Hysteroscopy - general anaesthetic?

[Menopausal7]

hi

I’m going to be having a Hysteroscopy in a few months. Have just come out of hospital after being admitted for 4 days due to a horrendous infection in one of my fallopian tubes. Whilst in hospital they discovered reoccurrence of cysts on both ovaries , I have a huge fibroid which is 10cm it used to be 14cm (they got it down to 4cm with prostap but it’s grew back in the last year) it was suggested a hysterectomy would be the best way forward eventually due to a lot of gynae issues and a strong family history of cancer. This Hysteroscopy scares the life out of me pain wise, ive read some real horror stories, used to be tolerant to pain but with a tilted uterus, vaginal atrophy, even smears hurt too much, question is could I have this procedure under general anaesthetic? I’ve got myself worked up already and it’s no where near having it done yet.

thanks in advance of any wise words xx

[Eeeeebygum]

Hi, I had a hysteroscopy in 2018 and it was done under a general anaesthetic, and out the same day. There was no question about doing it without, I didn’t ask for the general it was how they did hysteroscopies at the hospital in Hampshire UK. I think some people can tolerate the pain or actually don’t feel much, but like you I have a tilted uterus and vaginal atrophy and find smears awful. I don’t think it’s out of the question to ask for a general anaesthetic. Although it may mean your appointment date might change .

[Menopausal7 in reply to Eeeeebygum]

Oh that’s a relief I really don’t mind waiting. I used to have a really high pain tolerance but not anymore. They did a couple of swabs in hospital using a speculum and it was awful, can’t really imagine having a womb biopsy being taken without a GA when even swabs are difficult. Thanks for replying. X

[emmpea]

Hi, I have had 3 hysteroscopy procedures, all without general anaesthetic.The last one they wanted to remove a polyp which was too large so I was told the 4th one would be under GA. This didn’t happen as they found endometrial cancer from the biopsy & I had to have total hysterectomy as a result.

The hysteroscopys aren’t comfortable, but I’ve had worse pain with other things. You can request general anaesthetic, and some hospitals do most by this, but don’t panic if it isn’t, don’t get panicked about it, you can always tell them to stop if it’s too bad, and they would choose to if they knew it wasn’t doable. It’s not a long procedure, over very quickly, and I took paracetamol just before as instructed. Either way, you will be fine, reading lots of horror stories will make you dread whatever decision is made, people are more likely to write & report something bad than the good, so I hope my experience gives you a little comfort, and I wish you all the best, and good health going forward.🤗

[Menopausal7]

hi thanks for responding

I just think I’m so done with being faffed about down there that I’d rather not be awake when they do it

[ahlb]

Hi I had a hysteroscopy under general anaesthetic in 2016 to deal with a fibroid and adenomyosis. It was straightforward and I only spent a few hours afterwards in the hospital so I went home the same day. It was a relief not to be awake and feel the pain. I experienced mild cramps but did not last very long and I just took things easy for the weeks after for things to settle as I had some intermittent bleeding and spotting after the procedure. Hope this helps and wishing you well. Best wishes x