For 3 years, I have been in Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy every fortnight due to my over active pelvic floor. This occurred due to the extreme pain I was experiencing from my Endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain that had been going on likely from the age of 8 years old.
Walking had become difficult, my pelvic floor constantly went into spasm, my legs would twitch and I felt a constant heaviness in my pelvis, so I was happy that I could work with someone to help improve all this. I was making progress and the twitching stopped, the spasms slowed down and walking became a bit more comfortable for me but I still had a long way to go. Each time my Endo flared up, I took a big step back in the progress I had been making in down training my pelvic floor. It was frustrating to say the least. But I carried on because if I went longer than 2 weeks between appointments, I would be in agony.
2 years went by and I felt like I wasn’t making near as much progress as I had been. My pelvic floor wasn’t improving but I had to keep up with the physio as otherwise it would worsen. It was around then that I learnt about the use of Botox in the pelvic floor from my physio. However it wasn’t available in Queensland yet.
About 6 months later, I was at the Endo Active Conference in Sydney where I leant that the pelvic floor Botox procedure was coming to Queensland. I felt so much happiness that I could possibly get more long term relief from the pain my pelvic floor was causing me.
So at the end of July, I had pelvic floor Botox done in theatre with a general anaesthetic. Waking up in recovery, I felt like some of the heaviness had gone but that night as the local anaesthetic wore off, I started to feel very different. I can’t really describe it, but it was definitely a good different. I got up for small walks frequently and noticed small improvements each time in how my pelvic floor felt. I was shocked by how noticeable and quick the difference in my pelvic floor came. My balance was quite off, so I did have to be rather careful and take things slowly. I wasn’t experiencing intense pelvic floor spasms as I was walking which was a huge change for me. The twitching had completely stopped and sitting and laying down was so much more comfortable. Once I was able to get home, little by little, each few days, I was noticing improvements in how I felt and what I was able to now do.
I am now 4 weeks post op and I am so happy that I went through with this procedure. Pelvic floor Botox will not make any improvement to my Endo, but it has made the pain I experience from that so much more tolerable as when I cramp or feel pulling up my right side of my stomach, my pelvic floor no longer goes into a spasm from that pain. My wonderful team of Dr’s and health professionals are really happy with the progress I have made. I have really enjoyed being able to sit through a movie, go for a beach walk, spend a few afternoons shopping with friends and family, return to my studies and sit, lay down and walk so much more comfortably.
It is likely that I will have to have pelvic floor Botox done a few times to get a more permanent result but we hope it will be at least 6 months away. And I will keep up with seeing my pelvic floor physio but just not every fortnight now! I am hoping to be able to go 4 weeks comfortably at least between each appointment. I urge anyone who thinks they may be experiencing anything similar to speak with their specialist and see what options are available.
You don’t have to put up with pelvic floor pain.
