Any experience with rectocele? No one EVER talks about this!

Posted by flind @flind, Mar 7, 2020

My situation: Self-diagnosed rectocele. Have appointment in 4 days to hopefully confirm or R/O. After 20 years on anti-depressants my constipation was so bad that I developed a rectocele. I hope to find out soon how large it is and how to treat it... Have been doing Kegels. Have had no other pelvic issues of any kind - ever (lucky, I know). Am post-menopausal, age 62. After ~4 months I successfully tapered off Venlafaxine down to zero (was NOT easy and that Mayo group was VERY helpful to me). One of the first things I noticed in tapering/ending AD's was being able to poop again! Hallelujah! But 20 years of constipation had taken its toll. Caution The Following is not for the faint of heart/squeamish (but this is a topic no one is talking about and I KNOW I can't be "the only one"...): I am getting too old for the physical contortionism necessary to extract poop from my rectum, not to mention sick of it. I go for annual gyno exam EVERY YEAR. Every visit I have complained about severe constipation. Lately I have even described how difficult it is to completely eliminate and having to use my fingers to get the poop out. Why has NO ONE ever said "rectocele"????? It took me several hours of sleuthing online to even find a word for it. And when I did it seemed like a fairly common physical ailment for women - and yet - there is very little out there about this condition. Most of the sites that mention rectocele do so 'in passing' while discussing pelvic prolapses. I in no way mean to belittle THAT horrible state of affairs... it's just not my personal issue and I want to know more about my personal issue. But everytime I try to find more info I end up reading stories about OTHER pelvic issues because if rectocele is mentioned at all it is in conjunction with these others. Please... has anyone else had this as their main or single issue who would be willing to share diagnosis, procedures, outcomes, what to expect/avoid? If so I would be truly grateful!

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@joyce7

Hi aethos. Sorry to hear about your pains d problems. Concerning your surgery, how was it? Was it very painful and how was your recovery besides the uti?

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Joyce, all is well now. The UTI went away but then I developed bacterial vaginosis, never had that before! It has been frustrating but it’s getting better and my primary care doc says it will eventually get better…I am taking refrigerated probiotics for it. As for the surgery itself….definitely needed6 weeks to recover

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I had the surgery a few years ago and I think it’s back. I am now in the process of doing the colonoscopy prep and I hope it works.

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