Will the lap really stop the pain?

[Bride2be]

After nearly two years I finally have a lap booked for next Friday. After numerous tests and scans it is thought that I have PCOS and endometriosis and I desperately want to move on with my life. My periods have been irregular for years but when they happen it is unbarable. This week has reminded me how heavy and horrendous they can be and I'm so fed up. Please tell me the lap will help, if only a little x

[Impatient]

we can't say that it will or won't. Hopefully they find and remove the endo lesions that are causing you the most pain, but even doing that may not be enough if the neighbouring nerve endings are damaged. Having said that most of the time ladies do get relief, especially if the pain is caused by cysts or adhesions which are removed or cut back respectively. After the initial recovery from surgery you could have severla months even several years before being troubled again. Fingers Crossed that is what happens in your case.

Another optio definitely worth considering right away, is to have a mirena coil inserted while you are knocked out. The insertion of a mirena is the most painful aspect of having a mirena so to have that happen while you are sleeping and with hospital strngth pain relief in the hours afterwards that is definitely the ideal way to get it put in.

It does take a few months to work, but it can make such a huge difference to pain and bleeding levels as well as PMT (if you get that too) and when it stops the periods there is no chance of menstrual back flow of blood up the fallopian tubes in the wrong direction and out in to your tummy to land on and irritate and hurt nearby tissues and organs perhaps even compromising fertility.

I had on occasion had norethisterone over the years, but mostly i just accepted that the pain and blood flow were heavy and erratic but normal. My god I wish I had had the mirena put in in my teens and not given up so much of my life to bad periods. I was 43 when it was 1st installed and for me it has transformed my life.

I you have tried it without success in the past then it probably isn't something you want to try again because it didn't suit you, but if you haven't then you really should think quickly about getting it done next Friday, if can last 5 years (though it takes the first 5 mnths or so to get working on the periods to stop them) and if you are intending to start a family sooner than 5 years then it can always be removed but in the meantime till you are ready to start trying for a family it can make life a lot better tha it is now. It might not be ideal,there might be spotting of blood each moth, of occasional twinges of pain which you think might be the mirena, but it won't likely be any worse than having gushers and period pains and not knowing when you will be on or how long each period will last. Saves a fortune in towels and tampons too as a bonus. If it works to stop your periods it does give you breathing space and an escape from the periods which gives you back at least a quarter of every month for the things you want to be doing but cannot at present because you are cramped up and/or gushing down below.

You can call the gynae department and ask them to add Mirena installation to the list of things to be done while you are knocked out. It is definitely worth trying as the side effects of it even at its worst are not as bad as some treatment options can be, and for the vast majority any side effects are pretty easy to put up with. All the very best of luck with the op. Hope they do find out what is causing your pain and get that sorted for you.