Pelvic Prolapse and MS

[rdmc]

A few years ago I had a sudden, severe, uterine prolapse and so I had a hysterectomy. At the time I also had a cystocele repaired. Recovery was pretty unremarkable and I was glad I had it done because the cystocele repaired solved some of my bladder issues that my urologist had chalked up to MS.

Fast forward 3 years, and I realized something had again prolapsed, although I wasn't sure what. I went to my urogynecologist, who is well respected and a prof at the local medical university, and after examination he concurred there was a prolapse although he wasn't sure what.

So I went to surgery, what was supposed to be a short surgery turned into a quite involved surgery, and to make a long story short, he said lost of prolapse issues including a bowel prolapse/hernia. He did a "special" procedure that he thought would be more effective than what he had done before.

Now to the point of my post. Both he, and his chief resident in explaining what had been done (post op talk) told me they felt the issues stemmed from my MS and that women with MS were at a remarkedly higher risk of prolapse than those w/out MS. I came home and looked it up on the web, and sure enough, women with MS and muscular dystrophy are prone to a much higher incidence of pelvic prolapse issues.

So my question is: Anybody else ever have these issues? I don't remember reading much on the boards about others with prolapse.

[Texas Lady]

That is very interesting. I had a prolapse when my daughter was born which surprised my doctor because that was my first child. I don't know if it's MS related, obviously, but I am intersted to know more. Not that it would change anything.

[roo613]

I am fascinated by this too. I have what my gyno calls a "stage 2" uterine prolapse. It bothers me, but it isn't bad enough to HAVE to have surgery....yet. Since I have been diagnosed, I have been wondering about the connection, too.

[rdmc]

I guess it's a matter of what nerves are affected, but it makes sense that if there's myelin damage on nerves innervating the pelvic floor that those muscles could become weakened. From reading the boards it's obvious that a lot of MSers have sensory issues with that area, so nerves in the area are definitely affected.

I don't think pelvic floor prolapse is an unusual problem as our population ages, I read 50 percent of women will be affected in some way. I think the thing that's surprised my urogyn during both surgeries was the laxity of the musculature, and that both times the prolapse issue was more pronounced than he had suspected.

I can't find a lot on the web other than the fact that muscular dystrophy, MS, and spinal cord problems can all lead to increased risk of the problem.

If you're going to consider surgery, make sure you find a urogynecologist.

[Pistachio]

I was doing a search and came across this very old thread. I have a prolapse and have been wondering if there's a connection. Mine was also quite sudden.