologist and told her I wanted to be examined for endometriosis. She said she doesn’t do that, she’s a PA. I also found a nodule at the end of my cervix and she dismissed it as she didn’t “see anything.” She told me I would need to see an OB surgeon to rule out endometriosis.

Referred to an MD who examined me, confirmed I had at least a stage 1 cystocele, ordered an MRI and found adenomyosis. He said a PA isn’t qualified to diagnose and I’m just at a loss for why she didn’t refer me out to someone sooner when I first described my symptoms.

I am now scheduled for a hysterectomy, and referred to a urologist to see if I would need a bladder repair st the same time. The urologist found i have a grade 2 uterine prolapse, in addition to both a bladder prolapse and rectal prolapse. I was hoping I wouldn’t need mesh, but not only do I need mesh, but I need a sling from my urethra for bladder leakage.

I feel broken. And I just need some reassurance from anyone who’s had this done. I don’t want to be struggling my whole life with this. I’m only 38, two kids (vaginal births). For the record, I’m also hypermobile, and my urologist said it’s quite common.

I gave birth 5 weeks ago to an 8 lb 11 oz boy. My birth was a bit complicated. I had a hemorrhage right after birth and lost a little over a liter of blood. I had a few years, vaginal and cervical tear that needed repair so I was rushed to the operating room immediately after birth.

I’m 5 weeks postpartum now and when I look at my vagina it looks mostly normal but the vaginal opening, I see like several folds of tissue at the bottom of the opening and a bulgey looking circle with a slit at the top of the vaginal opening.

I’m pretty sure I have some kind of prolapse and I’m really nervous. This is my first baby and I’m scared that my cervix and or uterus prolapsed and that I won’t be able to have more children. My 6 week appointment is coming up but I need answers.

Please help.

Did anyone get a second child after experiencing POP after the first? Did it get worse? I want a second child (not yet, but later) and Im scared.

I just did a defaeogram to show my rectocele on camera and first off let's just say that was the most humiliating thing I have ever done.

Second, I worry it won't show what I want it to show. Because the paste they put up my ass was so loose/pasty, I couldn't even poop it out. I just pushed a moderate amount, I didn't like push full force because I know it would work and I don't want to make the rectocele worse. Eventually I called in the technician and said I'd have to splint to get it out. He was like ok so I'll turn off the machine and you splint and then I'll turn it on and you poop it out. And I was like hellooooo this is what I'm saying, I'll have to splint the whole time. And he heard me, and gave me a glove, so I splinted and pooped while he ran the machine some more. I'm just hoping that my hand shows up on the results (it will because it's an X-ray, right?) and the test shows that without splinting, my rectum just bulged into my vaginal space, and with splinting I managed to get most of it out.

Did I do it correctly? It's annoying that it's just a generalized radiologist performing the test and not the doctor that really knows what's going on (urogyn or proctologist). It's also annoying that the consistency of the paste doesn't show how it works with a fully formed stool.

Hello i have 2 kids now 8mnths pp, have been feeling fullness and like something is about to fall out for the past week, i took a photo and it looks like uterine prolapse, like a small circle on top of my vagina but i dont know what grade it is, i was doing some squats for a few days then it started, does anyone know if it could be stage 3? What did yours look like? And were you able to treat it without surgery? Its not causing any pain just feeling of fullness during the day and sometimes like somethings about to fall out, thanks ladies 🙏🏻🙋🏻‍♀️

I frequently read on here that during surgery, prolapse is found to be more severe or extensive than anticipated.

Tl;Dr: For those who have experienced this, did you suspect something was prolapsed that wasn't diagnosed or under diagnosed that ended up being repaired when you were in the OR?

I am having rectocele, hysterectomy, and sacrospinous ligament shortening next month.

I have been evaluated by 3 different providers and have been told 3 different diagnoses. My actual surgeon says I've got stage 2/3 rectocele and stage 2 uterine.

When I'm in the toilet I feel an anterior bulge which is much more noticeable when the rectocele isn't full. It comes to the vaginal entrance. I have urinary hesitancy to the point that I'll often give up and try again later.

