Girlfriend 35 has bad tummy pain.

[Bob5654]

After some advice. My girlfriends 35 and has had terrible belly pain for the last year. She has been to a doctor who didn't explain things very well to her but told her she needs a laparoscopy. From the ultrasound it looks potentially like adenomyosis and potentially endometriosis. Please can someone tell me the benefits of laparoscopy? And also how many of you got a 2nd opinion before going for surgery? She has otherwise been healthy before this.

Also if anyone has changed their diet and found this has helped their symptoms as well I'd be interested to hear from?

Thanks.

[angiecxx]

Hi. A laparoscopy will be available to confirm whether your girlfriend has either or both conditions. Also certain foods could trigger a flare up and cause more pain among other symptoms. I found not eating certain foods like meat, dairy products, fizzy drinks helped stop my stomach from being so inflamed. There's a lot of information you could research about both conditions which could help your girlfriend and yourself understand more about adenomyosis and endometriosis. I hope that helps you both.

[Bob5654 in reply to angiecxx]

Do you mean stopping dairy, meat and fizzy drinks helped your symptoms? Thanks for the reply.

[angiecxx in reply to Bob5654]

Yes i did sorry. I've edited my response now.

[Nikkky]

Hi. With a laparoscopy they’ll hopefully be able to confirm or rule out endometriosis and remove it (although it can be difficult to remove it all depending where it is). Adenomyosis is in the muscle wall of the uterus, so that isn’t seen during a laparoscopy. If they’ve spotted something on the scan then I would go ahead with the laparoscopy. At least she’ll get a proper diagnosis and the right treatment. I’ve had 3 laparoscopies over the years and to be honest I’ve always felt much better afterwards than before the op. The recovery isn’t too long either with it being keyhole surgery. A lot of women end up getting a 2nd opinion because they’re told that their scans are normal and there’s nothing wrong. I would see it as a positive that they’ve spotted a problem and they’re willing to investigate. Hopefully she can get back to living a normal life. I wish her luck with it all.

[Bob5654 in reply to Nikkky]

That's great thanks for the detailed reply. Just what we needed.

[635703]

Cutting out lactose in dairy products and avoiding gluten has helped me loads. So tummy pain reduced and bloating. You’ve gut this is a website and specifically @lottiedryan who shows pretty clothes when you have a bloated tummy. It’s helped me no end to feel beautiful and built my self esteem!

Often with endometriosis it affects the bowel with IBS symptoms. So dairy free, gluten free and low fodmap diet are suggested, for me, I won’t do low fodmap without the help of a dietician. No chance on The NHS.

This was the advice my Consultant Gynecologist gave me and she is an endometriosis specialist. She was a second opinion. 1st one suggested a hysterectomy and I don’t need one FFS 🤦🏻‍♀️

All women have a right to go to a BGSE accredited centre to see an endometriosis specialist Gynecologist. If you ring the endometriosis uk helpline (see website for opening times) they can look up the Dr for you or DIY by googling BGSE centres in the UK🙂

What you don’t want is an inexperienced surgeon doing the laparoscopy. Ok, you need them to get it right first time and remove as much as they can and so a skilled and experienced surgeon will do this. Less surgeries usually means less complications, less pain, less hassle.

They may suggest a Mirena coil after surgery as these have a few benefits. I had one in 2006 and then they get changed every few years and I had them until a few weeks ago. Life changing for me.

After my lap and removal of Endo, some hormone injections and the Mirena I have no symptoms from 2006-2018!!! The Mirena has hormones on it and it can stop the Endo growing.

Hope that helps!

[Dogmad6]

I found the only diet that has ever helped is the low fodmap. I've suffered with endo all my adult life. It isn't too hard to do, there is lots of information online. It's an elimination diet you do for 2 to 3 weeks then gradually reintroduce different food groups and see what upsets you. I discovered that I had sensitivity to wheat and lactose and now have lactose free dairy products which are dead easy to get in most supermarkets.

You don't have to give up everything that makes life better either on this diet.

You can still have your tea and coffee, wine etc.

I was sceptical, having tried every possible diet over many years.

I also agree with some of the other advice. Getting a good specialist is absolutely crucial. They can mess you up if they don't know what they are doing and make things worse. Good luck!

[thara9643]

Ask or push for a laparoscopy. It will give you more information.