Advice?

[CW1990]

Hi,

I'm 22 and I have very bad periods, pain to the point where I can barely move for the first 4 days then it seems to slowly but hardly dies off for the next 3. I have to wear 5-6 pads and a tampon at a time, I get a very high temp and I struggle with bowl movements when i'm on i'll also find blood as well. I haven't been anemic since I was a teenager but I take iron and multi vitamin tablets on a daily basis just to try and give me some more energy but it fails to work.

I'm waiting to see a new Doctor as my old Doctor didn't care and a few people seem to think this could be Endometriosis, thoughts? I'm running out of things to consider and try to help the pain.

[Impatient]

What pain killers are you on?

You might want to get stronger ones on prescription in the short term while you wait to be referred to see a gynaecologist for further investigations.

Sounds to me like it could be endo or fibroids and you should speak to your new GP and explain all to him/her.

First step is to get an ultrasound scan. While it won't pick up endometriosis it will spot endometriomas which are cysts filled with blood that can be attached to ovaries .

The scan will rule them out if there are none to be seen, but a scan should pick up on any fibroid tumors you might have developed. You can have both endo and fibroids at the same time but they are different conditions. Both cause the symptoms you describe as does adenomyosis which is similar to endo but only grows in the uterus and bowel muscles, whereas endo grows on the surface of just about anything.

I woud strongly suggest once you have been scanned if all is well, that you consider taking BC Pills back to back to stop your periods or have a mirena coil inserted but that takes a lot longer to kick in, however once it does (after 4-5 months) it should last up to 5 years without periods nd period pain and tablets. It doesn't suit everyone and some ladies do suffer side effects they don't like, but th side effects are a lot less of a problem than the pains and heavy bleeding so I'd say it was worth the occasional side effects.

The only way to diagnose the extent of endo is to have surgery usually by keyholes, but even with that diagnosed, menstrual control or stopping periods is the best way to slow down the disease and improve the quality of your life.

Personally I found the mirena was a liberating marvellous little beast once it got to work.

I'd suffered for 25+years with heavy painful periods. It was fab not to have the worry of them anymore while the mirena lasted.

Something is not right, aside from your current GP, who sounds like a dinosaur, so you are doing the right thing by being proactive and seeing someone else. If that doesn't work see a third GP and so on until you do get referred for a scan in the first instance, and a gynaecologist thereafter.

You do not need to see your GP about mirena coil or BC pills, these can be arranged for free through your local family planning clinic. You do not need to be suffering like this but you do need to be forceful and push for tests and diagnosis and appropriate prescription meds if needed. Good Luck.