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Any experience with rectocele? No one EVER talks about this!
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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Thank you JK. I appreciate your response. R/O - rule out the possibility of a rectocele. I am interested in "incomplete elimination" due to feces being literally TRAPPED in a rectocele. I'm not needing info re symptoms per se. I would like to know how the condition "rectocele" may have been (or failed to have been) addressed. Fecal incontinance (and many other symptoms) may well be associated with the condition but these are not of interest to me at this time as I have no extenuating factors - just a poop pouch I want to get rid of. I've no doubt a rectocele left untreated eventually leads to all manner of unpleasant symptoms. Which is my point! Why doctors, gynos especially, don't talk about it! The burdon is on patients to bring up a frankly embarrasing topic. Gynos have no problem proactively bringing up prolapses, atrophic vaginitis, urinary incontinence, even vaginismus... all of which get talked about a LOT, regularly and openly. But I sought relief from severe constipation for 20 years and was NEVER taken seriously - the result - a rectocele. I'm really not interested in comparing symptoms.I hope those who wish to discuss associated symptomology will start a NEW thread. I am only interested in the diagnosis & treatment of a rectocele. Has anyone had procedures to correct this as a single surgery. If so what kinds of outcomes were experienced. Do they have advice as far as what to expect/avoid in terms of surgery or other treatment for this one specific condition? I understand the norm is to consider the female urogenital tract/pelvic floor as a "lump" sum. In many cases this makes sense, but there is a dearth of information re individual components of the female pelvic region other than the vagina which (rightly enough) is paid plenty of attention. Thanks for your understanding...
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4 ReactionsHi, @flind Welcome to Connect. I see you have been here for a few weeks but this is the first time I have come across you.
I discovered when I went to the doctor for urinary incontinence that I have a rectocele too. I do have a problem sometimes with fecal incontinence but I don’t think the rectocele is actually causing that or other problems. The urogynecologist told me there is a surgery for rectoceles but she didn’t seem to recommend it. She did recommend a doctor at a different hospital that has been successful at correcting fecal incontinence but I have not pursued that. Is the rectocele causing any fecal incontinence? I was having a lot of diarrhea so it was a problem but when I finally figured out that I have become lactose intolerant and stopped eating goods containing lactose that problem went away for the most part. If there is fecal incontinence involved an extension of the regular kegels can help with that. You squeeze those muscled along with the usual muscles.
What kind of doctor are you seeing, and what does ”R/O” mean?
JK