Diagnosis, how?

[JessMcL]

Hi everyone. I’m quite new to this group. For the past 11 years I’ve had incredibly painful heavy periods. So painful I’ll cry out in pain, throw up or faint. I have other health conditions and chronic pain too so I’ve learnt how to grit my teeth and bare it. But for the past 49 days I’ve been bleeding, with only a few days gap. I also get strong pain when ovulating and then again leading upto my period. Sex can sometimes be painful too.

I’ve expressed my concerns about a possibility of endometriosis and my nurse told me that they can do a scan, which is being arranged once some of my test results come back. What type of scan will this be please?

[Christin_a]

Hi Jess

It's likely an ultrasound, a clear ultrasound is very common when you have endo. It's more used to discount other things such as fibroids and cysts. So if it's clear push for a referral to a gynecologist who deals with endo (not all are very familiar with it).

Christina

[Vincentcat]

Hi JessMcL. As far as my understanding goes, there isn't a scan that can confirm endo, they usual start you on the various hormone treatments and then if none of those are successful then will do a laparoscopy, which is key hole surgery, so they can see first hand what's going on inside. The frustrating thing I've find about endo is that there are so few, if any, tests and scans that can officially diagnose endo, which I've found is one of the worst things about getting health professionals to take you seriously. Let me know how you get on, and hang in there, you're not alone x

[JessMcL]

Thank you everyone. My nurse is getting it signed off by a dr to either refer me to gynaecology or arrange the scan