TTOTY (year!)

[FitnessRN]

Hi Everyone,
It's getting to be the time of year I am starting to dread. Not the holidays- my annual gyn exam. You see, even as I have become tightened and toned on the outside, things on the inside are progressively heading south. For the past few years the discussion of pelvic floor surgery has been a large part of my Dr. visit.

Until now I've held off because it's no small surgery and it IS elective at this point. If I didn't exercise I'd probably barely know there was a problem -except for sneezing . But I am increasingly altering my fitness routine around this issue (i.e. running or step class in the afternoon can absolutely not happen unless I consciously abstain from all liquids for at least three hours prior!) so I'm really torn.

Have any of you had this type of surgery? What was the recovery period like? How long was it before you were able to exercise comfortably again? Were the benefits worth it for you? If you've chosen not to have surgery, have you found any good methods of dealing with it, other than intentional dehydration?

I realize this can be a sensitive subject but you all seem to be pretty open here. If you don't mind sharing with me but don't want to post on the board I'd be happy to get an email from you. I need to call to make an appt. soon, so it's really heavy on my mind today. Thanks for giving me a forum to get some perspective.

FitnessRN

 

[junemom]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-02 AT 03:02PM (Est)[/font][p]Hi Fitness RN,

The way I deal with this-er-problem, is I wear incontinence pads when I do high impact. Yep, incontinence pads. I used to wear maxi pads but the other kind of pads are made for this. I pretty much need to wear one for every Cathe cardio workout I do, and for running. The ones I use are Tena brand ultra light. I have thought about surgery, but wearing a pad and doing kegels whenever I remember to do them is a better option for me. Sometimes I watch Cathe and the gals doing Imax, for instance, and I'm wondering, "How can they (Cathe and Cedie) be able to do this after having kids??".

edited to add: I usually like to have a coffee before Imax, it is a defintie performance enhancer for me, and this makes the problem even worse!

Christine (3 kids later!)

 

[slnewmanpt]

Hi Fitness RN,

I have had five children and in 96 my uterus prolapsed so I had to have an emergency hysterectomy. I also had bladder repair surgery (for lack of a better term.) I noticed an incredible difference. I couln't run or do cardio without incontinence before the surgery. I never experience incontinence anymore. On the other hand, my mother had the surgery and still suffers from the problem.

This probably wasn't a whole lot of help, but I thought I'd share my experience.

Sherry

 

[fit_4_forty]

I experience this problem from time to time (I don't know why, but it comes and goes...). Anyway, if I remember I do the pad thing. I also read somewhere that wearing a tampon also helps...I think it must cause certain muscles to tighten is my guess?! Sorry I don't have more data. I've thought about posting for the same problem - thanks for being the brave one and bringing it up! If you have the surgery, I'd be interested in hearing how it went - if you still feel like sharing!

Rhonda

 

[[email protected]]

I had my bladder tacked up, and a year and a half later I went back in and it was put in a sling. It was one of the best things I ever did for myself. It took 8 weeks to get back to normal, and then I started out with the Firm Basics. But, it did not take long, and I was back into the swing of things. The worst part is using the tube for urination when you first come home. Your bladder does not work for a few weeks. That part is the pits. I still will leak once in awhile when I am very swollen on the inside from getting a bad period, like now, but to me, it was well worth it. Best of luck in your decision.
Lori

 

[cmoroney]

Fitness RN

I have never had this problem - but if I did I would definitely consider surgery, because it must really hamper what you can do. I have given birth to 10 full term babies (all about 9#'s) and I can do high impact aerobics with no leakage. I guess I have always attributed that to my working out and having a strong pelvic muscle.

But maybe it is a genetic thing too. Who really knows - but I would definitely try to do something aboutit.

cmoroney

 

[FitnessRN]

Thank you everyone for your openness. It seems to affect so many of us during exercise; makes me wonder how many women out there never give exercise a real chance because they don't know how to deal with this issue. Currently I, too, do the pad thing, but you are right about having to remember so you can plan ahead.

Cmoroney- OMG!!! That is amazing! I do think that genetics plays a role in the development and severity of this problem, but just like weight control I also believe there are many things you can do for yourself, like exercise in general and lots of Kegels.

Sherry and Lori, your stories are encouraging. One of the things I am concerned about is the risk of nerve damage from surgery (think Berman and Berman, LOL) but neither of you mentioned any problems like that except for the initial loss of bladder sensitivity. Sherry- does your mom exercise, too? If she doesn't, do you think this could have any bearing on why your surgery has given you more consistent bladder control than hers?

Honestly I have to say I am leaning towards having the surgery, it's more a question of when. I suppose there's never a convenient time to take eight weeks out of your life to recover from this, but I do have the schedules of three other people to consider. I'll keep you posted.

FitnessRN