i finally had my first Gynae appointment yesterday to discuss my painful and irregular periods. We went through my history first, and then he felt my tummy, and did an internal exam. He said he couldnt feel anything, but i wasnt sure if he would anyway.
He's passed me onto radiology, as he now wants me to have an External and Internal Ultrasound (which sounds horrifying), to see if he can see any Endometriosis, cysts or anything else.
He also gave me a sheet explaining a Laproscopy, and also a leaflet for the Mirena Coil.
Has anyone had the coil put in due to their ridiculously irregular and painful periods? As ive heard its absolute hell for several months.
Just not sure whether once they have done the ultrasound they will actually find anything. Im really worried that if they dont, then i'll just be passed back to my GP to just give me more painkillers.
If anyone's experienced the internal ultrasound or the coil then it'd be great to hear from you to put my mind at ease.
Thank you xx
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Emma-louise
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I haven't had the coil so can't comment on that but have had several scans and they are absolutely fine and nothing to worry about. I would expect that nearly every woman on this forum has had at least 1 internal scan, it is a very standard procedure and is normally done before being referred to Gynae which is probably why your consultant has asked for them. As you've already been referred and its the consultant that's ordered the scans I would be surprised if he then discharged you particularly as he knows that its unlikely endo will show in the scans. The sonographers are very good and will put you at ease but at the very worst it will be mild discomfort but it will be over in 5 mins, its less intrusive than an internal examination, its just a bit odd at first that's all. x
I'm on my second coil - my previous torrential periods are now practically non-existent, just a pink smear now and then if I'm unlucky. When it was first put in it took about 6 months to settle, and I have had some weight gain, but compared to what was going on before it's brilliant. And I'd happily have another one if necessary. And I had it put in under local anaesthetic and I've not had children. Not the most fun day out I've had, but as I said, I did it twice, and I have a retroverted womb.
And I have internal scans every 6 months and honestly, they're absolutely fine (well, as long as you accept that you have to forego every shred of dignity with this disease! ) . It's basically a scanning probe that's the shape you'd expect it to be for where it's going used by sonographers who do this job on a daily basis so have literally seen it all before. I actually find them interesting - remember that the sonographer won't be able to tell you exactly what anything odd she sees might be, but they are usually happy to point out your womb and ovaries and at one scan I had the girl pointed out my active bowel - nice!!
Don't worry. None of it is as horrific as it's made out on the internet, unless you are one of the few people who are likely to have problems. And statistically you probably won't be
Thats great to hear about the coil & periods thank you
Ha yer i think i've been reading too much on the internet, i think it did more harm than good, so I'm glad its not as bad as it sounds. I definitely lost every shred of dignity i had yesterday, when the student gynae was pointing the light and looking intently into my nether regions as if i was an alien haha!
You're welcome. I think we 'old timers' sometimes forget how scared we were starting out with this bloody disease. Definitely don't worry about the scan though; I have unusual anatomy Down There so it's easier for me to actually put the probe in myself. And I have been known to ask them to Turn It On. Yes, really....
And students, oh my GOD! I got sent in to hospital once by my GP after a cyst had burst; the pain had subsided but with all of the throwing up etc I had really dehydrated myself, and he wanted me to spend a couple of days on a drip. The consultant doing the ward rounds asked if I minded the students being there while they examined me - there were about 6 of them, and I said no, of course I didn't mind, because they all have to learn somehow - what I WASN'T prepared for however was one of them proposing that I could just be constipated, and then proceeding to investigate, without asking or warning me....!!!
You certainly have to have a sense of humour in this game!
And remember - people are far more likely to rush to share their bad experiences than the good ones. If everything is unremarkable, there is nothing to say. That's why you'll always read more bad stories than good ones
I have the coil, I had it fitted in August this year, it seems so far to be helping, with the odd exception of pain the doctor did think after a month it had slipped and moved so I had an internal scan, the coil was fine but I have a choc cyst (Explains it all!) I have another 3 month to see if the coil helps, fingers crossed it does, I read into it before I had it and yes there are alot of horror stories! I nearly cancelled my appointment!! Hope this helps Good luck xx
I absolutely refuse to have the coil, and instead have tried other options. The one that's worked best for me has been the cerelle/cerazette mini-pill. I had a few blips with it to start and over the summer, but majority of the time I have no bleeding for months! It has worked wonders... but everyone's different and I do still suffer occasionally, although much more rarely than I used to! Perhaps you could give it a try for a few months before you jump onto the coil? You could also ask about the depo-injection? as I know that's helped a few people... Don't worry about the internal u/s, it's just mildly uncomfortable for a couple of minutes xxx
I was originally on Cerazette, but it used to give me migraines and so they had to stop it, and so I've been on 2 other types before settling on Micronor, which isn't too bad but I've had on and off periods for a while now. I know my consultant really wants to push for the coil but i just don't really want to take the risk of being in pain for months! Thanks Xx
Oh no, not good! I hope you find something that works soon. I don't think anything will ever be perfect but it's so hard to find something that comes close to giving you the most minimal pain possible :/ Good luck! xxx
When you say you had problems what do you mean. I have been taking it just short of two months. the first was fine however I have been on full blown periods for nearly a whole month. don't suppose this was one of your problems??
I haven't actually taken Cerelle, but from the looks of it, it does sort of the same thing as Micronor as its a progesterone only pill.
