Being dismissed because I’m on contraceptive pill

[CaptainPhasma]

Hi everyone, I’m new here!

After an eleven year battle with horrendous symptoms, I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2016 and received very little follow-up care. My symptoms continued, and I was put on Rigevidon in January 2019, which has helped.

Last year, I had an abnormal smear result and attended a colposcopy clinic in January 2021. As the doctor was talking to me before the procedure, he mentioned that he’d looked at my notes and ultrasound scans and thinks I was misdiagnosed with PCOS. Which was a shock.

I went back to my GP, and had another pelvic ultrasound in May 2021 which confirmed no ovarian cysts. My blood tests came back with normal hormone levels.

I’m now back to square one in terms of getting a correct diagnosis, but am finding that the gynaecology doctors I’m seeing are incredibly dismissive. If it’s not PCOS, what is it? My GP is amazing and is totally on my side, but the specialists I’ve seen are not taking me seriously. They keep saying that, because Rigevidon is improving my symptoms, there’s no point in me continuing to seek a diagnosis unless I want to have a baby (I’m quite honestly sick of this being used as the only way to validate providing women with healthcare).

Do I need to come off the pill and experience my horrendous symptoms again in order to be taken seriously? My GP says no but I don’t think I can go through another frustrating specialist appointment where my concerns are dismissed.

In my opinion, I’d like an MRI/laparoscopy to investigate for endo on my bowel. One specialist told me that Rigevidon stops the growth/function of endo, which from my own research I think is untrue. My concern is that I may currently have endo on my organs which will continue getting worse and could possibly lead to other health problems.

Would love to hear from anyone, be it with similar experiences or not. Many thanks!

[AllthatGlitters]

Hey sorry you are being dismissed and not being taken seriously by the consultants. The first thing I thought when reading your post was to go and pay for a private consultation. I had one and it was £200. It was with a BSGE consultant (the same one worked for the NHS) money talks and all that 🤷‍♀️If you need further treatment you can go onto the NHS for scans and surgery. I can say when I had my consultations and twice with private, they listened and I was taken seriously. Of course you want answers and it’s not good enough to put you on rigivedon and told to basically get on with it. I was on that pill and it never helped my symptoms x

[dodgeviperdiva]

hi hun how's u doing today? I'm sorry to hear that ur suffering 🙁 unfortunately I feel ur pain 😔 I've been dealing with pain now for 24yrs and it took me 11yrs n countless operations to get a diagnosis of endometriosis. I'm still no better off and I can't get a hysterectomy, they refused (even though my tubes are tied n I've got 3 beautiful children). My advice is to use the anger directly to drive u to get what you want (don't go in there screaming at the Dr's, I'm not suggesting that 😂) but be firm and be ur own advocate if you don't want to try anything ur Dr suggests then say no (the amount of women pressured into the pill or pregnancy is appalling). U have the RIGHT to have input in ur health care! I hope that you get the help u need but if you want to chat plz pm me xxxx

[LME5]

Heya, sorry to read about your frustrations. I think every woman suffering from gynaecological problems has experienced doctor dismissal on more than one occasion!it's pretty far-fetched for a doctor to claim Rigevidon treats endometriosis. If that was the case we'd all be on it and living full lives!

If you don't like the medical advice you're receiving, ask your GP to refer you to a specialist endo clinic at another hospital. Whether your GP is supportive or not, you're entitled to a second opinion and proper healthcare.

WIsh you the best of luck x