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Hi everybody I've posted on another discussion but i wanted to ask about a vaginal fistula in the woman's group...I've reposted below what I wrote in the other discussion just for background...

ive been having major problems and they are getting worse as the days progress. I had my takedown only 6 weeks ago but the issues aren't getting better and infact getting a little worse.
1. I've got so much constant pressure on the anus, and then more severe pain comes in waves which I have to come to a standstill for until it passes, but more recently it isn't passing and i have to go to the loo, the pain is intense, and I have to clench for dear life, as of yesterday when i went to the loo I leaked stool, (and this is worrying me, because I seem less and less able to hold anything in)which hasn't happened since the takedown not even in the hospital straight after the operation. The pressure feels like a burning ball stuck in the anus! And when the intense pressure isn't there then it still feels like a ball is stuck in my back passage. When this happens I also feel burning right inside the vagina like right at the top deep inside, and then that burning persists, I can't see any stool leaking form the vagina or discharge, there is some clear discharge but I have that normally. Also I feels like small air bubbles are coming from the vagina not all the time but sometimes when I'm walking about not whilst on the loo.


2.im going to loo about 15 plus times a day,last night I was going pretty much every hour, but the next issue is when I go to the loo nothing much comes out, then i involuntarily strain which causes bleeding. I'm having to use my hand and with tissue almost pull apart the Anus to let anything pass it just won't do it unless I help it doing! I never feel empty at all,the bleeding Is not really in the stool in the bowl from what I've seen, but more so on the tissue mixed in the stool.


3. Gas is causing me issues, I could pass it lying down initially now I can't do that either
if it is a structure, can it be fixed? I don't want to have to use a catheter to empty. When they dialate the structure does it effect the sphincter muscles? Do they become Weeker? As I've been told mine are already not great.
i know normal is not term that fits the bill anymore,but is any of this 'normal' at this stage? I'm really worried and then there's added pressure from the family together better and stay better, as though I'm not trying!

how do you know if u have a fistula? When I insert my finger into the vagina the whole finger goes in but then kind of hits a wall, sorry for this detail Andy don't know if hats normal or not is that what should happen?

sorry for such a long message in just so worried, any help or advice would be so great

thanks so much in advance 

Sally xxx

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I can not pass gas unless I'm on a toilet....or I will have a mess. You learn to eat foods that work with your system. Gassy foods are a nightmare. When I eat raw apple or other rough vegetables foods, I will have pressure at the rectom/vagina, too. It's almost like a tooth ache pain.  It's typically what I eat that causes that pressure. .... Also, I'm 8 yrs post menopause, induced by surgery when i was 38. Because of that, my vaginal walls became paper thin last year. I was leaking all the time and cried that I wanted another alternative. Many of your symptoms  It seemed as though feces was leaking from the vagina, but, Thankfully, after a check up from my OBG , we realized it wasn't vaginal. The vaginal and rectal walls are close as are the openings... Poo was literally leaking from one into the other...gross! I started a treatment of premerin cream (estrogen) and those walls all plumped back up. The leaking stopped and now along with the cream, I keagal as well. Both are super important in my life. I had vaginal irritation because feces doesn't belong in the vagina. Hope this helps a little. It's a journey...a.poopy, awful journey at times, but better than lying in a hospital fighting for my life

Hope this helps,.Blessings - Michelle

 

Thanks Michelle- did you mean that the feaces were just going from the anus into the vagina just normally, but there was no fistula? I'm thinking perhaps this is what's happening with me 

thanks jan- I'm not getting gas from the front then I think I am getting the feeling of air bubbles coming out of the vagina sort of travelling up and out I can feel it, is that a sign? I am definently going to ask my surgeon next Monday about pouchitis and cuffitis the urgency is so unbearable I'm going to the loo about 15times in 24 hours, it had gone down to about 10.

sally xxxxx

YEs, that's exactly what I'm saying. My sphincter was getting lazy for a bit (needed to keegal) and my vaginal walls were too thin and it was slipping from the rectum into the vagina. Not to be disgusting but it was bad... The premerin cream (estrogen) plumps and with the Keegals and cream, it did the trick for me. All your symptoms sound familiar to me.
The rectal/vaginal pressure is when I eat raw apples, carrots, celery, or any roughage that doesn't break down well. The first time I noticed was right after my take down. I thought I'd chewed the apple so well and found I actually had to bare down to get it out. It was frightening and painful. The pressure felt like an aching tooth from the rectum all the way to the front.
Most people use the bathroom frequently until they figure out what they can and can't eat. The pouch has to be stretched. Eat too much and you go to the bathroom, eat too little and you have water leaking and need to go to the bathroom. Potatoes, oatmeal, squash, rice, banana, ..those things will help you with going too much. It will slow you down but again, you have to find what works for you. Some people like to stay loose and empty all at once, others like a different consistency. It's all about lifestyle and how your pouch works for you.
One thing no one ever told me but I read somewhere in this group was to avoid NSAIDS and yogurt...especially right after surgery....they can wreak havoc and give us pouchitis...Which I've had bouts of but thankfully not many. Stick to acetaminophen and avoid yogurt for now.  I hope this helps some.

Hi there. I realize I'm a little late coming in on this. Re your 1 and 3 above, I absolutely recall those symptoms after surgery but they dissipated after awhile - four to six months for things to really change so in many ways I think they are just normal adjustment issues.  However, having said that, I did continue to have air in the vagina which occurred when the pouch was full or when I was emptying. Also, there was ongoing burning in the vagina. I was diagnosed with a bartholin cyst which was eventually removed but after that surgery it became evident to me that the symptoms had not improved and the bartholin was likely because of a fistula (as were two UTIs). A year later I finally have MRI confirmation of a narrow but long tract from the suture line to the vagina. I will be having surgery (flap advancement) in the next few months. I have to say that I was pretty sure it was a fistula three months out of the surgery but it has taken a very long time to get the proper diagnosis. I would suggest that you keep monitoring the symptoms and, if they don't improve, I wouldn't let it go (unless it really doesn't bother at all you I guess). I find that now I have almost constant discharge into my vagina. Oddly, it's not really stool. Seems like mucous but stings and burns and intimacy is impossible. It's much worse when the stool is loose and when the pouch is full. I am hoping that maybe by now, as this is a few months after your post, that things have improved and your symptoms were indeed just adjustment. Cheers. 

Hi, I'm also late on this thread but came across it and wondering if the issue outlined above (fecal matter passing through to the vagina) is happening in my case? Over the last few months I've noticed an odour (that could almost be fecal matter) emitting from the wrong end! There are no other symptoms, no itching, burning or odd discharge. I have spotting in between periods...but that's something I've experienced for a while now so not unusual for me. 

My pouch is 25 years old so wondering if this is a sign of deteoriation or if it's not related at all? It's all quite embarrassing. I have an appointment with my family GP but just wondered if anyone has experienced this and it was a leakage from the pouch?

 

Can anyone help? I had my takedown surgery 2 weeks ago, I feel well, I can walk, eat reasonably and the only pain I get is butt burn and the occasional spasm. However, just now I held in the urge to open my bowels on the second time trying to hold it in a litlle came out onto the pad I was wearing but at the front (vagina). I'm lead to believe this little bit has come out of my vagina. Is this due to a fistula? Something else? Or is it because I didn't open my bowels when I needed to and held it in instead?? 

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