advice on prolapse pessary

[Polly44]

Hi Have just under a week ago been given a pressary for prolapse and and I cant seem to be able to poop without help now (sorry if tmi) but literally unless i force the issue I just cant go on my own. Also getting blood in my wee on and off too. anyone else had the same problem? do i have to have it take out?

[Nothingimpossible]

Hi Polly44. Sorry your having problems. I have never had a pessary fitted but I suggest you phone your gp. You should not have blood in your wee. Wish you well.

[Polly44 in reply to Nothingimpossible]

thank you, i am waiting on a call back, its not as bad as it sounds its just pink now and again (only happened since it was fitted a week ago but does mean the pessary is rubbing .

[mary6549]

Hi Polly, sorry you’re having so much trouble with your pessary, you need to go back to your GP for advice, especially if you’re getting blood in your wee. I too have a pessary fitted for prolapse, which I’m getting on with great, it’s working for me, I’ve had a cystocele prolapse 3 years in April.

[Polly44 in reply to mary6549]

thanks Im am trying to get through to the place i had it fitted, bit gutted really hope they will just try another size than just take it out, blood thing its not as bad as it sounds its more like pink now and again (but reading up it still means its rubbing on vagina walls and need to be able to poop to eh lol. but just been hoping both would settle down cos its not falling out and reckon it was the cause of the pain in my back (the prolapse i mean) mine is same as your prolapse.

[mary6549 in reply to Polly44]

Best of luck and hopefully the pessary ring will work out for you

[Donnay]

Hi,I have a pessary I have the pink one that is filled in and I've found it better than the white rigid ring. When it was fitted I was referred to the bowel clinic as well. After trying all sorts I've found what works for me. A relatively high fibre diet with lots of green veg plus I take one sachet of moviolas each night. It's important not to get constipated I also ensure I drink plenty of water as movicol is a stool softener and works by drawing water into the stool. The bowel specialist recommended I fold toilet paper and use it to support the sera between my vagina no rectum going to the toilet!

You should get the blood checked out but I had the same and found it wasn't in my wee but chaffing from the pessary when I strained ( if ever I was constipated )....... Hope this helps

[Polly44 in reply to Donnay]

assuming thats one that has to be taking out each time when sexually active by sounds of it and then i cant have my coil with it (praying i can get something else) yes its defo the pessary rubbing causing it, literally happened since day i had it fitted, it stops and starts and not as bad as it sounds by defo pessary is rubbing and cant just leave it eh, calling them today, thanks for all advice will defo look into that

[Poppycat999 in reply to Polly44]

Hello Polly44I have a 64mm ring pessary with diaphragm( just means bit of thin silicone in middle with holes in)

It depends on your prolaspe and the size of your pessary with the poop thing. The pessary can restrict your bowel movements as the vagina and bowel are extremely close together. This creates a bend to poop round. The trick is to get the best diameter pessary to help you and not block your bowel. Its extremely important to not get constipated. I take a sachet of cosmocol which is a mild laxative it just adds water to your motions making them softer and easier to pass. If you dont want to take that sort of thing you need to drink plenty of water and eat things like prunes. Some ladies pull the pessary out to go if it's a ring pessary. Some take them out at night. I leave mine in eat healthy take the daily sachet and manage ok. Your knees should be higher than your pelvis on the loo so squatting type position makes too.

You definitely need to tell your doctor about any blood in your urine.

Hope this helps you.

[Polly44 in reply to Poppycat999]

Hi Poppycat thanks for that will try it, mine is 65mm ring heard her asking the nurse, consultant said not to take it out or put it back in if comes out incase need a different size so to come back to her, Ive been drinking pints and pints and pints of water lol , but unless i literally push it out throught the vagina (sorry if tmi) then i literally cant go and feel uncomfortable all day until i get to the point i can even push it out, so will try the cosmocol defo. Ive rung the place i had it fitted and told them about both problems someone is calling me back, its not pure blood so much as pink a bit in wee and when i wipe on and off not contanstly(its defo the pessery rubbing for sure, literally happened on and off since day i had it fitted. :-/. praying i dont have to have it out and a different size maybe sorts the problem i hope. thanks for all the advice update am off back to the clinic hopefully give me a different size maybe and it works for me , fingers crossed anyway,

[Poppycat999 in reply to Polly44]

Hi Polly44 I know it's all a bit scary at first but please dont be.

I call my pessary my flexible friend. My husband can put mine in for me if necessary or sometimes it just needs pushing up a bit more with a single finger. If l have been more active or its moved down to low with a poop. I was scared at first. You shouldn't be able to feel it when it's in the correct place. When you go back to the doctors make sure you ask to look at the pessary it's only to help you feel more comfortable.