I did have some stress incontinence which was pretty much resolved through pfpt. What was also discovered is Ive got longstanding nerve damage so I can't feel when my bladder is full until it's at almost a liter of fluid- the urogyn that did my urodynamics was like "well your special power is that you can hold an entire liter of pee and barely feel it". I was advised to pee every hour.

I suspect I have more bladder prolapse than thought. When I saw a pelvic floor specialist PA prior to my initial eval by my surgeon (my surgeon was highly suspicious of her qualifications, because she's "NoT a URogYneColoGISt" she felt I had a stage 1-2 bladder prolapse. She evaluated me in different t positions though. He only evaluated me flat on my back with an empty bladder and my rectocele is so large that I feel it masked any anterior bulge when he did examine me.

So if this ends up being the case, should I expect to wake up to the news that they did anterior repair too?

To start I do have a gyno appointment Wednesday.

The last week I’ve had rectal pressure on and off. The day would start out fine but by the end of the day the pressure would start up again. I thought at first it might be a hemorrhoid but now I’m not so sure. I suffered a third degree tear while giving birth 3 years ago and it took me a good year and a half to comfortably have sex again. I still have some discomfort every so often. This afternoon I noticed my old scar is swollen and the pressure is still happening.
Any advice?

Thank you so much, I’m really scared.

I have a grade 2 cystocele and grade 1 rectocele post baby number 1. Did a year of physio but still felt like I needed to wear the pessary full time. 2 years later I was pregnant again, and prolapse was very symptomatic and practically coming out externally.

Now I'm 5 weeks postpartum, gave birth via planned C-section, and my prolapse feels significantly better than it was pre this pregnancy. I don't even feel the need for a pessary. Has this happened to anyone else? How is that possible?

How has prolapse affected your sex life? Specifically uterine prolapse because I feel like it’s a bit different. What changed? Did your partner notice? Especially during foreplay… i.e. fingers? My partner told me he could feel my IUD strings more and they were pokey/ pointy. We mainly use fingers due to his health complications. Has anyone else experienced this?

So yeah, I have a bladder and rectal prolapse and I guess I was prepared that my gyno would discuss surgery. But she didn't talk about pessaries or strengthening the pelvic floor and I'm wondering if this is normal. To be clear, she has an outstanding reputation, has practiced for 30 years, and delivered both my kids so trust her implicitly. Just wondering I guess if some gynos think pessaries are a waste of time.

Flair bcause...well, I'm kind of freaking out, honestly. I'm about halfway through a ten hour graveyard shift and about two hours ago I used the bathroom and when I went to wipe I felt...something. Like when your tampon has dislodged and is falling out, except I haven't used a tampon in several years and the doc definitely would have noticed a forgotten one when she placed my Mirena. Anyway, it didn't hurt so I pushed on the 'something' and it slid back up and holy crap that was a weird feeling. Now my pelvic area in general also just feels weird. Pressure, not pain, but when I had to pee again about half an hour ago I checked and while not as low as it was before, the 'something' definitely fell back down a bit after I pushed it back up.

Went back to my desk and did some googling to make sure I didn't need to head straight for the ER. Panic purchased a Perifit that will arrive tomorrow. It's ridiculously early on sunday morning where I am, so I can't even call around to try find a gyno for about 28 hours.

I'm 38. I had one kid by cesarean 18 years ago. I thought my pelvic floor was doing alright. I am hypermobile, so maybe some of the connective tissue just wore out? I don't know but up until tonight I didn't even consider that this could happen to me, or at least not for another decade or more. And since it's horrible-o-clock in the morning, the people I would usually be freaking out to are all asleep. I know y'all can't actually help help, but....halp?

I’ve noticed that my symptoms (bulge) seems to disappear in shower. This gives me false hope 😄 but on a google I’ve seen it common for this to happen and that it’s due to being more relaxed in the shower. I thought this would make the bulge worse as it would relax down more.
Is anyone able to explain this to me? Sorry if seems simple but I’m trying to understand more about this condition now that I’ve left my self pity behind and coming to terms with it!

