Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) Chatter #1

[belfie]

Kazbah - welcome to this dubious club! Sorry to hear you have to join us, but hopefully you'll find some useful information to help minimise it! My pain started Right SIJ but has moved to the left , so saying, I'm finding that I'm "managing" it far better than I was, so at present am still better than I was at my first flare-up. I have my fingers crossed that you'll be able to help yours too. Have you found a good physio/osteo/chiro? I'm in Vermont, so not far from you if you want any recommendations.

Nickel730 - i'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't find the support belt any help. You sound like you're managing so well to keep it under control . As for clunking, i never clunk at the front, but always at the back (I've got clunk in my trunk )

Fionas - I think you've hit on the dilemma at the heart of this all. For me, this was very mild last time, so I still find it hard to comprehend the thought that it might still be around post-birth. I battle with the "I should just tough it out" mentality (Codral has a LOT to answer for!!) versus the "minimise/manage/ask for all the help you can get" mentality! I'm starting to work out the sanity/immobility balance for me I think... but as always, just when you think you've got it right, it can trip you up. I had a day last week sitting at home feeling SO trapped and not coping mentally at all - compounded by a lot of trouble walking first thing and worrying if I could cope with my toddler. Then another day I "toughed it out" and went to TWO things (one was a BB catch-up lol) but paid for it later in the day... but geez I felt more sane! Sometimes I think I'd rather be sore and keep my sanity... but if it tips over into barely being able to walk then it isn't worth it!

Didi - I'm so thrilled to hear you're feeling good it gives me great hope! Enjoy your babymoon hun, you deserve it

AFM - my mum is Back again this weekend (as DH is o/s for a week) so I'm going to utilise her to the HILT as I have a heap of house/room rearrangement to get this place ready for bubba. I've also gotten DS a swing/slide set which Dad is gonna put up in the backyard so I can run DS around much more easily. That combined with a heap of playdates has definitely helped. I'm getting better at asking for help and not turning down help. It's a big learning curve this whole SPD thing, that's for sure!

[belfie]

Fionas - just had to add one more bit, as I woke up at 6am thinking about you (do you feel special now! ). I guess what's slowly occurring to my fuzzy pregnant brain that in SPD as with anything else in life we still have choices. Yes, our choices may be not of our making, or substantially more limited but at the end of the day we can still choose how we react, what we do, what we limit and what we can still do within our limits. Maybe that's why you seem (I could be wrong) much more at peace with your SPD cos you're making active choices, so you HAVE beaten it . I feel like i'm getting closer to that state of mind and no longer wasting time railing against my misfortune but rather looking at what I CAN do.

So with that profound thought, I'm off to have a fabbo day! I hope everyone else is going well

[Arimeh]

Urgh looks like I'm going to be joining this group!! Already at this stage my sciatic is just killing me, especially at night. Just waiting for the pelvic pain to kick in right along with it. My chiro told me last friday that my pelvis is already out of whack.

Ahhh its going to be a joyous pregnancy....

[belfie]

Aah that's no good Mel sorry to hear it's kicking in early (and congrats by the way!). Fingers crossed it doesn't get too bad, sounds like you're on it early with your chiro.

Well I think I was silly this week.. have been tag-teaming osteo and physio, one each week (yeah, cos i wanna be bankrupt soon lol) but was grumpy at my physio cos she didn't get back to me when she said she would... so didn't bother with physio appt this week. Now I think i'm paying for it. I've gone from just having pain/discomfort ONLY if I overdid it to now getting very sore every arvo/evening ... roll on Monday I want oste'o'clock! Even sitting at the PC is painful now darnit. Only 2 days to get through, and thank goodness it's the weekend.

[fionas]

Belfie, you're a sweetie and I am very flattered thank you! I'm currentlyvin hospital with 4-day old Gabriella so can't write much but WOW what a good decision it was for me to have a Caesar this time around. I'm pretty chuffed. I don't appear to be in any pain from my pelvis whatsoever and the things that were causing me problems immediately before the birth such ad getting out of bed and taking those first few steps without hanging on to a wall, are no longer an issue. Obviously I haven't tried walking very far but all newsxis good at this stage. It was quite funny when the midwife came to help me out of bed and shower me for the first time. She cautioned me to take things slowly as, "the pain can be quit ferocious." I got up, walked towards the shower and beamed at her. She said "Omg you are doing so well." I told her it was a little bit hurty but compared to what I've put up with in the last three years an absolute walk in the park.

So belfie I do think you're on the right track for thinking of this in terms of choices. I realized after NMR first experience with SPF that no one will give us a medal for being a trooper and the price to pay in terms of a longer physical and emotional recovery is too high. I see resting as a proactive choice which ensured my recovery will be as short as possible meaning I can get a life back quicker.