Google where they sit and how they are inserted. Most are folded for inserting and ping open inside you. I wouldn't be without mine. By the way you can still have intercourse with alot of them not all as some are space filling.

All the very best to you.

[Polly44 in reply to Poppycat999]

Hi Poppycat well my consultant asked someone else to fit me in, the man doctor was really horrible from the minute i walked in :(, he had made up his mind it was a bowel problem than because of the pessary, was not even going to look at me. He said well you have a bowel problem thats why you have been referred to bowel specialist. I replied sometimes i have the odd day i have trouble but never not been able to go for a whole week with me forcing it out myself. (also was the pessary consultant who referred me to bowel specialist to make sure nothing nasty going on i was there for the prolapse not me having trouble going al the time. The Dr today said well you have a choice u either keep it in or take it out,

He asked is it working for you, i said yes in the way that its nice with my ongoing lung problems not to have to worry about coughing, was horible feeling the prolapse all the time, I told him my consultant said earlier was sending me here to check see if it had moved or maybe i needed a smaller size. The dr then replied well i will look if you want me to. (errm yes please if you could do your job, i didnt say that just thought it ha ha).

He on one hand said I have a small pessary (turns out it was 68 one i had) no way it would be effecting me going to the toilet, then in the next breath said might be pressing on the rectum, well for someone who didnt even want to look a minute ago, he said i will try a smaller one if you want but if it falls out you have a desion to make, then sad its trail and error with these (well make up your mind eh doctor). so he put in a 62, im thinking why did he not try the 65 in between, so hoping i can go to the toilet now and hoping it doesnt fall out either. I also said oh 68 i thought the consulant had said 62 and the nurse said dont u mean 65 when it was fitted, the nurse that was there today said no it was 68 i was the nurse, i apologised said i must have heard wrong> The doctor then looked and the nurse and smirked and said you choose the wrong size.

I am honestly not scared of it and took hubby along to my pessary fitting and asked the doctor when it came to the fitting can my hubby watch so he can put it back in if needed in future lol. But she basically said no i want you to come back if comes out cos might need a different size its trail and error.

sorry for the essay, really hope this stays in and I never have to see that Doctor again and that I poop tonight

😂

[Poppycat999 in reply to Polly44]

Hi Polly44There are alot of doctors l now do not like and arent that nice to me. They sort of win as you dont want to go back and see them again! I often have to force myself!

Can l ask if your pessary has a hollow middle? Or does it have a thinner diaphragm support with drainage holes?

One thing l think l know the one l have which has the diaphragm comes in a 64mm then jumps to a 70mm nothing inbetween. The hollow ones have 68mm but l doubt every size inbetween. One doctor when l asked why it had a diaphragm support middle said you can get away with a smaller ring size (hence easier to poop l presumed.)

You can find out what size you have by measuring it when it's out. The diameter across it is the size it is in millimetres.

All the best

[Polly44 in reply to Poppycat999]

Hi Poppycat My consultant i saw when it was originally fitted was really nice, but this doctor i saw yesterday had fitted me in as my consultant asked him too (maybe thats why he was grumpy and took it out on me (or maybe he just isn't very nice full stop.

Im pretty sure its literally just the ring one nothing in the middle, The doctor said I had a 68mm one in and he looked on the computer to make sure when i said oh i thought it was a 65mm one, i dont get why on trying a smaller one he didnt put in the 65mm than jump to a 62 saying if it falls out etc.

I honestly felt like one that was in was a bit too big from the off i was aware of it could almost feel where it was and even after doing pelvic floors felt it all over again, and i ached a bit inside too the next day after fitting, but just hoping the 62 stays in now and doesnt keep falling out cos its too small (so far so good lol).

[Poppycat999 in reply to Donnay]

Hi hope you dont mind me messaging you. I too wear a ring pessary with support 64mm it's an American bioteque one. I have been trying to get a spare my doctor gave me the prescription which l took to Boots chemist 31st January 2022. They cant get pessaries now saying they are on back order!!!! I tried yesterday taking my prescription to Lloyds chemist they cant get them either!!!! Do you know the make of yours as the problem could be as it's from USA and stuck on a container ship!!! I am hoping you can tell me the make of yours or the chemist you got it from. Worried about getting pessaries now!!!

