Which pads/pants for now?

Hello Ellie, it is terrible I know, I had the same problems before I had an hysterectomy last March and an entrocele, rectocele and bladder  lift in October. I used to get the Tenna lady pads, they look bulky but easy to wear with my normal pants. I always carried sopares with me. They do make padded pants too but I never used those. I hopeyu find something to suit you.

Hi Ellie, I don't have advice on pads but there are some special knickers which help lift the pelvic floor and they also do leggings, gym shorts etc. They are expensive, but when I was waiting for my op I found it so helpful to have everything lifted up and I felt more secure when standing/sitting/walking/exercise etc. I'll look up the name and message you.

Have you seen a specialist who can perhaps offer a vaginal pessary to help. I have a shelf pessary and it does help a hugely. Not perfect, but like others I do wear Tena Mini pads to avoid leakage problems. These pads are very good and I haven't felt embarrassed when out and about. Obviously if you leak, then they need changing! I am not sure whether avoiding coffee might help too. Obviously you still need to drink though. Best of luck with sorting it out.

Hi Ellie. You poor thing - that must be so miserable. I was lucky not to have incontinence so can't really advise on that although i guess the ones with the absorbent gel in like disposable nappies would be the best? Like you I saw a womens physio who recommended 6 mths of frequent pfe's which I felt actually made it worse! (Since found out you should only do 3x 3x 10 a day!) When GP then examined me she said pfe's would never have sorted it as to far gone so 6 mths wasted! I'm in Somerset and was put on waiting list in Oct - told op wouldn't be til feb. As my daughter getting married in April I asked for a cancellation and was so so lucky to get one and have just had my op on 28 dec! So it may well be worth going on cancellation list. I spoke to the appointments team and explained why I was so desperate for one. NB: if you're on hrt you need to come off at least 6 weeks before op. It sounds like you should go back to GP and get better advice how to deal with the problems in the meantime. Shame you cant have a flip&flow catheter like theyve sent me home with! Hope you manage to sort things out enough to enjoy your holiday. Hugs x

Oh and regarding hysterectomy, it shouldn't be done unless medically necessary. I had anterior & posterior repair and sacro-spinous fixation as uterus dropping too but didn't need a hysterectomy.if it ain't broken... 😊 x

I had been having problems for a fw years really but then I had a bad  uterus prolapse which borught things to a head. The surgeon suggested doing the hysterectomy first and thought that might alleviate my incintinence problems but it didn't so then he said he woud do the mesh sling with my bladder and I asked if he could do the other two problems at the same time which he agreed to do.. It has taken me a while to get over the surgry but this last few weeks I have felt back to normal and although I am not lifting anything heavy etc. my incontinence is fine now . I was very lucky and din't have to wait too long before either operation. Hope you manage to get yours soon

Oh nooooo you poor girl. Prolapses are so rarely talked about in general public arena, who would, but that means little sympathy for accidents!! Surely pretty much being fully incontinent must put a good priority on surgical list placement? Hopefully you see a Urogynaecologist real soon. Just don't have hysterectomy too unless fully necessary as removing it can cause a whole new raft of problems. As above, if it ain't broke........  

Hi Ellie, further to my earlier message, the special knickers and sports shorts and leggings I felt were helpful for supporting my prolapses were by EVB sport, they have their own website but all available via third party web sites who have info on incontinence, prolapses and pelvic exercises etc. They are based in Ireland but ship all  over. Only downside is expense, but I found it lifted  and supported me whilst walking etc and gave me more confidence, but you would still need pads inside. Hope this helps. Good luck x

Hi Elllie

My heart goes out to you. I started to have a leaky bladder while waiting for my hysterectomy and prolapse surgery. I had a long wait due to waiting lists on the NHS and in the end out of desperation thought I'd try using a kegal 8 device. It was the best thing that I did. It made a huge difference and although I still had the prolapse, it stopped all the leaking and reduced the severity of the prolapse so I wasn't as uncomfortable. Swimming helped a lot too. It's a great exercise for prolapse as you don't have the gravity issue like with walking (which I normally love but found difficult). I swam for 3-5 hours each week, non-stop lengths at each visit to the pool. I realise that may sound impossible to begin with but it was surprisingly easy to build up to.  

I'm guessing you will be going down the surgery route for your prolapses but this is worth giving a try to relieve some of your symptoms in the mean time.

All the best x