Pelvic floor dysfunction insight and help

[ErinKC]

So, I'm fairly certain I have some pelvic floor dysfunction since my daughter was born 4.5 year ago, but no one (including me I guess) has taken it seriously.

Recently I think my symptoms are getting worse and I'm starting to get worried. My annual obgyn appointment is 2/27, but I think waiting that long will make my anxiety grow.

Here are my symptoms:

1. Heavy pelvic feeling during my period
2. Pelvic pain and tenderness before and during ovulation
3. Rectal pressure when I am gassy or have to poop (it's a sharp pain/tightness from my rectum up when I sit down)
4. Intermittent feeling like it's difficult to empty my bladder
5. Sometimes I need to press on the opening of my vagina when I'm having a bowel movement to help pass the stool
6. Feeling of something pressing into my vaginal canal when I insert my finger

Has anyone had similar symptoms and been diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction or partial pelvic organ prolapse? Have you tried pelvic floor physical therapy with any success? Thanks for any insight!!

[MJunderway]

Hi!

I have some issues with pelvic floor dysfunction that are a combo of aging (47), childbirth, and a life-long habit of clenching and holding stress in that area. I did go through manual PFD therapy which wasn't for me (When I am able to calm down, much of the symptoms go away), and looked into several different programs. Kegels tend to be the first line of treatment for women with PFD or prolapse but in many women these exercises can exacerbate the problem and make it worse.

See if you can find a good, if possible female, doctor to be diagnosed before seeking out treatment. There are a number of really good physical therapists addressing this problem. I don't know if I'm allowed to recommend any but Katy Bowman does a lot with PFD. It may be a trial and error before you find what works for you but it's important that you are properly diagnosed before trying any sort of therapy. Read as many reviews as you can before finding someone to diagnose you. Hope this is helpful!

[ErinKC]

Hi! Thank you for the response. I am going to see my obgyn tomorrow to discuss all of this, but I suspect I'll seek out some more specialized advice. I've always had a male obgyn, it's just how it's worked out and it never bothered me until post-partum when I had a lot of issues and felt like he just didn't understand. I do want to find a female doctor who is a bit more nurturing and compassionate. My doctor is the head of the department at the hospital where he works, but he's also very matter of fact and short. I loved this before my daughter was born and I had no anxiety and I could get in and out in 10 minutes... but now I want someone who will spend a bit more time with me and show a bit more compassion and understanding.

My issues are from childbirth and almost definitely some of it is anxiety and tension. I also have a small umbilical hernia, so my whole core is just weak in general. I want to have the hernia fixed but I have a severe anxiety about surgery due to a previous bad experience. But, at the same time I hate the idea that my body is "broken" since my daughter was born 4 years ago and that I'll never be the same. I wish there was more support (or just easier to find support) for women's health issues.

[MJunderway]

Glad to see your appointment went relatively well (your other thread). I have come to understand that women's pain is such a complex issue and very often not taken seriously or misunderstood. Goes all the way back to early medicine when the uterus was seen as a wandering, mischievous creature causing all sorts of maladies, including "sudden death".

As a woman, I think it's important that we don't minimize our pain and that we act as advocates for ourselves and other women. It's the only way we can move forward. It breaks my heart to see women write off their own suffering or place blame on themselves as the cause of the pain- not eating well, not exercising enough, being too promiscuous. I watched "Love, Gilda" over the holidays. The documentary about Gilda Radner. I almost didn't because my HA centers on the big "C" but it was devastating to hear how she suffered for years with some very obvious red flag symptoms. She reportedly wept when she was finally diagnosed because she finally felt that her pain was at last being taken seriously. Obviously we've advanced somewhat in the last two decades but we still have a ways to go.

Off my soapbox for now. Glad to hear that you are looking into specialized care. Sending you positive thoughts!

[ErinKC]

I agree with you 100% on how women's health issues are handled! It's frustrating and enraging. I often feel like I "broke" my body and mind having a child, but I grew a freaking human being and the people who are supposed to help and guide me through it (doctors) are so dismissive of the serious physical and mental effects of something almost half the population goes through.

---------- Post added at 14:58 ---------- Previous post was at 14:18 ----------

Also, yesterday my doctor told me I have a retroverted uterus, which I did not have before pregnancy... Which can be caused by pelvic floor weakness... Which can cause low back pain and sciatica (I just read)... Which I've experienced since my daughter was born and NO ONE every suggested this possibilty. My sciatic pain doesn't present like a herniated disc, so no one could quite explain it... So yet again I've had to figure it out myself.

I'm really looking forward to the physical therapy appt.

I also had a massive fibroid years ago that everyone told me was fine. Then one day it became necrotic and required emergency surgery that was super traumatic. Now I have to call and schedule my own annual ultrasounds and convince my doctor to sign off on them because he thinks it's silly since I only have a few really small ones now. But I continue to demand regular monitoring of them since no one else seems to take fibroids seriously and, while rare, they actually can be serious!