I would carry on taking it for a few months and see if it settles down, if not then go back to your GP and try another pill. It could just be your body getting used to it, so do give it some more time, but i know I've had some bad periods with different types of pills, and the Gp just suggested another one, which was much better suited to me! Sorry i can't help more! x
Hi there - glad to hear your Consultant's getting things moving - sounds like a couple of other ladies on here have been disappointed with the lack of support/interest they've had at their Gynae appointments lately, so good that he listened to you at least!
The internal scan is fine, and no worse than an internal exam, and the probe is quite narrow (I've seen it called a 'dildo cam' on other forums, which made me chuckle :-D)
Endo itself doesn't actually show up on a scan - they'll only really be able to diagnose it if any of your organs are out of place or look things look 'stuck together' as that's a sign of adhesions (which are in turn signs of endo. When I had mine done they could see that my ovary was stuck to my back pelvic wall, so I was immediately put on the wait list for a lap - which is next friday, eek!
The scan will also show up any cysts you might have, which could be a factor in your irregular periods if it's something like polycystic ovaries (which I have as well. YAY!)
Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions!
Ha thats made me chuckle, I'm going to start laughing as soon as i see it now
Oh wow good luck for Friday, it'd be great to hear how you get on with that. After getting up at 4am this morning in pain, I'm thinking that if he says he can't see anything, then I'm going to opt for the Lap anyway, as it will at least tell me whats wrong with me! Thank you, and good luck Xx
The mirena coil is much lower dose of chemicals than any of the birth control pills, so side effects in most ladies are considerably reduced. Remember there are thousands and thousands of happy coil users (myself included) and they wont be online celebrating the fact. Its the minority who do have a bad experience that grumble about it online.
It doesn;t suit everyone, anymore than every birth control pill combination suits every one either..... but for me the mirena has stopped my periods stopped my period pains and liberated me so instead of spending well over a quarter of every year in time terms, in agony unable to do anything, bleeding cramping and zonked on pain killers... I got all thaat time back to do anything I can manage to do. For me it has been the very best of all the things I have done over the years to manage the pain and the bleeding and endo.
As for the internal scan.... it is far better than th external one.
Not nearly so messy on clothes etc, and is much more thorough is looking for hidden cysts and so on. I much prefer the internals.
Basically my advice is wear a long wide hippie skirt (I have one just for these trips to hospital) - it doesn't get worn at any other times.
You sit back or lie back on a couch, pull your feet up towards your bum knees apart, and this is where the long skirt is handy, pull your skirt right up under your bum to avoid getting wet patches on it from lubricant goop. the front of the skirt you can drape over your knees to keep warm.
There are two kinds of probes- one is old fashioned and small dildo shaped, the other nicer one is a small blob of scanner equipment on the end of a thin knitting needle like pole.
In both cases )depending on which type your local hosp have) they put a condom on the probe and lather it with lubricant and insert it in to the vagina...it is no where near as painful as a smear est with a speculum for example.. infact it doesn't cause me any pains at all, where as a speculum has me screaming the roof off in pain. That is the only time the examiner briefly looks at you down below..when the put the probe in you.
After that they are looking at the screen and make from time to time move the probe around if they spot something they want to scan from slightly different angles. Most of the time they are examining the monitor screen in front of them and you just lie there.
Once done, the probe is pulled out, you get handed paper towels or tissue to wipe any excess lube away and you get dressed again.
So straight forward. Some sonographers want you to tilt your pelvis upwards if for example your have a tilted or retroverted uterus..and you would do this by putting your hands or a cushion under your bum cheeks to lift the pelvis up a bit.
whereas the tummy scan involves slathering goop all over your tummy, it is sooo messy and you never manage to wipe it all off ad get dry before getting dressed so your clothes end up with goop on them.
Now this is the best bit.
Tummy external scans need you to have a full bladder of wee, which is very uncomfy indeed and you can be waiting quite some time for the scan busting in agony to hold it in while desperate for the loo.... With the internal scan they need an EMPTY bladder --hooray.
So you can lie there relax- not needing the loo urgently at all.
Overall internal or trans-vaginal ultra sound scans are much much nicer than external ones. If you can ignore the slight embarrassment factor that the person scanning has to briefly look at your lady bits to make sure the probe is going in the right hole, which takes a couple of seconds, then the rest of the procedure is straightforward, less messy and a lot less painful than lying there bursting for a pee with someone pressing a probe right on where your bladder is.
I definitely rate the internal as one of the least uncomfy procedures of all the probing and prodding that doctors can do. please don't worry about it. If you have had the scan with a full bladder then the internal one is a breeze in comparison.
Wow thats exactly what i needed to hear!! It sounds so easy... i know I'm not looking forward to holding all me wee in, so it will definitely be a relief!!
Thank you so much for the detailed response, I'm actually looking forward to seeing it being done, instead of the terror i was feeling before!!
I had the coil fitted and although uncomfortable, it wasn’t as bad as I thought and after the first two weeks of feeling uncomfortable it settled and did help with both pain and heavy bleeding.
I also had both ultrasounds recently as pain started again and again it’s nothing to worry about, it was quite uncomfortable and they found multiple cysts on my left ovary.
I hope this puts your mind at rest a bit. Best of luck. Take care xx
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) . It's basically a scanning probe that's the shape you'd expect it to be for where it's going used by sonographers who do this job on a daily basis so have literally seen it all before. I actually find them interesting - remember that the sonographer won't be able to tell you exactly what anything odd she sees might be, but they are usually happy to point out your womb and ovaries and at one scan I had the girl pointed out my active bowel - nice!! 
Odd question during ultrasound. 
Don't understand why my doctor won't diagnose me with endometriosis
endo diagnosis problems
First gynaecology appointment. Anybody had similar situation? 
Laparoscopy and Mirena coil
