Suspected endometriosis, miscarriage

[CharGxox]

Hey, I'm not sure where to start with this as I've just joined and not had the chance to look at other posts yet, so I'll just go in to details about my experiences. I apologise if I give TMI!😅

Ever since I started my period I have struggled with them, and my moods, to the point my mum took me to my GP practice on a few occasions which led to me being put on contraception from a young age (I've been on many different forms) and my moods resulted in a referral to CAMHS. There were many, many occasions where I refused to go to school because I couldn't cope with sitting on the plastic chairs for hours with the intense pain in my back and stomach and when I went to the school nurse it was like she thought I just wanted an excuse to bunk off school. Fast forward to the present and I'm still struggling if not worse than before. I've had periods of not actually having a period, the longest being a number of years without. Now my periods are so irregular and inconsistent that I couldn't give a estimate as to when my cycle begins and ends... But when they do come they come with a vengeance, they are super heavy from the get go, and the pain is unbearable. I can't wear tampons because I feel like it increases the intensity of the pain down there, pads I fill them up quickly. I often leak on to my clothes or my bedding and my daughter sometimes points to this when it happens with disgust and it embarrasses me but she's only four so doesn't understand. My moods are all over the place, I don't even know how to begin to describe them. Last year I had a missed miscarriage, I hemorrhaged then as well as with my first child. My first pregnancy was extremely difficult and I count myself lucky to have carried successfully hence why I call her my miracle baby. Also when I do have a period it seems to be lately only when I get sick with what I believe to be a viral infection, which seems to be all the time lately! I have had blood in my stools for quite a while which I've had stool samples done which came back abnormal and they wanted me to have the camera up but I stupidly missed the appointment which took them ages to sort out due to COVID and then they wanted me to do another stool sample which I haven't done yet, again stupidly. And also they keep putting me on medication for indigestion that never actually helps! Unsure if these are related but I read they could be so added them just incase. I have suspected endometriosis for a while now, but my fear of seeking help prevents me from actually doing so, but I've reached a point where I feel like I need to as this is affecting areas of my life quite badly. I've read some experiences of other women about their diagnosing journeys and some of them have just made me feel less inclined to seeking help. If anyone has any advice or could share their experiences with me it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance! Char x

[Trinity613]

Hi, so sorry to hear what you’re going through! I also started my journey for a diagnosis with a stool sample and a colonoscopy. To be honest it was a waste of time and worst of all it was excruciatingly painful and had to stop 1/3rd way through… I was offered to do it again but with general anaesthetic but refused as I knew full well it wasn’t a bowel issue (my symptoms were only present when on my period). I requested an MRI instead and managed to get one a couple of months later. I also managed to get a referral to an endometriosis clinic which then managed to interpret my MRI results and confirmed the endo diagnosis. I strongly urge you to speak to your GP and demand to be referred to your local endo clinic. They are the only ones capable of helping you. It’s not such a long process once your referral has gone through. It only took me 6 months from beginning to end to get a diagnosis so there is hope.

Wishing you the best of luck and please do ask your GP for painkillers to alleviate your symptoms, it’s a shame to suffer in silence when there are tablets out there that could help…