Anxious

[Tulip1983]

My GP suspects that I have endometriosis and advised me to take the pill back-to-back for 3-4 packs and then have a withdrawal bleed. I've been doing this for about 20 weeks now. I had hoped that I'd be able to take 4 packs of the pill at a time to minimise the number of times that I'd be bleeding but, as soon as I start taking pack 3, I'm experiencing cramps and spotting which gradually gets heavier. With this in mind, I've opted to take a break after the third pack.

I'm really in pain at the moment and have been bleeding all weekend but I'm quite anxious about the whole situation. Is this likely to be endometriosis or could it be something else? Does this compare to the experience of other women in similar situations?

[EternalSunshine87]

I'm sorry you're in this situation. I take 3 months worth and then have a break. I do experience some cramping and sometimes spotting, but that's generally if I've forgotten to take one. I had enquired about taking it for longer as my period is so excruciating and the nurse said that it may lead to spotting or bleeding. If you're concerned, you should speak to your doctor, they may be able to give you an explanation or decide to try something different. I hope you get answers.

[Avourneen]

Your GP should just refer you to a specialist gynae. I would look up on the net which gynaes are in yur area and see if any specialise in endo. Then go back yur GP and say you are in lots of pain and bleeding all the time and you need to be refferd to a gynae. If he/she won't do that find a private gynae and get a refer to them. What you need is a good scan that will tell you straight away if you have endo.

The combination pill is not good for you if you have endo because it contains eostrogen which makes endo grow. You should be prescribed a progesterone only pill, but the pill just reduces periods and therefore pain. It doesn't stop the endo growing.

There is a place in LOndon where you can get a very good quality scan and then see a top specialist who will expian what is wrong and suggest treatment. It costs about 400 pounds but then you will know exatcly what is wrong and what steps to take. They will send a report to your GP who will then have some idea of whatyou need. I think this is a new stratergy by the government to waste more time and keep waiting lists down on paper.

Go and get checked out by someone who knows what they are doing. Good luck.

[Tulip1983 in reply to Avourneen]

Thanks, Avourneen. I have been referred to Gynae but the waiting list is a year long. I think the GP was hoping that the pill would ease symptoms whilst I'm waiting.

I tried taking Cerazette at one point but the side effects from taking that were worse than the symptoms I was experiencing, hence the reason why I'm taking the combi pill.

I have had a scan but this didn't show anything...

[Avourneen in reply to Tulip1983]

if the cerazette made you bleed a lot the corret thing for the doctor to do is double the dose. This is what my gyane recommended and it stopped my bleeding right away. What kind of sacn did you have ? If you have endo it will show up on an MRI or trans vaginal ultrasound., that is if the sonographer has any skills in reading the scan. If you have endo it starts out with just really incredibly painful periods, even as a teenager the pain was so bad I often couldn't stand up . Then it can progress to just pain all the time whether you are bleeding or not. The pain is different for everyone but for me it was like a gnawing pain or a drilling pain around my ovaries and right across my back.

If you have very painful periods it could well mean you have endo. If you had a proper MRI or TV scan and they didn't see anything (but this depends if the sonographer was good) it might be something else. Bur either way you should see a gynae as it seems gynaecological. I would say pay and see someone privately just a gyane app is about 100-150 pounds. Remember if you have endo or various other issues the long you leave it before you get treated the worse it could get. But check out the doctor you see very carefully, just because a doctor is private doesn't mean he/she is good you need to look for one who is a specialist in endo. But it does mean you can see them much faster. If you see the gynae faster you can get put in the queue for treatment more quickly. You don't need to go private for treatment mostly these gyanes work on the NHS too and you can get put onto the NHS waiting list by a private gynae.

It just speeds things up. Good luck. X

[Tulip1983 in reply to Avourneen]

I had an abdominal and trans-vaginal ultrasound.

[Avourneen in reply to Tulip1983]

The abdominal one wouldn't be much use but the TV one should. The problem is only some sonograhers are qualified to a high level to check for eno they need to be a specialist sonographer, a general one might not know what to look for and could miss it. But I think it is hard to find this out on the NHS,I don't think your doctor would have th einfo or would tell you. On my NHS MRI they actually sent me someone elses results !!! Which is quite a worry. I guess it's all down to how much pain and how strongly you feel. It could be endo it could be something else, at least if you get checked out you will know. If endo is left it can cause a lot of damage, personally I wish I had made more fuss and got checked out properly years ago. It seems expensive to get private help but years down the line you might have much more damage or problems with fertility if you don't get it checked properly. GPs don't know much about endo so they can't always help a lot but if something is causing you pain and distress you probably should look into it.

[Luna-24]

I do 3 packs, and if I experience spotting l/cramping if it’s red not brown and I’m at the end of pack 2. I’ll listen to be my body though if I’m been spotting for 2-3 weeks I’ll have my break through bleed early and that allows me to then go back to doing 3 packs back to back for about 3-4 sets

[fairyblueberry]

I've had a similar experience and during the third pack I was getting cramps just like on my period every day for a whole month, on top of that bleeding for 3 weeks straight and having other symptoms that mentally really messed me up... My GP was rubbish and after complaining for nearly a month finally listened to let me have an ultrasound. When asked to refer to a specialist I've been told they are not allowed to do that apparently without the proper procedure which in my opinion is just torture, making women wait in pain without doing anything and actually just a dangerous practice as the estrogen in the combined pill makes endo worse... I've lost trust in doctors here it seems they prescribe whatever medication without investigating the cause of symptoms just to get rid of you, hoping they guessed right. I have no funds for private scans and appointments as I am a university student now and I am just waiting for the results of my ultrasound scan. What helped me a bit is the progesterone only pill, that being said I got it from a Polish gynaecologist and the pill is not available in the UK... although it's formulated and tested especially to help endometriosis as opposed to other generic pills that focus on the contraceptive side.

[Tulip1983 in reply to fairyblueberry]

I'm so sorry you're experiencing something similar - it's horrible! I was prescribed Cerazette at one point but the side effects from taking that were worse than my symptoms, hence the reason why I've been put back on the combi pill.

I feel really torn about going down the private healthcare route. Not sure what I'll do.

[Avourneen in reply to fairyblueberry]

You are so right, you basically have to realy push and insist to get anywhere with the GPs. They are actually fined by the hospital if the refer too many people so a large part of their job is to not refer people but to hold up referls and put people off getting the treatment they need. This make it look as though th ewaiting lists are not as long on paper. BUt things are very bad now Gynaecology has one of the longest waiting lists of any speciality. I was diagnosed whn I was 32 after literally decades of being fobbed off and told it was stress, IBS, imaginary. Unfortunately by the time it was picked up it had spread really badly and I had stage 4 endo with everything glued together. Now after two operations it's hard to get any more treatment.

[TammyShrew]

Ask your GP to refer you to gynae dept at your local hospital. They can't just send you away with the pill and hope for the best. You have the right to be referred and have scans, etc, so that you know what you are dealing with. Don't be afraid to ask for this, and don't take no for an answer. You can do it. Good luck. x