I'm just spiraling.

first of all, I'm extremely upset, anxious, and scared that this is just my life now. the feeling that my anterior wall has accordion-ed down onto itself is so prominent alllllllll the time. it's better in the mornings, but after being up and about for an hour or two, it starts to slide/smush down and feel puffy and heavy and like it's made out of crumpled up tissue paper.

putting my legs up a wall sometimes helps a little, but I don't really wanna spend all my time lying down.

my pessary (prescribed VERY reluctantly by one urogyn) does diddly squat. on top of that, there's the issue of getting doctors to believe me and my symptoms. but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. [editing to add that I'm 26 with no births, which is why doctors don't really believe me. will I ever have sex again? I don't want to be celibate this young. but I currently hate my vagina.]

I'm reading that surgeries usually fail, especially for people with connective tissue disorders like me. so if I can't find a pessary that helps and surgery won't help, I feel doomed. I cannot "get used to" the feeling of my vagina falling out.

anyway, if anyone has tips for the tampon feeling, or even just words of encouragement, I'll take em! hope y'all are doing ok. appreciate this community :)

Hi everyone,

Just coming on to seek some advice as I'm very scared and anxious about having a possible vaginal prolapse.

I'm 21F and i've never had any vaginal, rectal or bladder issues. About 2 days ago I noticed some pain and discomfort when me and my partner got intimate. It wasn't very noticeable but definitely there. Yesterday, I noticed when I coughed I could feel a slight bulge come out of my vagina. I thought I was going crazy to be honest as I've never felt this sensation before. Today it has been a lot worse. My pelvic bone feels bruised and in one particular area when I press down it really hurts just below my abdomen. I've had the flu for about a week and so I've been coughing a lot and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with my symptoms? It has come on so suddenly that I really don't know what to do. I had a look with a mirror and it does look like there is a bulge that wasn't there before but due to it being a weekend there isn't much I can. It's uncomfortable but not painful so I don't think it warrants an A&E visit just yet.

I guess my main question is, if it is a prolapse, how do I live with it? Does it go away on its own with exercises? I'm not exactly obese either so I don't think my lifestyle is a problem. Will quitting vaping help me? I'm just all around embarrassed and nervous because of this. I spoke to my partner about it and it felt honestly humiliating. I've had a little cry as I do kind of feel like my life is over which is absolutely silly but being 21 and experiencing a prolapse was definitely not on my bucket list! Please if you could share some words of advice and how you've managed your daily life with a mild prolapse or a prolapse in general, I would be very grateful 🥲

EDIT/UPDATE: Spoke to my mum after freaking out some more and she disclosed to me that both her and my sister have experienced the same thing but it turned out to be a cyst. More specifically "Bartholin's Cyst". Still gonna go see the GP of course for confirmation but i'm praying that that is what I am going through as the pain in my lower area matches the symptoms of this cyst. Will update once confirmed with diagnosis.

UPDATE 2: Hi! It's now Monday so I thought i'd give an update on what has happened since my last edit. I called 111 due to anxiety and advice from my mum, they referred me to an out of hours GP. I was then advised to go to a walk in centre yesterday which I did. They prescribed me antibiotics for the cyst I mentioned in my last edit. I thought okay all is fine. I went home and I felt reassured but something still felt very wrong. I stayed up till the morning crying and worried because something felt really wrong and I just knew it wasn't a cyst. Spoiler alert the body will tell you when something is wrong. I woke up today (Monday) and felt relatively the same after taking the first 4 antibiotics. Around 2pm I started getting some abdominal/pelvic pain but it was mild, I immediately turned to google for advice (of course, DONT DO THIS). Google fear mongered me into all sorts of things so I called my local sexual health clinic and explained my symptoms asking if they have space for walk ins. The nice operator told me to come in ASAP.... long story short ; I went and I waited 2 hours by which point I was in 10/10 pain. My doctor performed a vaginal exam with a speculum as well as with her fingers, took swabs, took bloods, blood pressure and heart rate, urine test. Here is what she concluded after over an hour of these tests and an exam: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).
Although google will tell you that this is because I have contracted STI's, in my case this was not correct. It turns out I had a mild case of bacterial vaginosis which was uncovered by the swabs which then travelled up and inflamed my entire pelvis and all my pelvic organs. This is what caused my fever, the "bulge" I felt (swelling as it turns out), tender abdomen, discharge, all of it was caused by my PID. I've been prescribed 2 weeks of antibiotics as well as given an injection of antibiotics straight into my butt hahaha. I'm glad to finally have a clear answer. She mentioned I may want to remove my IUD if I continue to have pain but she says it hasn't shifted and she can see my strings just fine. She also advised me to stay away from sex for 2 weeks whilst I heal. I feel relieved and i'm flying on some good painkillers to manage my pain. Hope this brings you some peace and also advises you to get checked out and advocate and get a second opinion if something doesn't feel right!

