14 years ago I started the long battle to diagnosis!
When I was 15 I had my first laparoscopy & was diagnosed with slight endo. Diathermy (lasering) was not even discussed back then, however, after my op I was put on the contraceptive pill on back to back packets so that I would not have any periods & the growth of the endo would be controlled & therefore pains & periods were meant to be non existent.
Needless to say this did not set me off to the greatest of starts during puberty, moods, pains & bleeding were all over the place. The following years resulted in more scans, blood & urine tests etc only to find intermittent cysts & no improvement in my situation.
At 19, I went back to the gp, was referred to specialists under the normal process, blood & urine tests, ultrasound scan, (the usual process of ellimination)... I had my 2nd laparoscopy & this time recieved some laser treatment which relieved me of all symptoms straight away. Shortly after this 2nd operation I made the choice to stop taking the contraceptive pill which helped me so much & I wish I had done it sooner! my periods regulated and my quality of life improved greatly. Not long after I met my now husband & decided after discussions with my gp that I would start the contraceptive injection (deprovera), I loved being on this, no periods, no pain, no moods! - best invention ever
But as the years went by the state of my fertility was always at the back of my mind, after 5 happy years with my partner he proposed & I said yes! At that time I decided to go back to my gp as I had been experiencing some mild pain. I was referred and insisted on another laparoscopy....I had this 10 months later to which they found more extensive endo & clubbed fallopian tubes. The specialist decided to remove the endo via laser but do nothing about my tubes (claiming that she had nothing to do with fertility and therefore was not within her juristiction to deal with my blocked tubes).
So there I was: 26 years old, 3 laparoscopies (2 of these with laser treatment) & I had been stitched back up with my tubes still blocked. After our wedding in 2012, I stopped having the contraceptive injection in a view to conceive & start the wheels in motion to getting my tubes unblocked!
I am now 28 (still no baby!) & waiting for a referal to a specialist and after literally begging my gp I have been granted an ultrasound scan tomorrow. I am constantly in pain, suffering with stomach, back & leg pain, constant constipation & then spontaneous bursts of dioreah & I can feel that the endo has returned with a vengeance! I have got all the typical pains, irregular & very heavy bleeding and I feel totally at the end of my tether & quite frankly exhausted.
But of course now fertility is the main question, the gp has become very unwilling to help.
I know there is a certain time limit into how long a woman has to wait to see a specialist when trying for a baby but I dont find it very fair that women with such an extensive previous history of endo, cysts etc can be put in the same catagory as a "normal" healthy person who is trying for a baby. My partner has 2 children from his previous marriage & therefore there are only certain fertility treatments available to us on the nhs. I am hoping that this week with a scan & follow up appointment with my gp that it will lead to an early referal for me & I can get some answers on available treatment as I am not even sure how many laparoscopies they will carry out in a lifetime ??
Everyone here is in the same boat & I would love to hear back from anyone! 14 years in & this is my first time of sharing my experiences to anyone other than friends and family xxxxx