Argh why is being a woman hard

[princessk09]

Sorry if I’ve been complaining a lot recently but omg getting some answers is so hard!

I’ve just been to the doctors and she was completely useless and none helpful. She was pressing on my lower stomach and it was hurting around the ovary area. She said it was NORMAL! Normal to feel pain all the time and there’s nothing she can do or say about it.

For 10 minutes she was convinced I’m pregnant even though I haven’t had sex in over a year.

I really just want some answers about what is causing the pain and other problems 😭😫

[luthien]

Ahh no that sounds so annoying

I hate it when they just don't listen and make you feel so small.

I'd definitely look at a different doctor or gp, you are entitled to a second opinion. It might be an idea to have a diary of days when you're in pain, where the pain is and what level of pain it is (have a scale) then when you have your appointment get them to take a look at it so they'll see it's been going on for a while.

[princessk09 in reply to luthien]

I’ve been to 4 gynaes, one endo specialist at spire (he thinks I have endo and was the best gynae I’ve ever seen)

I have to get a 5th opinion on the 23rd March and hopefully he will refer me for a lap as the specialist wants me to have one. However I can’t afford a private lap so been put back into the nhs.

I’m waiting for blood test results about my hormones as I’ve been getting a lot of spots and hair on my stomach 😫 and tenderness or sharp pain in my ovaries

[luthien in reply to princessk09]

wow, you've been pushed around a lot, lets hope the one on the 23rd will be the one!

the blood tests, and pain in ovaries could be PCOS, I had that checked a while back, see if they can do a transvaginal ultrasound too as they'll see more than a normal ultrasound.

[princessk09 in reply to luthien]

I asked for a transvaginal scan last year and they refused to do one at the hospital for some weird reason.

[jennt0506]

You're not alone in that it's so common to be told this pain is normal.

My worst experience was when I split from my boyfriend my doctor suggested going through all the STI testing and swabs again because things "may have changed". Basically she was suggesting I was a) lying about having had sex with someone after him and b) that all of my problems could be attributed to an STI I had caught YEARS after the problems first started! I was 16, as well, I might add, it gave me a pretty bad view of doctors I have to admit. I'd had so many problems in the run up to that, it took me 2 more years to finally get my diagnosis, so 3 years in total - and that's because I have a Dad who wouldn't take no for an answer and was sick of me coming back from the doctors in tears because I had been fobbed off again.

It's exhausting but keep at it. Get that second opinion. I had to go in with the endometriosis symptom list and show them how many I ticked off (which was all!), to even get it considered as an option. Keep a diary of pain, when, where, intensity, and record when it interferes with your life too.

Try not to give up. It's infuriating but you will instinctively know something isn't right. Women are taught to live in a level of pain - I'm not going to get all feminist but women's pain is consistently undermined and second guessed, so fight through that x

[princessk09 in reply to jennt0506]

I’m going for my 5th opinion next month.

I have been through all the STI testing last year and was all clear. One gynae scared me and I said I have genital warts when I don’t! Like imagine being 18 and freaking out over something that wasn’t even there in the first place.

This trainee doctor this morning was convinced it was pregnancy as I am so bloated as well. I did a test just to shut her up and she couldn’t help me at all or give me painkillers.

I go on holiday next week as well so hopefully I won’t be in pain

[jennt0506 in reply to princessk09]

Sometimes going in there with a clear plan of what you want from them is the only way. I ended up just going in and giving a bunch of names of who I wanted to be referred to, and it finally got me the referral I needed x

[princessk09 in reply to jennt0506]

I went to an endo specialist a few months ago and he thinks I have endometriosis. But now I’m just waiting for another gynae he knows to confirm it and hopefully let me have a lap xx

[higgyhovz]

This sounds a terrible GP surgery in my opinion. You should not have been treated this way. Pain in pain.... and we know our own bodies and it's not acceptable to have pain all the time every day.... I work in the NHS and we don't treat people like that! I do hope you can get it sorted. I'm sure you've taken painkillers... I'm currently on Naproxen for the pain. Not sure if it really helps but sometimes you just get so desperate to try anything.

[princessk09 in reply to higgyhovz]

Painkillers have no affect tbh. But like when she was pressing on my ovary area I was wincing because it hurt. But I got no answers as to what it is

[higgyhovz]

I hope you do get it sorted..... different health services all operate so differently. Try again at the GP surgery perhaps or get a referral to the local hospital? Good luck..