I would be grateful to hear from anyone who's had pain with their rectocele - And to know whether - if you've had a repair done - the operation eventually cured or reduced your pain.
I had been coping with my rectocele relatively ok for the last 7 years - I eat a lot of fibre and have to 'splint' my perineum with my fingers to be able to poo (apologies for the TMI, but needs must!). However, just over 5 weeks ago, during a strong bowel movement (with what I believe was an additional muscle spasm causing the problem) I suddenly got severe pain in my rectum/anus (which nearly sent me through the roof). Ever since then I've been in increasing pain (it feels like I've got a burning golf ball up my backside and sitting is absolute hell). It hurts all the time and only gradually lessens a bit when I'm lying on my side in bed at night (so, thankfully, atm I'm managing to get some sleep, but, as the pain is gradually getting generally worse, I fear it's going to be only a matter of time before I'll be in pain all night too). My GP has very recently referred me to the local hospital to see a NHS colorectal surgeon, so I await an appointment and any tests/investigations. My GP couldn't see or feel any piles or fissures, so I guess the pain could be neurological - perhaps stretched nerves...or maybe there's a fissure or a haemorrhoid in the rectocele 'pocket' that my GP simply couldn't see or feel.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any responses with your experiences of rectocele associated pain. Any tips in coping with it all would be greatly appreciated.
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Spicer21
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Is the pain purely in your vagina or do have some pain in your rectum too? (All of my pain seems be coming from and in my rectum, possibly in the rectocele's 'pouch'.)
Being prescribed valium vaginal suppositories is very interesting to me - Am wondering if my GP might prescribe them as a rectal suppository...Are you in the UK and, if so, did you get the suppositories prescribed on the NHS via the pain clinic you attended or did you have to pay for them privately to be made by the compound pharmacy?
Was your colostomy temporary and was the Diverticulitis painful? - I've been wondering whether Diverticulitis might be part of my problem, as at the moment I can only guess what's going on.
Are you considering getting your rectocele repaired?
Sorry, for all the questions - I'm feeling my way through this and I simply can't believe how much pain I'm in...especially when most of the info on the net re rectoceles states that they are rarely painful
Do you mind me asking which female gynae this was? I am desperately looking for a reliable consultant to deal with the rectocele/vaginal prolapse and pudendal nerve issues.
I'm in the UK, so it might be difficult to get valium suppositories...but I'll enquire with my GP.
Thanks for telling me how you manage - I've just bought some glycerine suppositories, so will definitely give those a go.
I'm 60 years old and have never been pregnant, so getting a rectocele was quite a shock - probably due to menopause though (as I've never been on HRT).
I too have fibromyalgia - and Chronic Fatigue - both for over 20 years now.
No arthritis as such, but I've had a partially 'frozen' left shoulder for the last 3 years, which is pretty painful. At menopause I got Hashimoto's Thyroiditis plus a rare eye disease that gives me double vision.
I've tried all sorts of drugs for fibro to include Gabapentin - I couldn't stand how 'spaced out' it made me feel though...and, unfortunately, it did nothing much to relieve my pain. Pregabalin worked to relieve some of my muscle stiffness, but I also had to come off that because of side effects. I take co-dydramol when the fibro pain's at its worst, but as opiates constipate I have to be careful, what with the rectocele.
I tried topical estrogen cream for vaginal atrophy, but it affected me systemically - made my fibro many times worse...horrendous increase in back pain each time I tried it. Currently, I just use some bio-identical progesterone cream which has a little bit of estrogen in it - It's all I can tolerate.
Hi Chippy10. I wasn't prescribed progesterone cream. I buy it from a company called Wellsprings. They do a progesterone only cream called 'Serenity' and another one that is progesterone with a wee bit of oestrogen in it called '20-1'. Here's a link to their website wellsprings-health.com/page.... Hope this helps.
if you are in constant pain i would recommend surgery. i had the surgery and unfortunately pudendal nerve issues afterwards but gabepentin, Cymbalta and occasional Tramadol really make it better and i do function highly i even exercise 5 days a week. at times i have a off couple weeks and that is when i may use Tramadol for the most part God has been good to me. Have you tried Kegel exercises for the rectal spasms...they really helped me with that. I pray for your healing.
