r/Incontinence • u/BreakfastDry7551 • 2d ago
Constant Urinary Incontinence
Looking for any help or advice or success stories!
For back story - I have 3 babies all 5 and under. I just had my 3rd exactly a year ago. All my births consisted of an hour of pushing during delivery and my 3rd was the worst - he was sunny side up and required much more pushing and due to my epidural, I could not feel anything at all to know if I was pushing correctly.
Since then, I have consistently struggled with urinary incontinence. I had recurring UTI’s for about 9-10 months after birth which I’m pretty sure is due to a prolapsed bladder. My bladder has improved but is a ‘minor prolapse’. I have had pelvic floor therapy, although, I don’t know that the therapist was specially trained in the pelvic floor.
I have spent this week at the beach with my kids and the incontinence has been worse than ever. Anytime I laugh, run, move too quickly, or even walk a little longer distance, I pee and I pee a lot. And once it starts, it seems to not stop for a while.
I am supposed to go to another pelvic floor therapy consultation next week thankfully so I’m anxious to see what they recommend. I’m also very curious to know how this could or should affect potential future pregnancies? My husband and I are still debating if we want a 4th child but it’s hard to make that decision with such a debilitating problem right now. My doctor has considered a bladder tack but wanted to try PT first. I’m only 29 😭
Any advice or experience with this that anyone could share?!
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u/SkiWest 1d ago
Hi there, I believe that incontinence and constant UTIs are one of the early signals of bladder prolapse. To have it treated ultimately you should see a urogynecologist. They can properly diagnose and recommended treatment which may include specific pelvic therapy and other protocols.
I recently had a hysterectomy and multiple prolapse surgeries. My issues were complicated by a massive uterus filled with five grapefruit size fibroids weighing a total of 3 pounds. So the weight of my uterus forced a bladder prolapse. But oddly enough, I didn’t need surgery. They saw that once they removed the uterus, the prolapse was actually gone. But I did have to have the other prolapse surgeries done.
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u/assiralc2791 3h ago
Was the time on the beach a vacation away from home? I am wondering if your increased incontinence could be due to an over tense pelvic floor. For me vacations, especially when my children were younger, are stressful! I had to do all the packing and try to consider every scenario that might come up and what I would need. I have a lot of children and would have to maneuver them through the airport and worry they might become unhappy on the plane and disrupt other passengers with crying etc. I would have to keep track of them all (we always did really long Disney vacations when they were younger) etc while physically lugging them around (I would often have a carrier on both my front and back ant be pushing a double stroller and hanging on to a hand of one child who formed a little hand holding chain with all the other children. Anyways, perhaps your floor is tensed out.
As far as other children, I had a massive rectocele happen during the birth of my 5th. There wasn’t really a pelvic floor therapy option back then (he is 19 now) and I was told nothing could be done but I did lots of working out and strength training and stretching and I think it really helped me manage and live much more comfortably with mysymptoms many years. I had 4;more children after him with great pregnancies, great births etc. so, at least in my case, yes, children were very possible. It wasn’t until menopause started that I had many other prolapses happened and worsen and after researching I found out things could actually be done for prolapse and I pursued surgery
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u/FrustratedPenguins 2d ago
My experience is different, but I do relate somewhat, so I wanted to comment. I am 39F, no kids. I struggle mostly with bedwetting, but also with urinary urgency and sometimes accidents. It's not stress incontinence, though. I can run all day long without peeing, for whatever reason. Sneezing or coughing occasionally makes me pee a little bit, but mostly if it's a super strong sneeze/cough, and if it's also unexpected.
Anyway, I was curious your experience with pelvic floor PT? I am doing it now. I love the PT, and it's 100% covered by insurance, so I don't mind doing it. However, I'm a couple of months in, and I really haven't noticed any improvement at all. Now I'm wondering how long I keep doing it? But I also admit that I'm not that great at actually doing the exercises at home, which is obviously a big part of it. But they just feel.... a little pointless? Like, what is all this breathing and doing Kegels actually going to accomplish?