Help/advice/experienceplease?

[Haych9]

Hi ladies, I'm brand new to this forum!

So I'm going out of my mind with worry, mostly for the fact that many symptoms overlap with other issues such as cervical cancer....

I recently visited my GP as I was experiencing some pain and sometimes bleeding after sex (this wouldn't happen every time, maybe twice out of 5) I had a pelvic exam and she didn't see/feel anything abnormal or worrying and took swabs which came back fine.

Then suddenly after intercourse I experienced an onset of pain the day after and for days to come, I bled again and then began to experience bad lower back pain and a constant period-style bellyache. This was about 4 weeks ago and I have since had a trans-vaginal ultrasound which showed nothing but quite inflamed veins in my pelvis. Since this time, I've been experiencing quite a lot of discomfort. I've had pretty consistent back ache, accompanied by on and off period style cramps, leg ache and shooting pains in my groin. My periods are regular as I'm on the pill, which has also made them quite good but I tend to now more frequently suffer with very bad cramps on the first couple of days which also accompanies an IBS flare up at this time of the month!

My doctor suspects this could all be endo presenting itself if in unusual forms and I've been referred to a gyno. I'm just concerned that these symptoms may not be significant of endo (although each person is different) however I have had small issues and discarded them in the past such as some pain during sex and some large clotting during periods, but is it normal that suddenly after more regular intercourse, I would display symptoms out of almost nowhere such as the pain in back and groin/stomach cramps? Could it have been provoked? Or could it just be chance that it's showing itself a bit more now....?

Has anyone else experienced any of these things? Or had symptoms all arise all of a sudden? I wonder if the pill has masked it for so long and then I had a phase of not being sexually active that now I am again it has made it more recognisable? I must add the pain in my groin can sometimes be the most uncomfortable and causes shooting/stabbing style pain... Has anyone had this before? I also appreciate the aches and shooting pains may be caused by the vein issue in my pelvis but this could've also be discovered by chance during the ultrasound! The pain has been almost daily with some times being worse than others, sometimes I'll have bad hip ache, others it'll be my groin that's worse... But I haven't really had much 'time off' these issues since about 4 weeks ago... Is that possible with endo?

Please feel free to ask anything else, I'm also too young for a smear and stuff so pretty worried it could be more sinister and get missed, but I'm hoping with these symptoms anything like that would've been detected during pelvic exam/ultrasound...?

Advice, experiences or similar stories would be a great peace of mind and help... I feel like I'm going insane here!!!

Thank you ladies and God bless you. X

[KSvedenmacher]

Hi, sorry to hear you have experienced so much pain. A lot of what you describe is so recognisable. I have had painful periods since I was 12, but once I was on the pill it was more manageable. I wasn't diagnosed until I experienced pain after a miscarriage 16 years later. I had a laparoscopy and then I was back on the pill. While I was on the pill I didn't have much pain until it came back recently. So I would say it is possible for endometriosis to present itself rather suddenly and your symptoms do sound like endo so I would definitely push for a laparoscopy to be sure.

Hope you find out soon what is going on... Hugs

[JeanOsborne]

I just wanted to reassure you that the chances of it being cancer are extremely small so please try not to worry, easier said than done, I know. The enlarged veins sounds like pelvic congestion syndrome which is like varicose veins. This can also cause a lot of pain. I'm glad they are referring you to gynaecologist. They may offer you a laparoscopy to find out what is going on inside. The op is still too bad but they pump gas into your abdomen so they can see better, and this can cause pain afterwards in shoulders. Try peppermint tea as this will help. If they do find endo then I would advise you then look on the BSGE website and find a centre near you and go back to GP and get a referral to them. These centres specialise in endo so you would be in much better hands , so to speak. Good luck and if you need to talk or need help please don't hesitate to ask.