Nerve Damage?

[Skywalker]

I am going to try to get seen by my doctors again, but I just was looking online and found information about nerve damage that occurs in delivery and think that might have happened to me and I wonder if it's happened to anyone else here?

I've heard from so many ladies that they feel basically fine after just a few weeks post partum, but I still have a lot of trouble sitting, standing or walking for long periods because the outside left part of my vagina starts to feel like I've been kicked with a steel toe boot, and sometimes my left leg goes numb (something which happened in pregnancy but happens now, which doesn't make sense to me why it's still happening).

The only thing that seems to help is Tylenol and sitz baths but I live alone and am a single new mother so I don't always get the luxury of taking as many sitz baths as I need in a day. I'm over six weeks postpartum now.

Right after the delivery, I could almost not walk. I was told that was normal then by hospital nurses and when I went and saw my midwife for my six week check, she said it looked like everything had healed nicely. However, I am like three steps away from being incontinent. I can't "hold" it anymore and have actually wet myself on a few occasions because I didn't get to the bathroom in time. I had very poor tone when my midwife asked me to tighten my vagina around her finger, and I find that when I do kegels, it sends sharp, shooting pains and soreness up my urethra. I don't know if this is because I had an abrasion (not a tear) by my urethra? Like maybe it's scar tissue that's getting aggravated?

Anyway, I feel VERY discouraged because most women are telling me they were back to normal after six weeks or less and I'm still very much NOT back to normal. I'm better than I was in the first 3-4 weeks when I could basically almost not walk at all, but I feel like I'm a long way off from normal. Just feel like I still have sooo much soreness and swelling and pain, and as of yesterday, I started bleeding again and now have sharp shooting pains in my vagina and urethra (I called the midwife who said she thinks it is just my period, even though I am breastfeeding exclusively.)

Anyone have experience with this? It makes it really hard to be in a good mood and enjoy my baby and it makes it impossibly hard to try to imagine ever dating and being intimate ever again, and makes me question something I never thought I'd question - whether to have another baby. I'm so scared to ever have sex again in the future and don't know if I could go through all this pain again with a second baby. And feeling like this just makes it hard for me to take care of my baby when I can't even sit for very long but am required to sit for long periods of time to breastfeed. I've taken to breastfeeding laying down! Help!

 

[Lady_Bee]

Oh gosh that sounds very hard to deal with! It's awful being in physical pain for such a long time! After my first I was in agony for several weeks but that was from a fissure, not nerve damage, so sadly I have no experience or reassurance to offer you regarding that, but I didn't want to read and run. Big hugs. x

 

[yeahuloveme]

I still get pain and discomfort, I just take it as part of the package of having a baby.

 

[jd83]

How was your delivery? Any tearing or an episiotomy? Either of those would make what you are experiencing more understandable, but if you had neither, I'd probably be going back to the doctor for sure to seek what could be causing the pains. 6+ weeks on really shouldn't be having those types of pains unless you still have tears/cuts that are slowly healing. I had an episiotomy with DS1, and it took a LONG time to feel normal again. I had a lot of pains for probably 2-4 months down below, bled off an on for quite a while, etc. With DS2, I had a completely normal delivery with no tearing or episiotomy and felt back to normal within probably 1-2 weeks. So I'd take that into account, whether your delivery had anything that could cause a slower healing process. if not, again, probably best to seek dr's advice or a second opinion.

 

[marymoomin]

I have nerve damage from 4 lots of abdominal surgery in 4 yrs inc two c sections. I have pain, referred pain, and numbness. It would appear to be hard to treat and drs are not optimistic it will ever go away. I have pain killers for nociceptive pain and pain killers for neuropathic pain and have been referred to the pain clinic. I have no real advice other than keep on top of your drs until it is controlled. Good luck xx

 

[Popples1]

I'm 4 months pp and I still don't feel 'right' down there. I'd definitely
follow up with your doctor as the numbness sounds a bit unusual. However, i can reassure you that bladder control definitely improves! Mine still wasn't great at 6 weeks pp but has steadily improved. I don't think it'll ever be what it was before and I have to be a bit careful (running is dangerous!) but it's not as bad as it was initially x

 

[Kelx44]

Its 8 week PP with a third degree tear and I was referred to a Physio Therapist. Maybe you should look into that!! I have pain in my pubic bones as well as pain in my uretra while peeing. Give that a try and if it doesnt work after a couple months you might need more healing time or referred by another specialist. My Gyno said it can take up too 3 months too heal.....

 

[Skywalker]

Hi ladies, yeah I think it's time to call the doctors again... I also have hemerroids that refuse to heal. About those, the midwife did say it's possible it's more than just hemerroids and maybe I tore internally, anally (ew, sorry, tmi) and it's very slow to heal because obviously, well, going to the bathroom. After every time I have a BM, basically every day, it's like the perineum gets re-injured. It just kills so bad It's making me emotionally feel overwhelmed because it's not just that it hurts, it's that it hurts and makes breastfeeding harder, which is something I do every few hours, and then since it gets aggravated every few hours, it just gets more and more painful until I can't even sit at the end of the day. I just want to feel normal. I am also feeling really sad about the idea of possibly not having any more children. I wanted more, but after going through my labor and post-delivery... I just don't know I could do it again. I don't even know if I can let a man near me for that matter!

My labor was 17.5 hours, first baby, 30 min of pushing, and I didn't tear (not that they could visually see anyway) but had some abrasions near the urethra. In the hospital I didn't seem to have any hemerroids (again, not that they could visually see) I had no episiotomy. When I was pushing I kept stopping short on every push and my baby's head would kind of go back in a little bit. I think this back and forth did some damage to the pelvic floor and that's why I'm worried about nerve damage.

I never knew this was possible. I thought yeah if you tore, you might have some healing to do. I fear that I will indefinitely feel like this and that's a lot to swallow and accept, that my body might be forever in pain and my dreams of having further children might be seriously over, unless I'm okay with feeling excruciating pain again.

 

[jd83]

Hemorrhoids are pretty normal post partum, and they WILL go away. I can't remember how long it took with DS1...I didn't get them with DS2, but his labor/birth was a cakewalk compared to DS1. I would suggest taking a daily stool softener for the time being, like Colace. It really helped me to be able to have an easier time going with the pain from the hemorrhoids.

 

[Popples1]

Urgh, I've got two tears down there and have been taking Movicol. I'm hoping things are healing but I won't be able to tell until I stop taking it. It's been agony at times