Want to discuss prolapse bladder or any kind of prolapse

Not real sure what you mean by problem patient? We all are on this site for the same reason to try to help others with advise from our personal experience..i gave my personal honest experience as to what happened with my stiches....think you should rethink your reply if I read the question right "looking for anyone who has had previous prolapse surgery with complications of nerve damage where stich was put"..that was my exact same problem not sure I appreciate being called a problem patient .. sorry if I took it wrong but have never had that tone used to me on this site

@pizon
Sorry if you felt that your concerns were not being treated with the proper care. @barbnelson23 can certainly speak for herself but I took her message as her referring to herself and that her experience had been that doctors had treated her as a "problem patient" when she went to them with issues from a previous surgery that they did not perform. I have actually had this experience with an ankle surgery that did not go too well so maybe that is why I took it that way. I believe you are correct that most often on this site we all try our best to be respectful and compassionate. Hopefully this time it was just a miscommunication.

please c my e-mail and let me know what happened with the nerve? ggm thanks

Wow, we do have a connection Gail, maybe we should have stayed indoors and knitted. Yet, doctor told me nuns who never had children had the same percentage of prolapse as the general population saying that age thins the support tissues in all women. I had 2 vaginal births. What I find interesting is that I have never heard of any other woman in my family had prolapse happen. My mother had 4 children and I know she didn't have this issue. It does seem like a shameful thing, I don't go around talking about it. Probably more have had prolapse and don't discuss it. I think we have all heard that lifting can cause a hernia, yet some children are born with hernia's.

While I don't think prolapse is my own problem, there is so much good information in this discussion for me.. I am 76 year old woman and having vginal and vulva issues for the first time in my life. It is difficult to find any information for women of age about any of this, so I'm thankful to learn about anything pertaining to my latest problems. This all began with me when I developed a discharge that just wouldn't go away.. my doctor treated me for chlaydia, but it didn't help. so we treated it again, again no help. Then, to my horror, he tested me for all the STDs, and they all came back negative.. so at that point we pretty much gave up. Later, I had a tooth crown that needed work, so my dentist prescribed penicillin for that first.. Lo and behold, the discharge went away.. Now I've had 2 more bouts of the penicillin and each time it has cleared up the discharge for a few months. With the last bout of med tho, I developed my first case of yeast infection. I used an over the counter vaginal cream for that.. but still the tender burning vulva continued. My sister told me to try coconut oil, so I'm using that now and it does relieve the pain.. still I need to use it every day it seems.. Okay, I can do that! I never knew old age brought on so much pain and discomfort "down there"!! I would like to hear what other older women have to say about it..
and thank you all so very much for being here.. I feel like I've found more sisters!

Hi, @hotfooted - glad you are feeling like you have found more sisters and that the posts here in this discussion are useful, even though you've not had prolapse. Your post made me think of a discussion on Connect you might also be interested in checking out, on chlamydia https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/problems-after-chlamydia.

Also, you might be interested in this Mayo Clinic information on that same condition https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chlamydia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355349

@gardeningjunkie, I also had a hysterectomy at the time of prolapse repair, and I had rectal prolapse repair at the same time. I, too, would say the hysterectomy recovery was harder than I expected. Or, it might be accurate to say the recovery from the whole thing was harder than I expected. The surgeon and his nurse told me several times that this was "major surgery," but I don't think I really knew what that meant, as I'd never had a surgery in that category. I tried not to take the oxycodone in the hospital, as my husband thought I was so goofy on it, and this prolonged my hospital stay trying to control the pain. At home, I also found it was important to be really on top of the pain meds, and my husband would help me by setting alarms for me to take my next dose at first till I felt a little better and could manage this more on my own.

I'm now seven years out from my surgery, and I have noted a bit of falling back down of my bladder (I can feel it, since I got so attuned to the feelings in that area before my surgery). I went to a urogyn nurse practitioner in my surgeon's group, and it has fallen down partway, but not entirely like before. I'd had the situation where it was bulging out the bottom and I could only walk kind of like a cowboy prior to my surgery. Now it feels like some days I notice the bladder down further (than it was right after my surgery), and other days I give it no thought at all. Not sure if it actually varies, or if it's just my focus at the time. I also still wear a pantyliner every day, cause I think it helps me psychologically after dealing with the leakage I had before surgery, and every so often I leak just a tiny bit.

@gardeningjunkie - how far out are you from your surgery? Sounds like you are symptom-free now?