I'm in constant pain all day long but, so far, the pain gradually calms down when I lie on my side at night and I can then, thankfully, sleep. I'm frightened that after an operation to repair my rectocele I might end up being in pain all night too, so it's not an easy decision for me, especially as I've tried gabapentin, Cymbalta and Tramadol (amongst other pain meds) and none of them relieved the pain that I suffer from fibromyalgia, which I've had for over 20 years. (All those meds did for me was give me bad brain fog; I just couldn't think straight.) Also, doing kegels triggered my getting vulvodynia in the past, which lasted many months...So, as you will gather, I'm a difficult case...but I am truly grateful to you for taking the trouble to reply. I'm also grateful to be in your prays as I'm at rather a low ebb at present.
yes surgery takes away the rectocoele pain because the rectum can no longer prolapse. Doesn't take away pudendal nerve or levator spasm pain. I attend a pain clinic twice a year for steroid injections into the piriformis muscles which press onto the pudendal nerve.
It's very interesting about the piriformis muscles. Would any local pain clinic be likely to do steroid injections into the periformis muscles or did you have to seek out a specialist pain clinic?
And, if you don't mind me asking, have you had a rectocele repair yourself which helped with your pain? If so, was it done through the anus or vagina? Please do pm if you wouldn't want to post about it on open forum.
hi there, most big hospitals have pain clinics with an anaesthetist in charge. They should do piriformis muscle injections if your GP will refer you. Unfortunately a lot of GPs don't know anything about piriformis muscles or pudendal nerve problems and if they aren't willing to be educated then you might have to ask for a private consultation with a pain doctor who can confirm the diagnosis and then your GP will have to refer you on the NHS. My private consultation cost me £250, so if you can take some evidence of it from the internet to your GP it will save you money. I had complicated colorectal surgery in 2006 for rectocoele,rectal prolapse, rectal intusseption enterocoele and megacolon caused by a weak pelvic floor and lifelong severe constipation. No pregnancies. I had abdominal surgery, the procedure was called a sigmoid rectopexy and subtotal colectomy, but if you only have a rectocoele you wont need any of that. I had a lot of pain for many years, always diagnosed as IBS. Eventually I pushed for investigations in 1998 and convinced a colorectal Dr to operate in 2006. It took that long to convince different Drs that it wasn't IBS and it wasn't due to stress. Its been a long journey , most of my pain is gone, only the pudendal pain left and I'm learning to cope with that. I'm 73 now, glad I had the surgery but sad that it took so long and I had to push so hard and refuse to give up.
I'll try and get my GP to refer me to a pain clinic and will go armed with some information from the Internet as you suggest. I'll have to investigate who I can see privately if my GP won't refer me on the NHS. I too have never been pregnant and so never dreamed that I would get a prolapse post menopause. Thanks for your advice and for sharing your story with me.
Find your local hospital which has a pain clinic, ring them up and ask for the names of all the consultants who do private work, and where they do it. Choose one, ring their secretary, make an appointment and ask your GP for a letter to take with you. Easy!
Let me know if I can be any help. Lying on my ice pack at the moment, bent over in the garden to play with my cat. Bad idea!
I might do that anyway, i.e. go privately, especially if my GP won't prescribe me the Ultraproct suppositories that you mentioned to me. And thanks for the offer of help if I need it; you've already been a mine of information and a great help to me - thanks
Sorry you're on your ice pack - Just one 'false move' and I know that the pain can be horrendous
Yes, I've experienced those blank looks - I can never understand why they can't understand it. I wonder what you'd have say your pain is like for it to hit home to them.
Never would unless they've had it themselves. Pain is badly managed in the UK. Its not a priority in the NHS, not enough money spent on it. Even now where I live funding is being withdrawn from pain clinics gradually, some procedures denied, others rationed. Its very bad, and I cant see it getting any better.
Yes, someone told me that if you do manage to get referred to a pain clinic in my area you get rationed to a maximum of 2 appointments - Even if they haven't managed to come up with anything to help you, you have to go back to your GP to be re-referred, which apparently the GPs at my local health centre are reluctant to do
Money again, always comes down to that. Have you thought of trying a chiropractor for massage to release the muscles and tissues, worth it if your pain consultations are restricted to 2. Must be somone knowledgeable, if you talk to them you will know straight away if they 'get' what you are saying and can discuss it with you- causes, symptoms, treatment, success rates. I think female chiropractors are more empathetic.
Thanks, no, I didn't know that chiropractors do that, so I will definitely make some enquiries. I had heard that there were physios that specialise in pelvic floor problems (but they all seem to live too far from me).
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