Endo and Fertility

[Baker18]

Hi ladies

I am in a bit of a difficult situation at the moment where my endo symptoms have returned (I had a lap in 2016 to remove it then) but I am also trying to conceive with my husband.

I went to my GP who was very helpful and sent me for an internal scan and then said we could then discuss further the next steps. After the scan came back normal I tried to arrange an appointment with my GP who has unfortunately now left the practise. I had an appointment with another doctor today who was much less supportive and wasn’t sympathetic. She said (there was me thinking female doctors were all nice and relatable!) she could refer me to a fertility clinic but couldn’t do anything about the endo in the meantime. So in a nutshell, she said I either choose between pain or looking further into our fertility struggles.

Has anyone else been through the same process and can offer some advice? I don’t know if the fertility clinic will be able to help at all on my endo and I am just feeling very lost!

Thank you in advance x

[Rehanat]

Hey- a fertility clinic won’t help with ur endo at all, they will just investigate why you haven’t conceived and may give u medication like clomid to help or recommend ivf. I would just be persistent with ur gp however if u want to conceive it is unlikely a gynaecologist will do another lap ( this was case for me and I had to just persevere with my pain until I finally managed to conceive after nearly 3yrs). It really will depend on how bad ur symptoms are etc x

[Tillyfloss]

hi. We've been through a similar thing but didn't know I had endometriosis. My gp was useless and in the end we paid to see a bsge specialist privately. The best thing we did he was amazing. I had various complications but 7 years after we started I'm 27 weeks pregnant. Keep pushing I've found a lot of people are very dismissive off endometriosis, its been a battle to get the help I've needed. Good luck. Xx

[Marmite83]

I was referred for fertility and my consultant did a scan, saw endometriomas and booked me for a laparoscopy to remove them (and any other endo) which I had in Jan. I think it probably does depend where you live though. He then prescribed me Clomid when I still didn't get pregnant. If your ccg offers ivf on the nhs, that would generally be the next step if the Clomid doesnt work but it's not available on the nhs to me so we're looking into doing that privately.

[StefaniaJW]

I don't know who performed the laparoscopy in 2016, but maybe it didn't remove all endo (not all excision surgeons are trained and capable the same!). I suggest you get referred to an excellent excision surgeon ASAP. I've seen women with stage 4 endometriosis conceive naturally after a well-performed excision surgery. I suggest you join the Nancy Nook group and look for a surgeon in your area from the "Surgeons International" file. I would get an excellent excision surgery with a renowned endo specialist before going for IVF!

[LizzieBW]

Hi there, I'm just new to the site and whilst looking for support I came across your post so wanted to share my experience in the hope it offers some reassurance. I second what Marmite said to you - I went to my GP initially with symptoms that were causing me distress and simultaneously my Husband and I had been trying unsuccessfully for a baby for 2.5 years at that point. My GP sent a referral to our local infertility clinic and the first thing they looked at was diagnosis/treatment of endometriosis for me. I'm awaiting my lap&dye and my consultant reassured me about our next steps i.e. mild endo - try naturally for 6 months then re-evaluate or anything moderate or higher will be a direct referral for IVF. So, as others have said it may vary depending on where you live but from my experience the infertility clinic are definitely interested in treating endometriosis as part of our infertility struggles. I know you said you previously had surgery but it's my understanding endo tissue is well-known to regrow and so any referral for infertility...I'm wondering, would they not have to do more thorough internal scans or more specifically another lap&dye to check the progression of your endo? to double check if any existing health conditions may be affecting your chances of conception? Either way I found the consultant via the infertility referral very supportive so hopefully providing you a different platform to discuss your concerns about pain. Sorry if I've misunderstood x