Fed up and wanting answers

[cabbage12]

So I went to gyni today for my first appointment and was really nervous. Met the consultant and had the general questions asked, told her where my pain was how often, the whole shabam. Then she asked me what I thought it might be and why I have been sent to gyni. Isn't that her job to find out. So she examined my stomach and did a bi- manual, which was sore and uncomfortable, but i couldn't pinpoint where. She said that everything appeared to be OK and that it is unlikely to be Gynecological and said that at this point there isn't a reason to do a lap and said that because all my bloods and scans were fine (from February) that she didn't need to repeat them. So at which point is it acceptable to have a lap, when i am tearing my hair out and crying hysterically in pain.

She thinks I should go back on the pill to reduce the amount of periods I am having to see if that helps, but i have been on the pill before and found no benefit from it and pt on loads of weight. She thinks I might have adhesion from my appendix surgery 4 years ago and it is unlikely that they can do anything for that.

Sorry for the rant, but i am completely fed up. I feel like i am not getting listened to. I just want answers now and a possible solution to my pain. I don't want it to effect my life even though it is beginning to. The more they say there is nothing they can do, the more i think it is in my head which i know it is not. I can't stop crying now, PMS.

Thinking of going to the doctors and seeing what the next step may be as i don't want to go on the pill again. And I think i will bring my mum next time too. And the next time I get a day of constant pain, I might take myself to A&E, that way they might take me a bit more seriously.

And looks like I didn't get my birthday wish for answers or solution to my pain. ( It was my 19th birthday yesterday).

[squidgy]

Hi there cabbage12.

So sorry to hear that yet again a consultant is not listening to what they are being told. I, like many on this forum, can totally relate to this. It has become a very common factor for us ladies that suffer from endo esp the usual answers of: some women suffer more than others, endo doesn't casue those symptoms, it's in your head or its only IBS! Hence why the average is 8yrs to get a diagnosis. (For me it has been 19 years in total until a def diagnosis).

It is so deflating and frustrating when this happens. Can totally understand how you feel. Please do not give up hope and fighting. Only you know your body best.

I am surprised you were not also offered to try some sort of pain relief such as mefenamic acid to see how you do with that. Some gynae do a ultra sound before offering a Lap, but as you may be aware a ultra sound will not show up endo.

Did you have a symptom diary with you when you saw the gynae and a written down list of all the symptoms you experience? Can be useful, partly for you so nothing is forgotten to be mentioned (as for some reason brain fog comes in as soon as enter dr rooms!) But also to assist the gynae.

I hope you have got a good support network (family/friends) as that is priceless with struggling with endo and will help you.

I hope you get listened to soon and get the answers and help you need x

[cabbage12 in reply to squidgy]

I had my pain diary in my bag with me just in case but didn't need it. I just felt like she wasn't listening to anything I said. I told her that I got tested for PCOS which came back negative, which she replied that PCOS doesnt cause pain? Going to go to GP with my Mum for the next step or a second opinion

[squidgy in reply to cabbage12]

Hate it when they don't just listen to us! Esp when you know that PCOS can cause pain! Then you feel uncomfortable and lose the will to fight your side as feel like a little kid in the headmaster's office! I hope you get listened to soon x x

[cabbage12 in reply to squidgy]

That's exactly how I felt. I am going to make an appointment with one of the gp's at my doctors clinic ( my original doctor has left the practice) and see what we can do next. I want to avoid the pill at all cost if possible. I have been fobbed off before in the past for other conditions, including an appendicitis which took 5 doctors, a senior nurse, and a surgeon 4 days to diagnose, so I am no stranger to being fobbed off.

I just felt like I was a waste of time for her. I wish she had put me down for a lap, that way if nothing was found I would at least know that its not gyni related. Wonder what to her entitles a lap to be done?

[emaweegirl]

Hi cabbage12! Happy Birthday for yesterday!

I'm so sorry your appointment didn't go well. Where you mentioned about a&e can be quite a good idea actually. My endo journey began back in April (though I've had the symptoms for a few years, but I kept ignoring them) when I went to a&e with awful pelvic pain. The first doctor I saw didn't know what was wrong so he referred me to emergency gynaecology, where the gyny I saw was finally able to figure out the cause of my pain by diagnosing endo. He then referred me for a scan which I had in may, then I went back to see a different gynaecologist who has put me down for a laparoscopy in August. I understand that I'm a rare case for all of this to have happened in only a couple of months, but A&E may help. You'd probably need to claim that you didn't know the cause of your pain though. If you say it's endometriosis pain, they may just dose you up and send you home x

[cabbage12 in reply to emaweegirl]

Thanks for the support and advice. I don't know that it is endo, but to me and what I have read up on about it in general and in classes ( i am a student nurse) the main one that sticks out to me is endo.

[cabbage12]

Thanks guys for the support. I am now realizing there are things that I should have spoken up and said a out at the appointment, but the doctor never asked the questions so they slipped my mind. Hopefully I can get an appointment with my gp soon and see what she thinks about the situation.

SO glad I have supportive friends and family, and people on hear that have been through the same thing and can relate to me.

[emaweegirl in reply to cabbage12]

Don't worry. I had a gyny appointment last week and wrote things down to ask and still forgot to ask certain questions. I hope your docs appointment is successful! X

[cabbage12 in reply to emaweegirl]

Yeah same, between that and her not asking questions at all, nothing was asked about my periods, family history, or my medical history really.

Thanks for the support.