I had another friend who needed a blood transfusion because of a fibroid that caused so much bleeding. Then, because of the transvaginal procedure she had to fix it, when she was pregnant she went to her doctor and asked to be checked for an incompetent cervix, which is almost always diagnosed after a woman looses a pregnancy in the second trimester... He doctor refused until my friend finally broke her down...and she had it!!! My friend saved her baby, no thanks to her doctor.

I could stand on the women's health soap box all day!

[MJunderway]

These stories are mind blowing but not at all out of the norm. I totally wish someone would do research on all of this and present these stories out of context just so that the medical community can see how biased they are being. Sadly, it's even worse for women of color.

I'm really glad that you are taking things into your hands and find additional help. I'd been going back and forth with my crampy ovary and pink CM (not quite breakthrough bleeding). Fact of the matter is, I've been either in pain or discomfort of some kind, down there, since I turned 41. Totally changed my life and not in a good way. My diagnosis is perimenopause, IBS-C, and interstitial cystitis. I've always thought that there's a different answer than what I had been given. Not necessarily that it's something terrible like "C" but rather that the situation is a mix of many different factors and therefore needs different help than what I'd been given. I have a note to follow up with my primary next week. I'll see about getting an ultrasound, just not the invasive one at this point. Keep up with the soapbox and I will too!

[ErinKC]

These stories are mind blowing but not at all out of the norm. I totally wish someone would do research on all of this and present these stories out of context just so that the medical community can see how biased they are being. Sadly, it's even worse for women of color.

I'm really glad that you are taking things into your hands and find additional help. I'd been going back and forth with my crampy ovary and pink CM (not quite breakthrough bleeding). Fact of the matter is, I've been either in pain or discomfort of some kind, down there, since I turned 41. Totally changed my life and not in a good way. My diagnosis is perimenopause, IBS-C, and interstitial cystitis. I've always thought that there's a different answer than what I had been given. Not necessarily that it's something terrible like "C" but rather that the situation is a mix of many different factors and therefore needs different help than what I'd been given. I have a note to follow up with my primary next week. I'll see about getting an ultrasound, just not the invasive one at this point. Keep up with the soapbox and I will too!

I just sought out recommendations on a better obgyn and found one that sounds great. She also stopped delivering babies and only focuses on gynecology, which I had been hoping for. So I made an appointment with her, though it's not until April.

I feel the same as you, too. I don't necessarily think something terrible is wrong. Since I get regular ultrasounds, including transvaginal, to check my fibroids I feel pretty good that there's nothing scary lurking in there. But, I'm not having pain for no reason. Imagine if men went through half the stuff we do? There would be national foundations set up to study all of these issues. I still find it flabberghating the no one has figured out what even causes fibroid yet and like 2/3 of women have them! If men had tumors growing on their testicles we would have had an answer like 30 years ago!

I looked up my online medical record and reviewed the notes my doctor left yesterday. I'm not joking when I say that I must have said at least 10 times that my cycle is 24 days long because he kept not listening to me. In the notes it says my cycle is 28-30 days!!! That pissed me off so much.

---------- Post added at 20:23 ---------- Previous post was at 20:23 ----------

Oh - and I once had to call and tell them to correct my medical record to reflect that I'd had a vaginal birth, not a scheduled c-section like my record said.... definitely time for a new doctor!

[MJunderway]

Hey!

Saw you on the HA part of the forum. Don't even get me started on medical records and incorrect or inadequate reporting. Can you imagine how many mistakes are made because of med professionals not recording the correct info? There's a book I've been meaning to read called "The Checklist Manifesto". It's literally a checklist for surgeons to follow to avoid autopilot type of mistakes. The work coming from that project has been transformative on a global scale! Hope things are better on your end!

[ErinKC]

I know. It's crazy. I looked around for some recommendations and found a doctor who sounds really great. She has been an obgyn for 33 years and recently stopped delivering babies, so her focus will be just on the gynecology side, which I was really hoping for. I couldn't get an appointment until April since I'm a new patient, but it'll be good to get settled with someone new.

I've been feeling good and some of my pelvic floor stuff definitely improves when my anxiety goes down. The pelvic pain I get is only for those 4 or 5 days right after my period, so I'm waiting to see if it comes back again this month. My period is due in 2 days and I happen to have a follow up with the surgeon I saw 6 months ago for my umbilical hernia during the time I'd normally have all those symptoms. So, even though it's not necessarily his area of specialization, I can run it by him to get his thoughts and at least have a doctor see my when the pain and bloating is present.

I also have a pelvic floor physical therapy appt for Feb 20, but just realized I'll have my period then (damn short cycle!) so I think I need to reschedule.