I've had pressure on my bladder for 14 months, help?!

Hi Joanne,

I'm very sorry to hear you are suffering, and at Christmas, too! I have been there, though, with many holidays, trips, good times ruined by my bladder. The anxiety makes it so much worse.

Like you, every bladder and urine test I had was normal. My GP sent me to a therapist. I just kept getting worse and worse.

After being admitted to hospital with urinary retention, I finally got a scan on my pelvis, so at least you are getting that done soon!

Mine revealed two massive fibroids. My doctors continued saying that wasn't the problem even though my uterus was the size of a 5-month pregnancy. Long story short, I had a hysterectomy (privately paid) in July and my bladder issues have disappeared.

I've left out a lot of the painful details of five years of suffering. (My husband and I are trying to decide if we want to file a complaint.)

Your problem likely is not fibroids, but make sure you check that out to be sure.

Best of luck! I will send good vibes your way.

Thank you so much for your response. I'm feeling really alone with this right now. And the fear of not knowing is making the anxiety worse

May I ask, was the hysterectomy your own decision, or was that the only option?

Is there any other treatments for fibroids, if that's what I have?

Sorry you are feeling so low.   I was part of this thread and i've been there.

I won't repeat everything i've put on before, but I did have pressure on bladder,  pain in back and side and when urinating and no infection.  I was put on overactive bladder medicine and it didn't work for me (though I do appreciate it does for other people).    I changed my diet drastically only eating plain stuff and after a few (long) months I did feel better.   It is only my opinion but I think my bladder was "raw" through an infection that didn't show upand it managed to heal through time.   The pressure could be my fibroid  but i'm just guessing.

I was offered a cystascope (which I refused because I was terrified though tons of people tell me it is not as bad as you think) I got the ultrasound with urine retention check and the only thing wrong was a large and bulky womb caused most likely by a fibroid and that may have been pressing on bladder. I'm not retaining urine.  

I'm about 9 months on from that and i've been taking no medicine and i'm not in pain.   My urine is sometimes a bit slow to come out but if I sit a bit more forward it comes out naturally.  I never thought I would ever be able to urinate properly again and not be in pain but I am pretty good.  I'm not perfect and I do go to the toilet quite frequently but I can certainly put up with that.   The pain in back and side is usually attributed to kidneys but they checked them in ultrasound and found they were fine too. Those pains have gone.

I had a very stressful situation recently and a lot of my symptoms returned so yes I agree stress does contribute.    I was able to return to a normal diet albeit more healthy than I was before.   I also took supplements that others on the website recommended. 

I wish I could tell you to do x and x and you would be fine but I don't know the answer.   We are all different (murnaloo needed the op she mentioned) and only Doctors can find out what is.going on inside and make a decision. I haven't really got an answer as to what was/is wrong with me. I was lucky my symptoms got better, though as I said i'm not 100% but I can lead a normal life. 

Basically I want to give you hope.   Thousands of women have had similar symptoms to us.   You are definitely not alone.

Good luck.    Hope you get on ok at ultrasound.

x

Thank you so much Vicky,

Were you very frustrated at first? Just the not knowing....

I am scared for the ultrasound. Hoping it's nothing too serious. But also hoping I can get answers. Like right now my bladder isn't feeling as much pressure than earlier. But side and back hurt and now have a feeling like I'm constipated and have pms pains. This is so stressful. I was able to work out this morning. But I have been eating really poorly. Bad foods. Now after reading what you said I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it too.

Again thank you for responding. I'm glad to hear you are feeling better and it wasn't anything serious.

Hi Joanne,

No, hysterectomy wasn't the only option. I had UFE (uterine fibroid embollisation) to shrink the fibroids (got out of hospital last Christmas Eve). My fibroids shrunk 65%, but they still caused my uterus to push in my bladder.

I was 46 and had no children. My husband and I did not want kids but I still didn't want a hysterectomy, partly because I didn't want to go into menspause.

I tried every dietary thing I could. My husband has been vegan for 12 years, so I tried that. I tried acupuncture and meditating. I spent years on overactive bladder mess as well as antibiotics. The symptoms never went away.

I talked with friends, friends of friends, colleagues, even strangers, and everyone who'd had fibroids and had a hysterectomy said they wished they'd done it sooner. Still, I went into very upset - had my GP listened to me five years ago, it might not have come to this.

I had everything removed except my ovaries. I had the hysterectomy done laperiscioically, so I had no problems. Seriously, I was much worse off when I had my wisdom teeth removed.

Within six weeks, I felt normal. I feel 100% for the first time in years. I do not regret the hysterectomy at all. It solved my problems. I understand it's not right for all, but it's worth ruling out fibroids. If I'd listened to my doctors, I would have dismissed fibroids without investigating this possibility and I'd still be suffering.

I was scared not knowing what was wrong.    I was so scared after the scan because I knew they had found something.    They just concentrated on one area and kept digging the machine into me and that was sore which ultrasounds normally are not.  It took a few weeks for that pain to go away.  I found out later they were trying to get a good picture to see exactly what it was.   It seems to be that if you have fibroid if they are not causing any pain they prefer to leave alone as they tend to go down during menopause and a lot of people don't know they have them.   I had no idea I had one until last year and it is is quite big.   I must still have it, but it is not bothering me.    If it starts to bother me then  I have to go back to Doctor to be looked at again.

I was glad to read Murnaloo's positive version of a hysterectomy as I can't rule out that it might happen in the future but at the moment i'm ok.  I'd say 95% normal again.   

You might not even have a fibroid.    I hope your scan is soon .   Definitely best to get things over and done with.   

You have just reminded me when I had the soreness I couldn't do any exercise apart from walking.  I tried to do a little dancing but I just couldn't manage even a few seconds.  I was very tense in my pelvic region and had to do relaxation exercises which did help loosen the muscles   I've forgotten half of the stuff I went through.

Some days I still feel a bit of pressure on bladder (when i'm stressed) but mostly i'm ok.   It has also been suggested I might have small kidney stones.   

As you can see from forum lots of us have similar symptoms but different outcomes.   I still don't have a definitive answer to what was wrong but as long as I can live my life pain free i'm happy.

I hope you get a good outcome that can be fixed quickly

Thanks for your reply. If you don't mind me asking, What is a UFE?

Yes, that describes it almost perfectly!!

I'm still having the feeling. Not all the time but about 50% of the time.

I went to a urologist, who ran some test, and nothing showed up. She suggested seeing a gynecologist. I had a pelvic ultrasound, and nothing showed up there either. The gynecologist referred me back to the urologist. So at this time, I have absolutely no answers.

How do you do the tumeric remdy?  

None of my doctor's can figure out what the heck is wrong with me.  It's not as often anymore.  It seems like it's worst if I sit for long periods of time and especially worst later towards bedtime. 

I also started drinking a lot of hot drinks like tea, hot chocolate, spiced chia, and the pressure went away within 1 day.  I now drink a lot more water!  I remember the doctor saying that my urine was very dark and I needed more fluids.  I am feeling so much better.  

Yes, I believe the solution was drinking lots of liquid!  I drink all day long and the pressure has not come back.  I can't believe how much better I feel! I have been good for the last month now.