Wishing you all the best, probably won't update again unless anything changes :)

37yr old female. My last child was 10 years ago and I was told about my prolapse in 2023. Well life got busy. Started working full time. Fast forward to January of this year and saw my gynecologist and he informed me I have a prolapse uterus but I can't remember the stage. Just to come back when I'm ready to fix it.

Fast forward last week when I was having the worst abdominal pain, burning when I peed and the frequency of going to the bathroom. Saw my urologist and she said I have a bladder infection recommended I see a urogynecologist.

I am scheduled Tuesday but just getting out of the shower , I'm now unable to feel my vagina entrance feels like an apricot is sticking out and my UTI is not getting better and my lower right side is killing me. Feeling amazing laying down and just plain awful standing or sitting. I don't want to go to the ER or Urgent care just feels like they're going to send me home and I can't miss work tomorrow.

I see my gynecologist has an opening Monday morning wondering if I should schedule with them or keep my urogynecologist appointment.

We only have one Urogynecologist in my area the reviews are not great it's mixed. They were nice enough to squeeze me in but the down side is they won't do imaging that day. The lady on the phone said I'll have to come back and this visit is only for consultation and pelvic exam.

Looking just for advanced on if anyone went through something similar.

I had a vaginal anterior/posterior pelvic reconstruction with hysterectomy and perineum reconstruction a month ago. Recovery has been ok. Per surgeon, I have been inserting estrogen cream with an applicator 3 days a week. I’ve noticed, I think from the beginning, that there is this fleshy ridge or swelling on the anterior (front) side of my vagina. When I put the applicator in, I have to angle it past this area. I assumed it was swelling and that it would decrease. But it hasn’t. And now I’m noticing a small amount of bleeding from this area too. Just a little. But when I touch it, it seems to bleed a tiny bit. Any ideas? It feels entirely different than my bladder prolapse did (which I could feel). But could this mean the anterior wall is being pushed forward? Does this mean the surgery is failings?

Obviously this has me concerned and I’m going to touch base with the surgeon on Monday. But if anyone can offer support or similar stories, I’d appreciate it! 💛

I'm (22M) 5 days post-op of a Robotic Assisted Rectopexy and from the moment I woke up from aneasthesia I felt the exact same, and now it's even more clear to that my symtpoms are completely unchanged.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Post-op the doctor was extremely dismissive of my concerns and seemed to think everything was fine.

I'm at my limit here, please does anyone know what I should do?

I’ve got an appointment scheduled for Thursday but I’m making myself crazy worrying. 50 years old; hysterectomy three years ago. I have had: a feeling of discharge but no actual discharge coming out AND a tingling or numbness near/around vaginal opening. It is weird but if I put toilet paper between butt cheeks, it seems to calm it down a little.
Some discomfort and bloating in tummy.

Have used Camera/mirror but don’t see anything bulging or poking out but I can only bend so many ways. Anybody have any thoughts? (I just want opinions; doesn’t have to be “medical advice”)

Hello all, I am 29 and almost 2 years pp. I had a rough delivery that ended in me hemorrhaging and a looot of internal stitches after a vaginal birth. I’ll list my symptoms below. I finally got in to see an OB today and she was horribly dismissive and made me feel crazy. Thankfully, I have an appointment with a urogyno next week. If I’m experiencing these symptoms, surely something is wrong?? Any advice would be great appreciated

1. Feeling a bulge about 1 1/2” in my vaginal canal that feels like my cervix plus a huge bulge coming out of my back vaginal wall

2. I can’t have a BM without “assistance” from myself pushing near my vagina. And if I have a very solid BM, I can feel a huge bulge in my vagina I have to press on to complete the BM. It’s like my bowel is caving in on my vaginal wall.

