Pain in right side

I've had a pain in my right side, just above the ovaries so sort of bowel area, for 3 years. I always thought it was my ovary til my lap came back clear and he said it was most likely bowels. I stopped taking the pill 2 weeks ago, had a period and since then the pain has been awful, like a hot knife going through it. Surely if it wasn't endo the two wouldn't be related right? And he didn't check my bowel during the lap which only leaves me with more questions!

[cmbxm]

That’s what irritated me about my lap being told “it’s all bowel problems” and then having them not even check your bowel!! 😩😩 like how can they say it’s bowel problems, when they didn’t even check, but they had the opportunity to check!!

[Hidden in reply to cmbxm]

Right? When I saw him before the lap, and then in the letter to my GP he said he thought it was bowel related, especially given I can't eat gluten and struggle to gain weight, so not not check or refer me for further testing seems absurd!

[cmbxm in reply to Hidden]

Are they referring you to gastro for further testing or gynae?

[Hidden in reply to cmbxm]

Neither, I was discharged from all services there. The regular gynae I see has just closed down after prescribing me more pills that have been discontinued so at the minute I have no idea what to do x

[cmbxm in reply to Hidden]

I’d go back to your GP and ask to see another gynaecologist, that’s awful! What a position to be put in!

[Hidden in reply to cmbxm]

Yeah, I'm not in the position to atm because I'm changing jobs so my time to go to doctors appointments is limited, and since my lap came back clear they're eager to dismiss me with anything gynaeo related (they think I'm only with the other gynaeo for vaginismus/pelvic floor dysfunction and that the changing in pills are because I"m not getting on with them).

I feel like they wouldn't even bother refer me onto someone else, and I'm struggling to have any fight left in me. I intend to stay off the pill for as long as possible, either until the pain comes back or we have a kid (even though I was told coming off it could harm my fertility) which should hopefully minimise the amount of time with doctors again x

[luthien]

That sounds awful

Did they say before you had your op what they would be looking for during your lap? Sometimes they'll only look for what they discussed and in the area discussed, which is annoying, you'd think if they spotted something else it would be in their best interests to take a look / take samples. But I guess they can't as they've not discussed it with you. If you do have another, check with the surgeon that they will look at everything.

There are quite a few other things that can cause the same pains you have both cyclical and random, so it may be a good idea to keep a month view diary of how you're feeling and pain levels (on your own pain scale). Then ask for a second opinion (another gp) or go to your specialist and show them the diary, see what they say. Unfortunately with these things sometimes we have to push for them to do something.

You could push for an internal investigation of bowels (colonoscopy), an internal investigation of vagina and uterus (hysteroscopy - the can also take biopsies) and they can do a transvaginal ultrasound (thin narrow probe inserted into vagina) that would pick up cysts and fibroids in the surrounding tissue. These do not require a lap and therefore wouldn't put your body through too much stress.

Let us know how things go xx

[Hidden in reply to luthien]

Hey, thanks for the reply! I had a transvaginal ultrasound, and a normal one, 2 years back and they've not seemed keen to do another and don't think they would following the lap.

As the lap was part of the Pre-Empt trial I think they were only focusing on the main areas, even though he thought there was an issue with my bowels, he didn't seem keen to refer me on or have a look. I've kept a pain dairy for the last 10 months in hope of finding it related to food but having cut gluten/dairy out, I've not found that it helps/doesn't help the pain (though I think I was allergic to wheat anyway).

I know I really need to go back but I feel like I'm just wasting their time, and given the gynae told me to go on the pill and I said I wanted a break from it, I know they won't do anything til I've been on it and tried it and found it's not worked, which is another few months of feeling rubbish just as I'm about to start a new job x

[luthien]

Sounds like you've done all the right things

Cutting out foods can take up to four months for you to feel the effects, sometimes it's as quick as 6 weeks; the body and cells need time to get rid of the irritants, and sometimes that can only happen when cells die.

Have you had a look at talking to a bowel specialist? Possibly having them do all their tests may come back with something, and if it's gynae related then they'll write that up, so you'll have something to go back to your specialist with or another gynae specialist.