Should I see a Dr?

Hello lovely ladies

At uni today was complaining of having shoulder pain and one of the girls asked if it was that type of month. I thought it was odd but then realised that I do get cyclic shoulder pain but I have just put it down to carrying a heavy bag or working to hard etc etc. So I have just spent the last hour googling shoulder pain in relation to menstruation.The first thing that came up (or should I say the only thing!) is endo. I have read through all the symptoms and WOW I have so many! So I decided to google for endo forums and what should come up but good ol' BellyBelly lol!

I remember about 3 months before I had DS I went in for an ultrasound to see if I had endo but it showed nothing. My Dr has never really been interested in investigating it further even though I've been to him several times, saying that things are not right with me. I have never pushed the matter nor spoken about it to other people mainly because I find it quite embarrassing to talk about :redface:So I'm going to put myself out there because I want to take better care of myself and if that means being embarrassed then so be it!

I've been on the pill to control symptoms such as chronic nausea, pelvic pain, vomitting and diarrhea throughout menstruation since I was about 13 (6 months after my period first started, each one becoming worse then the last). This pretty much controlled the symptoms during the cycles. I have always had head aches, fatigue, IBS and pelvic bloating - all put down to lifestyle and an iron deficiency.

The last few years contraception hasn't been controlling the symptoms as well. The diarrhea has returned (though no where near as severe), the cramps are getting worse again, I have severe shoulder pain (sometimes to the point where I can't move or it interrupts my sleep), headaches, IBS, pelvic bloating, fatigue, sometimes pain during sex (I've always put it down to position though??) and most embarrassingly, bad gas when I have my period:redface:

Like I said its not until I sat down today and did some research that I grouped together the symptoms. I thought they were all separate occurrences or I just hadn't thought much about them. So do you think this is enough to go and see my Dr and push further action? Should I see a different Dr? Is there anything I try myself to help ease any symptoms?

Many thanks in advance!! I hate making a scene of things and generally just get on with it. But I'm beginning to think something isn't right here.

Hi Lea13..
:wtf:I think you need to smack the Doctor who wasn't interested in your health a smack about the head.. I don't have really any of the extreme symptoms you have (maybe the smelly gas during AF... LOL) but when I had a Lap done last week I had some Endo which my FS thinks has maybe contributed to our struggling to conceive... You know you body better than anyone and if I were you I would walk into the nearest doctors surgery and demand a referral to a Gynacologist.. And if that Dr won't give you one walk into another... Good luck..
Dee

Hi Lea
Mmm i don't really know if i would put it down solely to maybe Endo and i am no DR but the DR's really annoy me because i had heaps of symptoms like yours before conceiving this time and they would just dismiss me. To be honest i went to a Kinesiologist who was interested in the symptoms and actually fixing me and i went onto doing alot of detoxing and guess what i had a really short period then i fell pregnant finally. I also have IBS and i just control it with a good diet, alot of DR's will just put IBS down to you not being able to tolerate certain foods or give you no reason at all but it is all about you putting you body back into balance and seriously you sound as though your body in really out of balance and i only say that because you sound so similar to what i was like last year and i had been like that for about 5 yrs.

I hope i helped and i made sense in what i was saying. Best of luck.

Lea sorry I can't help but wanted to say hello and give you a :hug: Sounds like you need to get a new Dr!

Lea - I'd get a second opinion. You know your body better than anyone else. Also, endo can not be diagnosed by an ultrasound, only a lap can diagnose endo. I had a lot of the same symptoms as you and thought I had IBS but eventually was diagnosed endo. In hindsight it was the endo giving me the bowel troubles (my ovary and bowel were stuck together). As Dannii says, a good diet can help manage symptoms, well it did for me...

:hug: good luck

i'd go to a different doctor. i have had endo for quite awhile now and yeah, pretty much all of those symptoms are classics with it. especially the bad gas pain and bloating and sore shoulder. also O pain can be really acute and all the other lovelies like diaorreah (sp??) etc. oh joy.

check out the endometriosis association of aus (google will do i think). they have great tips for helping to manage (like try to cut down on caffeine around O and AF time).

if i were you i'd get a referral to see an OB/GYN. that's what got me off to identifying endo for me and putting me on track for getting on with the business of making bubbas LOL!
he did an internal ultrasound to check out the whole area and was able to identify certain areas, including looking at the thickness on the uterus wall (sorry if TMI!). from there you have some options on how to treat etc...

HTH,

Clare

Just to echo the rest of the girls here, you definately need to see another doctor. Unfortunately there are some GP's out there that just do not get it and lack empathy but thankfully there are some really great ones too :). My advice is to get a second opinion, and I am crossing my fingers that the next doc you see will be much more empathetic and skilled than your current one.

Take care

Thanks so much for the advice ladies. I will make an appointment this week and chase it up I think. :hug:

Thanks so much for the encouragement ladies! I went to see a new Dr and he was just amazing! Turns out he was a gynecologist before becoming a GP so he was extremely helpful and understanding. He actually listened to everything and I said and thought there was something to investigate. He has got me going in for a pap smear & pelvic exam and an ultrasound. When I go back then he wants to do a full blood work check and basically a general health check including wee and stool samples. He also said we'd then start the process of being referred to a gynecologist and explained what they would probably do initially.

I don't think I ever would have gone (in fact I almost canceled the appointment lol) so I'm glad I posted and it convinced me to go. Thanks!

Hey Hun

Sorry i never saw this post earlier. You probably don't remember about me having severe Endo. My surgeon ( gyno ) was Dr Duggan and he used to see patients at Europa Medical Centre on Salisbury Hwy once a week, and did both my surgeries at the Lyell Mc. He was a great gyno.

My Endo was never picked up with ultrasound and I had it pretty badly, they only discovered the remains of a burst cyst, so keep that in mind. I never had shoulder pain with Endo. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an SMS you know my number ;)

ETA - and if it turns out you do have Endo, I have some great books you can have a read off.


Love

Thanks sooo much hunny! I will keep in mind that surgeon when we are looking at referrals. He said the ultrasound may not pick anything up but he said he wanted to do a group of things to rule out anything simple like infections, or imbalances. Will shoot you a message anyway and let you know how it all goes! ;) :hug:

I am so glad to hear you had a positive experience :). I hope everything goes a lot more smoothly for you from now on :)