Fobbed off by gynae! Now what??!

[JellyBean21]

Hi Girls,

I had my first gynae appointment on Friday. It was a complete waste of time.

I've been bleeding constantly for over twelve months, if you count the time I was bleeding constantly on the Depo Jab then it's been over two years. I've had normal internals, ultrasounds, swabs (no smear test i'm under 25), blood tests and sti tests. My bleeding does stop if I take any form of the pill but none of them agree with me.

She told me she "THINKS" that i'm continuously bleeding from the cervix and having periods as well. Apparently my bleeding from the cervix is normal at my age, and "IF" that's the cause then "nothing" will stop it but time. So I ask, if nothing stops cervical bleeding, why does my bleeding stop when taking the pill?

Secondly, I mentioned occassional sharp pains, an extremely tender spot where any pressure put there is too painful, some discomfort during sex and awful pain when I need the toilet. It all originates from the same tender spot over my womb. As well as excruciating periods (when I actually get a proper one in between the constant bleeding). To which her reply was "Your pain is a funny one, I can't explain that, it's probably IBS".

I then mentioned that up until I started the constant bleeding my periods had always been irregular, painful, heavy and sometimes lasting over two weeks. To which her reply was "well that's just the way you are".

I then mentioned my family history. My nan died of cervical cancer which spread to the breast at 36. My aunt managed to get pregnant three times in 18 years of unprotected sex. She was told she'd never concieve as she had tube blockages and growths etc. Her periods were also long, painful, heavy and erratic. My mom never had problems conceiving but did have awful periods as well. They became so bad she had a full hysterectomy at 44. There were complications during the hysterectomy and they found growths but never elaborated. Ten years later after having more gynae surgery, her surgeon came to her after her op querying a substansial amount of scarring he found whilst inside. She had no idea.

I was then told my body had been pumped full of hormones and that was causing the problem, in the last 15 months I have taken Yasmine for ONE month, surely any hormones would have left my system by now?

I was then told my exhaustion, dizziness and light headedness is because of my weight.

I have been prescribed Tranexamic acid to stop the bleeding, even though i've already had it and it didn't work.

She then said i'm having periods for some of the month and cervical bleeding the rest of the month. My periods have always been accompanied with pain, weight gain, tiredness, swollen breasts, and very heavy bleeding, none of which im getting at any particular time of the month??!

To sum up, this will all go away by itself, i'm too fat, i've got to try Tranexamic acid again, my pain is probably IBS, I've been pumped full of hormones and my family history is irrelevant.

So what the hell do I do now?

[mablesky]

reallly sorry this is happening try going back gp to see if you can another referral to another gyne you need a second opinion.I cant understand how this gyne was so unhelpful they are meant to be there to help and get to the bottom of your symptoms its not ok to bleed continuosly for that length of time ive recentlyhad a similar experienec but have to say all the gynes Ive seen have been really helpful I am now on another course of zoladex which should help.I hope you get some answers sorry you didnt say if you have been diagnosed with endometriosis,good luck.xx

[missteal]

So you bleeding constantly is ok then?? what a load of rubbish. So sorry you had to deal with such a vile person! I'd go back to the GP explain what happened and ask to be referred to a different hospital for a second opinion.

Lets say it is cervical bleeding? Shouldn't they be trying to stop that with something other than something you've tried already? I've always been given transmic acid with mefenamic acid to stop bleeding.

I was also told I had IBS, my pain was in my head, some women just have erratic bleeding etc! I was convinced it was gynea so my gp put me on norethisterone 5mg twice daily for 6 months. This is the tablet they give you when you want to delay a period whilst on holiday. After taking it for a month, my symptoms got so much better, the pain didn't even need pain killers and I didn't bleed at all. This proved to my GP that it IS gynea related, he then sent me back to a different gynea and I got diagnosed with adenomyosis. (I'd had 2 laps where they only found tiny bits of endo so they knew it wasn't that already).

I wish you loads of luck hun, don't give up, we know our bodies better than any Dr!! xx

[Chrissie66]

Hi JellyBean

It is true that there are still some things that doctors don't understand or can do anything about

That being said though, they usually reach these conclusions after they've done tests to try and establish what's going on, and offered different treatments to see if anything makes any difference.

I'm having a very hard time understanding why they haven't at the very least offered you a smear test, especially given your family history.

If I were you I would go back to your GP and ask them for a smear test. Even if you weren't having all of the other problems, if you're bleeding from your cervix at your age, I'd want to know why...

Just a word about hormone treatment - it can change how your body 'works' even when all of the synthetic hormone has 'left your system'; it kind of puts your body into a different gear, so although she didn't word it properly the gynae could have been correct when she said that your body was reacting to having been pumped full of hormones.

Anyway, the point is you need a second opinion. But before you do anything, get that smear test, if only to rule any nastiness out. When that comes back, hopefully clear, ask your GP to refer you to another gynaecologist.

Good luck, and I am so sorry you have been so messed about

C xxx

[JellyBean21 in reply to Chrissie66]

Hi Chrissie66,

Thanks for getting back to me!

I agree that doctors can't fix everything, it would just be nice to know whats going on. I've already lost one job due to the time i've had to take off work. The exhaustion I get when bleeding has led to me suspending my university studies, it's having a huge impact on my life and I still don't know what the hell is wrong with me! It's not even treatment i'm after I just want to put my mind at rest! I am only 22 and if I have something that is going to hinder my fertility I'd rather try for children now rather than struggle later.