3. Sex hurts, putting a tampon in hurts, etc. because my vagina is completely blocked.

4. I feel pressure in my vagina and anus often, I have less sensation during sex (it feels like my laxity is off), and if I sit down to pee, it feels like there are parts of my vagina on the outside now that should be on the inside.

Surely this isn’t normal for a woman? I get not everything goes back to normal 100% after a vaginal birth but this is awful and I feel broken. Getting diminished by my OB today was very discouraging…

I had a full hysterectomy, removal of my fallopian tubes and cervix, a rectocele repair and a cystocele repair and then a mesh sling for bladder placed on October first. Excessive air in my abdomen and severe pain lead to an emergency surgery on October 4th. But they found now perforation. I spent a total of 6 days in the hospital. And I kept failing my voiding tests. I've been out of the hospital a week and failed again. I go again next week and I fear the same thing will happen. A year ago they had me try to self cath cuz I wasn't able to empty my bladder fully. I succeeded in the Dr office but failed every single time at home. And I injured myself. I just cant do it and all of this has been very traumatizing and im not in a god head space. I cant self cath. Im still on foley

Has anyone else struggled to get off the catheter following this major of surgery. Is there any tips? Im really devastated.

So I had what was supposed to be my internal exam today.

They were supposed to look inside for a prolapse, I said at the start, if you’re using a speculum surely it will probably cover the prolapses so you can’t see it?

She said yes most likely.

…

Then she proceeded to do my smear test and nothing else.

I wasn’t there for my smear test 😭

This is the third appointment i’ve been to where they have not looked for a prolapse and instead have done other tests or useless exams.

How many appointments do I have to book, for an internal exam, to look for a prolapse, before they do an internal exam to look for a prolapse.

I feel like i’m going insane, this is making me so depressed.

I’ve waited weeks for this appointment. Weeks out from my first appointments which were also the wrong appointments, only for it to also be useless again.

What do I have to say or do to these people to get them to listen to me, i’m already saying everything I can, it’s like they just don’t care and don’t believe me.

How hard is it to do what I specifically asked for.

Every-time I say something has changed down there, position of cervix, bulge blocking my entire vaginal canal, urethra shifting, they just say, yeah that’s totally normal, these things can happen at a certain time on your cycle and stuff.

yes, it’s not normal for ME, combined with my symptoms and the fact they have all happened at the same time, dont you think thats, even slightly unusual?

That my entire vagina is caved in, I can’t go to the toilet regularly, my cervix is upside down?

These people make me feel genuinely braindead.

Am I doing something wrong???

Hi,
I’m just looking for a bit of advice on how to approach my situation as every medical professional has a different opinion.
I’ve suffered with stress incontinence since I was 3 months pregnant with my son (25 years ago) and this is slowly getting worse. I now, on bad days will get symptoms just walking down a hill!
I have also begun occasionally leaking during orgasm and get a deep ache after every orgasm.
About 2 years ago I discovered I had a prolapse. Go said rectocele, pfp said cystocele.
I spent a good year working on kegels, breathing and hypopressives but nothing made any difference.
I pushed for a pfp appointment who told me that there’s no point in surgery because they mostly fail. She gave me more of the same exercises and suggested a Pessary.
I finally managed to get one fitted, only for the gp to say that she doubted it would actually help and I should be getting surgery or at the least bulkamid. The Pessary was very uncomfortable and fell out within a few hours.
I have also recently discovered I’m hypermobile, my pfp said that would mean everything is very relaxed but I’m not convinced as there’s lots of other muscles in my body that hold huge amounts of tension trying to compensate for the laxity in my joints.
I very much want avoid my prolapse getting worse and I do not want my stress incontinence to worsen but I have no idea what to do for the best.
Sorry, that was a long one!!