I have gone from being in tears four months after dd1's birth because of the amountvof pain I was still in, thinking there was no way I could have another Baby to four days after dd2's birth thinking that purely from a pelvis point of view that a third baby is not out of the question

[Arimeh]

Oh Fiona I'm so glad you are feeling well - and a 3rd baby ay? Well if it helps at all, my SPD was worse with DD1 than it was with DD2 hehe

[Traveller]

Fionas I am so pleased you are feeling so much better. Our bodies are amazing things! I remember feeling the same after DS2 was born, I could have climbed a mountain just minutes after he was born (although I suspect my midwife would have stopped me had I tried )

[belfie]

Aaah i posted the other day (or so I thought) but it's not here! Darn it.

So belfie I do think you're on the right track for thinking of this in terms of choices. I realized after NMR first experience with SPF that no one will give us a medal for being a trooper and the price to pay in terms of a longer physical and emotional recovery is too high. I see resting as a proactive choice which ensured my recovery will be as short as possible meaning I can get a life back quicker.

I have gone from being in tears four months after dd1's birth because of the amountvof pain I was still in, thinking there was no way I could have another Baby to four days after dd2's birth thinking that purely from a pelvis point of view that a third baby is not out of the question

Well Fiona I think you helped me to see it in terms of choices. And you are SO right about no medals for troopers (or for being in this club for that matter). I was so thrilled to read about your experience post C-S, and I am SO happy for you. I think you really deserve a break! I also told your story to my DH and I think it was a real eye-opener for him.

Kazbah - so sorry you've had to join us . How are you feeling now? And don't worry if you're not feeling the "happy" stories yet... I think it took me weeks to get to a semblance of peace with it all. Also if you want any recommendations, I've got a physio in Ringwood and an osteo in Blackburn/Doncaster that i'm having some success with. Happy to PM you the details as I see you're not far from me (I'm in Vermont). Re painkillers, yes best I've heard is panadol too. If it helps, a friend of mine has just been diagnosed as well - she felt like s'one had taken to her with a baseball bat! She saw both osteo and phsyio and is feeling HEAPS better. So I have fingers crossed that it could happen for you too . I would also reiterate that I was worst at first but then have been able to "manage" it much better and keep my pain levels lower.

nickle730 - I know what you mean about dreading and avoiding. All I can say is... online shopping is a brilliant thing. I think it's really hard when we're doing mental gymnastics to avoid doing these things that everyone else takes for granted... especially when you get ppl saying "oh yeah i'm sore too" but you KNOW they're just living their normal life (grr). I've found that I'm slowly working out the balance of doing my necessities to keep myself sane but also asking for help as MUCH as possible, sending DH out etc etc.

glenny_c - I have to echo Kasbah - welcome to the dubious club (that's the best name for it!). So sorry to hear you're experiencing lots of pain and good luck with the doc and phsyio. Re sleeping up, I haven't needed to do that but I think my symptoms aren't the most classic SPD symptoms in the book (mine are all at the back not front for a start). Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Incidentally, I LOVE sitting with my feet up normally but have rapidly discovered there's too big a price to pay. I wasn't doing it regularly anyway as I know it's not great for baby positioning either... but occasionally I forget... and then get "stuck" in position. Youch. Ah that's a reminder . AFM I have my parents back in town while my DH is away for a week. So have set them to work, rearranging rooms (I actually HAVE a nursery now). Geez did I feel ornamental though. Just directing traffic as they moved everything was enough to leave me stuck in a chair by lunchtime. THank goodness they were here to do it all though. Plus DH doesn't have a great back, so we limped through 2 weeks on our own. We really need to be as proactive as possible about managing our workloads (i.e. housework/DS/on feet time) to keep us both in decent shape. My parents will be going again leaving us with 4 weeks to get through. I'm a bit nervous, as 2 weeks left us both struggling but I think it's just incentive to be as smart as we can be. I'm also hitting up my useless IL's for some babysitting. I had newborn cuddles the other day as a little incentive to remind myself of the reward at the end of all this hard work.

Hope everyone else is going ok... vent away as required!

[glenny_c]

Well- back from the physio and good news guys- no sign of SPD!!! My pelvis and hips are perfectly situated and have good movement. I have a muscle in spasm that runs around both hips and across the back (tailbone) apparently it's from lying on my side all the time and it's aggravated it. I have some bum stretchy exercises to do and back to physio next week for some more torture- I mean treatment. Just goes to show I guess that you shouldn't rely on Dr Google for diagnosis, you should wait until the people who know tell you what's going on.
Oh, and my GP was clueless. I mentioned SPD as an option and he looked at me like I was speaking another language. Told me it was prob baby pressing on a nerve (didn't make sense why I had pain on both sides then....) Decided to try to get into physio anyway as I figured they'd know better- so glad I did!