[Polly44 in reply to Poppycat999]

Hi poppycat I got mine done at the hospital so sorry i have no idea the name of it

[NiamhP]

Not many Doctors have the skills to fit ring pessaries in my experience. I have had nurses very skilled at inserting and removing. I current get mine done by a specialist nurse at a London Hospital and she is very skilled. In the past I have had very good experiences from easy to brutal. I have had mine for about six years but am going to go for bladder repair hoping I won’t need to continue with ring pessary. Two years ago I started having faecal leaks which I wonder if they are related to the ring pessary. Going through tests at the moment, don’t know what the outcome will be. I have a rectocele. I would suggest you make sure the size is correct to prevent any future problems in your bowel. I have porridge with two tablespoons of ground flax daily for about last 4 years and that has eliminated constipation problems but I think the bowel leakage may be to do with the pessary over time. I am 68 so possibly age becomes a factor too. Also my consultant mentioned a ring pessary that is a available now that is much easier to insert and remove but I don’t know anything more about it. My local surgery here in London (3+ Doctors, don’t know how many nurses) does not have anyone with the expertise to fit and remove ring pessaries, which is why I now have it done in a hospital with a specialist nurse. My ring pessary is 80mm diameter 1.25 thickness. I would advise anyone to find a professional that can through trial and error get to the absolute correct size as I personally feel it can impact on bowel function over time. However, I am not a medic and can only relate to my own experience. Good luck but don’t be put off by a cranky doctor, hope you can access someone more empathetic.

[Polly44 in reply to NiamhP]

Thanks Niamhp honestly is not easy to see someone to trial and error so i will just keep trying to see what i can work myself . But think this smaller one is better but still have problems at times going.

[Butch12 in reply to NiamhP]

Please don’t go for a bladder repair I had one3 yearshrs ago lland a bowel lift it was horrendous I was in excruciating pain for 11 weeks I couldn’t sit down and when I had to open my bowels I was screaming the hospital down they had me on morphine for 3 weeks it’s left me tramatised please think about it I would rather go in to Labour 3 times over than have that pain

[Polly44 in reply to Butch12]

hi Butch urgh that sounds horrendous, im sorry you went through that , :-/. Its not a bladder repair its a bowel prolapse i have, im not sure I can just leave this (they did mention apart an op in a yr or 2. :-/. even hearing how much pain you was in surely thats not normal for that op .

[Mrshappyme]

hi iv had a pressery ring in for ayear and 2months now and i started haveing louse blowel movements like i couldent do much and id feel slihtly neusea with it too . i tryed different size rings as i thougt it was that then i thort well is the pressery ring pushing up against something and blocking my bowel so i asked my gyno to place the ring further back as it was always place in the midde . since then iv felt fine and i can go toilet no neusea . its worth asking your gyno to push it back alittle or it might need bringing forward a little . oh and i also have a varginal mosterisor in aplacators they help loads . to keep it nice and moist in there and help the pressery ring to not rub on tissue in threr and make you feel sore. i use 1 aplcator every third night . and i go toilet and make sure i go to urinate before i put it in .

[Nessie50 in reply to Mrshappyme]

Hi, not yet diagnosed with prolapse but thinking I will be going down that route as had hysterectomy 5 yrs ago and think my muscle tone is not good. Can I ask , can you have a pessaries if you have a cuff after hysterectomy? Wondered if it rubs against it or is it further forward (pessaries).

[Polly44 in reply to Nessie50]

HI nessie sorry only just seen this and i honestly don't know on that one, but i would definitely recommend doing pelvic floors 3 times a day if possible (would be a-lot easier than the pessary option tho, and also its the pelvic floors that hold the pessary in also if you did need one in the future. I am still having trouble with bowel movements since having mine fitted (just wish someone would have told me about prolapses and i would have lived for the pelvic floors to prevent having the pessary would have been my choice.

[Poppycat999 in reply to Polly44]

Hi Polly l have a pessary ring 64mm with support middle. I take cosmocol sachets one a day with my main meal. You put the sachet in a large glass of water. It makes my stools softer therefore easier to pass wouldn't be without my sachets had terrible trouble with bowels before. You adjust sachet as regards to your bowels sometimes l dont have a whole sachet. Cosmocol sachets add water to your stools making them softer and easier to pass. The prolaspe can mean you have to poo around a bend so softer stools make life better. I use a kegel8 once a day to help my pelvic floor. It doesn't repair the prolaspe but it takes away loads of the horrible dragging lump feelings you get in your vagina.

Hope this helps

[Polly44 in reply to Mrshappyme]

Hi mrshappyme to be honest after my last visit don't think i will be asking them anything (was horrible the doctor i saw) im trying all sorts from adding more fiber and if really need to something to soften stools. Also it took 3 months to see someone in the first place so not easy to get to see anyone in person. Im getting by and feels alot more confortable now ive had smaller pessery fitted so will just keep trying and hopefully will figure out what works long term. (till i can have the op to fix the bowel prolapse).