Wishful thinking

[Flowerpot23]

Hey ladies.

I had my 2nd lap back at the end of June to remove by endo - they found quite a lot more than the 1st time round, more patches of endo, my bowel was stuck to my pelvic wall, endo on my right ovarie etc etc. My pain symptoms were the same for about 9 weeks post op and then suddenly disappeared almost over night! As you can imagine I was thrilled with this. However over the last 2 weeks or so my pelvic pain has been creeping back slowly but surely. It's not as bad as it used to be and I can quite easily control it with naproxen and paracetamol but is this a sign of things to come? One of my main symptoms is (incredibly) painful sex. This particular symptom has stayed the same throughout my treatment. Could this be something other than endo? Is it just that I've learnt to expect pain with sex? Feeling a bit down. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[dabba76]

Hi Flowerpot

That's fantastic that you got some relief after you lap. I too did get some relief from my first lap but that was short lived. That was back in 2011 and my symptoms have been gradually getting worse. I only get pain when we are in a certain position and when it's deep penetration. I wonder however if you are relaxing during sex. If you've learned to expect pain you will be tense and that wont help. Easier said than done. Perhaps having non penetrative sex for a while may help (this can be equally satisfying). Build it up gradually.

I am waiting to see how my 3rd coil gets on before they will do another lap in January. Just wondered what your symptoms were or how the pain manifested itself with your bowel stuck to the pelvic wall and endo on the ovary? Did you have a scan before the lap?

[Flowerpot23 in reply to dabba76]

Thanks for your reply I think I do tend to tense up when I know sex is on the cards which probably makes thing worse, but even when I'm not feeling nervous about it (I've been with my boyfriend for 7 years so it's not like I'm scared about being with someone new) it still hurts which is what's making me question if it's something else.

My main symptoms are pelvic pain, pain with intercourse and constipation. My pelvic pain has been pretty bad and they put the constipation down to a mixture of IBS and the pain killers that I was taking. Evidently it was because of the position by bowel had been in. Since the op my constipation has reduced significantly from going once every 5-6 days to every 1-2 days. I've also cut down a lot on wheat which makes a big difference too. There hasn't really been anything specific to indicate the endo on my ovarie but I do tend to get more pain over my right side.

My periods are extremely painful to the point I can barely stand sometimes. Does the coil seem to help you at all?

[dabba76 in reply to Flowerpot23]

I suffered from terrible constipation only going once or twice per week. My pain and bloating and constipation have reduced dramatically since cutting out wheat and a whole load of other things that I found out I was intolerant to after testing. I now go once per day except for ovulation time where my bowel just seems to shut down.

Whilst the coil dramatically reduced the blood flow and days going from 5/7 to 3 per month I don't think it helped with the pain. I've gone from being in pain every day to just ovulation and period time probably a combination of cutting out the bad foods and the coil. My pain is always on my right side where I expect my ovary is but a recent scan showed no issues with the ovaries so my consultant said that my endo is not severe.

Nerves/stress can manifest itself in many different ways and while you may feel relaxed it must always be in the back of your mind that your going to be in pain. Perhaps talking to your doctor may help just to rule out that it is not something else. Maybe some counselling would help? I'm starting soon to talk through issues I don't want to burden my partner/family with.

[Flowerpot23 in reply to dabba76]

Yeah counselling has Been mentioned before. I'm not sure I want to go though.

I tend to get a lot of pain on my right side but like you have no cysts etc. remember just because your endo is not classed as servere doesn't mean you won't have a lot of pain. My endo when first diagnosed was very mild but I was in ridiculous amounts of pain. I've got a follow up with my consultant in about 4 weeks so will speak to him about the painful sex again.

I just wish it would end ...