Apparently,

They will not give a smear to anyone between the ages of 18 to 25 because the cervix is going through changes and can give abnormal results when there is nothing wrong. The NHS were also paying out too much money in treating abnormalities that would fix themselves. They also are not checking because of the HPV jab they are now giving out to girls to prevent cervical cancer. However there is still an age group that have missed this jab and are now being refused smear tests despite showing symptoms of cervical cancer!! Quite a few women are campaigning on the internet against this as they were diagnosed with cervical cancer too late due to this policy.

I've got to pay £170 for a private smear and if the results come back abnormal I still wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

I kinda stuck for what to do next

xx

[Chrissie66 in reply to JellyBean21]

Hi again

Firstly, I apologise if I came across as condescending or patronising before; I've just read my post back and given myself a slap.

It's absolutely appalling that anybody could dismiss your concerns just because you're not in the 'right' age group for anything to go wrong. And even worse that it's not as if you haven't got a very valid reason for wanting to know.

How is your relationship with your GP? Have you discussed what the gynae said with him/her?

And although this is probably a ridiculous question, have you talked with your GP about how all of this is affecting your life in general? And has anybody at any time mentioned endometriosis?

C xxxx

ps - feel free to message me if you'd rather x

[JellyBean21 in reply to Chrissie66]

Hi Chrissie66,

Haha no you didn't, it's fine

My previous GP was aware of the affect it was having, she just wanted to give me anti-depressants. I am not depressed at all. When I refused to take anymore hormones and start anti-depressants she said there was nothing more she could do for me. Each GP at that surgery had a different disagnosis for me. One said it was PCOS, another DUB and the other just said I had hormonal problems. Another said she would refer me to a gynae if my ultrasound results came back normal, when they did she said that there was nothing wrong with me and I should take the pill.

I changed to a new surgery and told my new GP about my problems, he referred me straight to the gynae. No one has mentioned Endometriosis, I found this site my self and thought that it sounded pretty similar to what I'd been having over the years.None of the doctors have actually asked me any questions relating to family history, pain or what my periods were like before the continuous bleeding started except for the gynae.

I do have to go back to the GP because the gynae never gave me any of the tablets she told me I needed to take. I've had to wait for the GP to recieve the gynae report and get the results from the swabs i've had done, again. So I will mention everything then but I'm pretty sure it is just going to fall on deaf ears.

Thanks for talking to me about it!

xx

[Chrissie66 in reply to JellyBean21]

No problem at all, I can't imagine how frustrated you must be.

When you go back to the GP, I think you need to take a list of things they really need to know, questions you want to ask and points you want clarifying and literally tick them off as you go along. They need to know your family history, and if they still insist that you are too young for a smear test, print this out and show them bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/18166055 . Ask them what causes a healthy cervix to bleed. Tell them that your bleeding stops when you are on the pill and ask them if that points to cervical bleeding or menstrual bleeding.

Tell them again about the pain and ask if there's any possibility that it could be endometriosis as there is a family history of gynaecological problems that could be attributed to endo. Have a think about it before you go and see if you can identify when the pain is the worst, what kind of pain it is, and how frequent it is. As you've no doubt read on here, the only way anybody can diagnose endo is via a laparoscopy, so be prepared if that's what they want to do. Explain your concerns about your future fertility if it is endo; it should be enough that you are bleeding and are in pain but they will want to avoid surgery at all costs if there's any way around it. If he tries to go down the IBS route, ask to be tested for IBS.

But most of all don't let them fob you off with the "you'll grow out of it" argument - that may well be the case, but in the meantime your life is falling apart and you cannot be expected to carry on like that. A new GP however might be the best thing that could happen to you; he may well decide that he wants to get to the bottom of this too. That may well mean a raft of tests that have been done before, but anything that's going to help you to get an answer has to be a good thing.

Just one more thing - I have found that if I go to the doctors ready for a fight they are much less likely to listen to me than if I go in asking questions about what is happening to me and why. The only thing that really controls my pain is pethidine, and my GP was adamant that she was not going to prescribe that to me, despite my gynae asking her to. I was equally adamant that I had to have it. It was only when I went in and explained how the pain was affecting me day to day and told her what I had been through with the endo and how my gynae and I were trying to manage things until I get to menopause that she understood that I wasn't popping pethidine for the sake of it. Obviously she's just left the surgery and I can see myself having to have the same conversation with somebody else before long, but there's absolutely no point in being confrontational about it.

Good luck, and let me know what happens. Hopefully you'll be telling me that you've been referred back to a different gynae and they are taking you seriously!

Lots of love

C xxxxx

[endo_star]

So sorry you're going through this I'm another one who was told I had IBS! No doctor ever mentioned endometriosis to me either, it was my mum who suggested it through her experience as a nurse. I suggested it to my doctor and they still ignored it, I had to keep asking for a referral and even then the gynae tried to fob me off and made me feel I was being a drama queen for wanting to have a lap!

That is absolute rubbish about the smear test, if that was true why do they start doing them at 20 in Scotland?!

I would advise you to do as much research as you can and find an endometriosis specialist in your area, then ask your GP to refer you there. We all have the right to chose where we're referred and you're entitled to a second opinion. Good luck x