Having a bad day :(

Hi ladies,

I just signed up to this looking for some advice. I've suffered with pelvic pain for almost 7 years now, and finally 5 months ago at the age of 24 I had a laparoscopy and it was confirmed that I have endometriosis. Initially this was actually such a relief to find out it wasn't all in my head and there was a reason I was in such pain! I had been back and forth to various colposcopy clinics, GUM appointments and ultrasound scans with no luck.

However now rather than relief I just feel sad. I suffer with depression anyway, but recently I have been really low. The last year my pain has been at its worst which is why I pushed for the surgery. I am on my third day off work sick this week because I am in too much pain to do anything. Getting out of bed to go to and from the bathroom is painful - let alone using the bathroom itself!

I feel like I've been a bit abandoned now I have a diagnosis. The consultant told me there was no cure and he could potentially repeat the laparoscopy in a few years but until then just take pain killers when needed. It's affecting my life, having a strain on my relationship with my boyfriend and ultimately making me feel awful about myself.

Does anyone have any advice on ways they have learnt to cope with the pain? Or even manage it to a better level? I would be very grateful of any advice xxxx

3 Replies

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  • Firstly, do you know if you were seen at a BSGE clinic? If not, it might be an idea to go back to your GP and ask to be referred to one (you can google them, there's a list and you can ask the GP to send you to one of your choice). They are specialist clinics that deal with endo, and the consultants and nurses are much more experienced. It simply isn't true that there is nothing they can do. They can't cure it, but that doesn't mean there aren't lots of things that can be done to improve quality of life.

    Did they treat the endo when you had your lap, or was it just diagnostic?

    Finally, to just tell you to take painkillers isn't good enough. There are lots of hormone treatments that can help with pain relief and your GP should also be able to sort you out with better pain relief than it sounds like you've currently got. They aren't helping you manage your pain properly right now and they should be.

  • Hi, thank you for responding. I had no idea what one of those clinics was until I just googled it now. And no it would appear that I wasn't seen at one of those clinics - the nearest one too me is over an hour so I guess j wouldn't have been referred there first. Asking the GP for a new referral is a good place to start then - thank you.

    Yes they did remove some at my lap. I have fairly strong pain killers already but I will go to my GP with this new knowledge of BSGE clinics - thank you!

  • If you are not trying to conceive just at the moment then options for treatment such as the pill or Mirena can be tried to help ease symptoms. But definitely being treated at a BSGE centre is a good place to start. There is more help available than you have been offered so (as hard as it can be sometimes) please try to stay positive X