please help!

[rachel12]

firstly: i'm 20, not pregnant and have no kids. sorry this is so long!


for about 6 years, i've had a lot of pain with my periods. my mother had awful periods and i was put on the pill at 15 (for migraines and heavy bleeding >7days).

the past 2 years it's gotten even worse. it's been getting steadily more painful, to the point i can't handle it. my mother had endometriosis (discovered when she had a hysterectomy), and so did all her sisters.

i had an ultrasound that showed polycystic ovaries (from memory >15 follicles on each, but i'm not really sure what that means, i don't think it was an issue) but nothing else. apparently an ultrasound doesn't show endo, but my OBGYN said "ultrasound mostly normal, so we'll just let it go". often, and sorry this is gross, maybe 2-3 days after my period (and only at this time) i have blood when i go to the bathrom. i don't know if this is related, but thought i'd put it in

the pain is just agonising. i have it almost every day, i can barely do what i need to do and spend every day on pain medication/with a hot water bottle (which seems to help). it's been getting consistently worse and is now almost constant and i don't know if i can put up with it anymore. i feel bad complaining because my ultrasound was normal, and i feel like i'm always in pain and sound like a hypochondriac. i'm in tears almost daily from the pain, it's awful. but absolutely nothing is showing up, and i seem perfectly healthy, and i just don't know what to do. i've kept a diary of the pain/bleeding for nearly 4 months now. i feel like even if it is endo, there's no point doing anything because really the only cure is a hysterectomy, and i desperately want kids in the future

what i need to know is: could it be endometriosis? is there any point going back to a doctor if nothing can be done? my aunt had a laparascopy (it was all up in her ribs and bladder) but it seems like a serious operation and i don't want to get that if there's nothing wrong with me. i feel like such a hypochondriac - is something wrong or am i being weak?

[JLeigh29]

You need to go back to the doctor and tell them you want something done. You are not being weak, this is really affecting the quality of your life.

It took 6 years for the doctors to diagnose possible endo for me, and once they said that was probably it, they were still reluctant to operate. Before they did, I was on strong painkillers. One GP suggested I take the pill without the sugar tablets for 2-3 months at a time and that helped, but the months I did take the sugar tablets were agony.

I had a laparoscopy and was in hospital for 7 nights, but I had severe endo. Often it can be done in day/overnight surgery. I have recently had my first child, so you can still have children too, depending on where the endo is. Untreated endo can result in infertility so if you do want children one day, do something now. I look forward to hearing how you go. Good luck.

[rachel12]

One GP suggested I take the pill without the sugar tablets for 2-3 months at a time and that helped, but the months I did take the sugar tablets were agony.

this is what i'm doing right now, and originally i could 'build myself up' and sort of prepare for the week, but now the pain is constant so it doesn't matter, although the sugar tablet week is just hell.


thankyou both so so much for all of your help! the fact that it could lead to infertility scares me the most, i think. it's comforting to hear that others have the same thing (although i feel awful you have to go through it too)

i wonder why it takes so long to diagnose? for something that can be so debilitating, especially.

is a laparoscopy worth it, do you think? i'm just worried i'll have such an invasive operation and they won't find anything, although then at least i'll know one way or another.

[Laranna]

If you are experiencing so much pain and it's affecting your quality of life, I think the lap is definitely worth it. They do keyhole surgery so it's not as invasive. It's usually done as day surgery, but be prepared to be kept in overnight if they find lots of endo. That's what happened to me. Recovery varies for everyone. I had 2 weeks off work, physically I could have gone back after one week but mentally/emotionally I needed the extra week. I'm glad I had it done because then I knew and I could manage things alot better.

[Kezzy]

I feel your pain. I am young too with no kids, been trying for a long time with no success. I have had bad periods for my whole life and always put off seeing someone about it because my worst fear is infertility. After my miscarriage in January i realised that i was able to conceive and that gave me the power to do something about the pain that was effecting heavily on my life. I had an ultrasound where they found no PCOS and so i am now booked in for a laparoscopy soon (public health, damn waiting lists!!) You are in no way overreactting to this pain & should not feel bad for wanting answers about your own body. A laparoscopy is necessary to diagnose endo, so without this, you will go without diagnosis. Get the op. And keep searching for answers. It is your body and your right. Good Luck =)

[rachel12]

saw a doc today - he's almost certain it's endo. he said it was severe and wants me to get a laparoscopy. i'm terrified of the op - how much time would i need off from work/uni? eluned you said about one week, do you think that's average?

thanks for all your help everyone, i'm just very scared!

[Laranna]

Oh Rachel I can feel your pain and frustration in your post. My periods were very much like yours right from the start. It took ten years for me to get diagnosed with endo.

What you describe sounds exactly like it. You need to go back to your GP and get a referral to a gynecologist. A laparoscopy will be the only way to diagnose the endo and see how severe it is. They will be able to remove it during the surgery. The sooner you get it seen to, the better. I don't think you would end up with a hysterectomy unless it was very much the worst case. So don't be afraid of that.

After my surgery, they told me I would never conceive naturally due to my tubes being blocked and so damaged. I conceived my son naturally 2.5 years later and my DD was also conceived naturally.

PM me if you want to chat more