What next after lap?

[Jess98790]

Hi

I had my lap on 29th Jan. Still don't know the results they basically kicked me out pretty much straight away as soon as I woke up in recovery their first words were you can go home. No explanation after the surgery what happened and after consistent chasing from my GP they've agreed to have a follow up appointment with me. All I know is that the op 'went fine'. Thats it. It was a diagnostic lap. The pain has come back the same as before and I feel so fed up now. My appointment with the GYN is 21/03 so not too much longer to wait. Any ideas what the next steps will be? Is it worth seeing if the coil should be taken out? Could pull my hair out I'm so frustrated!

[luthien]

Sorry that that's happened to you

First you need to know the results of your lap, so wait until your appointment. You should be able to discuss treatment ideas and next steps depending on what they've found, severity and location. There are lots of options but if you're not sure if it's endo, cysts, fibroids....you can't really decide on treatment yet. Some doctors will recommend hormonal treatment for any gynae problem as it means they don't have to deal with you for a few years. I personally don't think that's the right approach as it just masks what's really happening, it's best to find the problem and sort as much of it as you can at the source then deal with the remaining symptoms.

I had suspected endo, and signed for a lap plus removal of endo, hysteroscopy and biopsies all in one go, but this was private so I don't know if that makes a difference. Diagnostic laps help see what's going on but it then means you need to recover before having one again if you choose to have endo etc removed which to me seems a long wait, worsening of symptoms and recovery from two ops.

I think the coil should be taken out before or during the second lap (when they remove endo etc, if you're going for that) as it helps you to recover and understand your cycles; when the pain is, severity, other symptoms and where in your cycle they occur. The idea of removal of endo and other things is to help you out of pain and feel better, out of pain for longer. So keeping the coil in (or putting one in with the op as often happens), in my honest opinion seems a bit counter intuitive; you won't know what's normal for you. I think doctors should wait a few months after the op so you know how you are, and have recovered fully so you can decide, yes hormones help but it's still chemicals and synthetic at that - just my thoughts!

[Jess98790 in reply to luthien]

Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. I don't know if they found endo or not. I'd need other contraception as I really don't like condoms &I've tried other forms except the pill which I'm worried id forget / be too ill to take. X thanks again for your response

[luthien in reply to Jess98790]

I get what you mean, I didn't do well on the pill either.

Could you use a cycle tracker app? I use NaturalCycles, its the only app certified for contraception, as it helps you plan when to avoid sex or use protection. When you've been using it for about three months the number of red days (fertile) can drop to about 7 days (5 before and 2 after ovulation) as it calculates your cycle patterns based on temp, ovulation tests and period tracking; it'll tell you all these. We use it, so do things normally apart from the 7 days, then decide what protection we want or just do other stuff that isn't intercourse. There is a subscription; which funds them to improve their calculations / algorithms on the app, and to have your own little place on their "cloud" so you can access your data through the app from any mobile device. We like that my and my hubby can have the app so he can check when my fertile days and period are. To be honest the subscription is worth it than going on the pill or using barrier contraception for the whole month. I like that you can add notes so you can add endo symptoms. naturalcycles.com/en

I don't like condoms but we found "EXS air condoms", they're thinner, almost invisible, you can't feel them and they smell a little of cocoa butter (like the moisturiser) rather than fishy. They're the best ones we've ever used!

[Jess98790 in reply to luthien]

Thanks for the advice. I don't think that app will work for me Ive never had regular periods and even when I used a tracker the cycle length wouldn't go far enough out to accurately record when I have them. Sometimes I went months without one so I don't know if the app would still be accurate?

Its scary to think if it was wrong I could get pregnant when we aren't ready to. Plus I want us to be married first so lots to sort before we think about children.

[luthien in reply to Jess98790]

You could try emailing them and seeing if it would / would not, they'd be able to tell you, then at least you have a definitive answer! You can't be the only person that would ask that, it's worth asking, you don't lose anything!It isn't wrong for their range of "regular cycles" as it certified to be as accurate as a form of protection (based on the algorithms its used) but I'm not sure if it works for irregular / abnormal cycles and what regular is.

In terms of the future you may want to consider a fertility clinic, I know you're not planning yet, but they can test hormone levels, cycles, ovulation etc, they'll also look at your partner. They'd be able to see why you're cycles aren't regular and if there's anything you could do; some women don't produce eggs during cycles, some just have longer cycles, some don't produce enough hormones to increase uterus lining thickness to have a period, the list is endless, not to mention there could be physical things... It'd give you an idea and be prepared for the future. It doesn't mean you're planning it just means you want to know about your own health