@hotfooted,
I am glad you find the information helpful and I agree that it has been difficult to find information. When I was trying to decide what to do about my bladder prolapse a couple of years ago, I felt very helpless at first because the gynecologist kept sending me to the urologist and vice versa (back and forth). Once I got in to see the urogynecologist I felt a sense of relief when I realized that what I was going through was quite common. With regard to women who are post menopause, there are some things that I was told by the urogynecologist after my surgery. He told me to use Estrace cream at least 3 times per week and to keep my Rx filled. It is a tube and you just use a small bit in the applicator and insert it 3 times a week. My doctor said it will keep the tissue "young" . When I went in for my check up one year post surgery, he said he could tell I was using it and that I should keep using it forever. I told him it was sort of a chore and he said it would keep things from becoming itchy and dry and irritated because as you age, the tissue becomes dry and less elastic so it is prone to irritation. So I use the cream religiously as instructed and I do notice that if I forget about it more than twice, I do feel a little dry and less comfortable.

The last time I was in to see this same doctor he tried to sell me on a laser treatment "down there". He had invested in the same general equipment as the dermatologists who do laser treatments on the face have. He said it costs something like $3500 for the first treatment and then a little less for the second and third and he recommended at least 3 treatments. He said this would keep me from having to use the cream. I laughed and told him that if I were going to spend that kind of money on laser treatments I would do it on my face where more people could see it. But apparently you can now get a photo-facial "down there". I guess there is demand for this but I don't think I will be a customer unless I win the lottery and even then, I am not so sure. But there is definitely starting to be a lot more interest in treatment of vaginal discomfort in post menopausal women. There must be or he would certainly not have invested in that big expensive machine. He now sells packages (like packages of 3 or 5 treatments and you get a volume discount). This particular doctor is in a high end area of town and his office is always packed so "we" are not alone in our issues for sure.

It's been 3 years since mesh surgery and urethra lift appliance. No bladder issues, no leakage even with a hard sneeze. No pad. Like you after hysterectomy I was surprised by the pain. I had natural childbirth so I figured I could handle pain, yet the difference between a few hours of pain and even the incredible pain of the delivery while the baby is in the birth canal happens is not the same as 24/7 misery recovering from hysterectomy. The hysterectomy pain goes on and on. I had medicare and spent only one night in the hospital. While in the hospital they put pain med into the IV and I think it is better stuff. A
After hysterectomy with bladder and colon lift it was dramatically improved, but knew it still wasn't like it was before prolapse and told it was swelling. It never right, felt like you described and could see something was lower than it should be. Not below the vulva area like previously, but wrong. I did my homework this time and saw a specialty surgeon and was told I should wait at least 6 months or a year before next surgery. As mentioned I have no more prolapse issues. Remember my warning- see a specialist in prolapse repair.

I am free of chronic yeast infections affecting my internal vulvae tissue. I have used anti yeast pill , like Diflucan on and off for years if I had the vaginal yeast issues with discharge. I am talking about a different type of yeast infection. It lives inside the vulvae tissues. No discharge, just burning. I never though of diet until I saw a different OB/Gyn doctor who said the key to killing yeast is starving it. Yeast needs sugar to live. I resisted doing this for a year. Then I came across an old book at a library sale by Dr. William Crook, "The Yeast Connection". Simple and straight forward and not complicated like other anti-yeast anti-inflammation diets. I followed his 2 month yeast detox diet and have been so successful I will follow it for life. Going on 5 months now. After the 2 month kill off it is less restrictive, but still no processed sugar or gluten for life. Also limited gluten free carbs and limited foods containing natural sugar like fruit. The 2 month detox is brutal. Zero carbs and zero sugar both processed and in foods like fruit. After 6 weeks the chronic swollen, red and burning vulvae became normal tissue again. Yes, lots of meat, fish, poultry and vegetables
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Amazing results after decades of issues. I would tell myself while depriving myself of food, "When will you learn it's going to make you burn"?

No money for drug companies to market a deprivation diet. Plus I kid you not, you will need will power. I never went on a food restriction diet in my life as I never had a weight problem and was surprise how hard it was. Even with a full stomach of healthy foods you crave the sugars and carbs.

I do believe one has to be miserable to have the will power to experiment with diet change

I finally decided to do it--april 2nd, having what they call vaginectomy bcause my prolapse is of the vaginal vault. dr. said it is the simplest one to do. i'm still scared. afraid I will be worse. please anyone who had vaginal vault prolapse repair reach out to me. thanks. ggm