Going on the pill is a vicious circle when it comes to this sort of thing, if you don't have a diagnosis yet I wouldn't do it. I have endo and it was ignored by doctors for years because my symptoms were 'managed' due to being on the pill. They wouldn't do a laparoscopy on me while I was on it. It wasn't until I'd been off the pill and back to fainting/being unable to move from pain when I had periods, and I was steadfast that I wanted an answer and not just fobbed off with the pill again, that anyone bothered to look into it more. If you're trying to get an answer I definitely would not go on the pill until you have one. Getting something that masks your symptoms is not an answer, and there are lots of valid reasons not to want to go on the pill - it affects the mental health of a lot of women.
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Yeah but what are the treatment options? Either management of symptoms with medication (I.e contraception) or surgery (I.e a hysterectomy)
if quality of life is being effected by a condition surely you use the medication available to control the symptoms? Surely she needs to at least try something to see if it helps??
But first and foremost she needs to know what is causing these symptoms, not least to know whether it needs future monitoring etc? Sticking women on the pill isn't the answer, it's lazy medicine
It’s suspected to be adenomyosis right? Which means the treatment options are management of symptoms with medication which is contraception medication or a hysterectomy. It’s not “lazy medicine” if there has been a diagnosis and there are only limited options manage symptoms. What other options are there??
As the OP says - 'suspected' and 'potential'. That means there isn't a diagnosis? She's being told not to worry etc and she wants an answer. If she goes on the pill now she won't get one because they'll say her symptoms are being managed so no further investigation is needed. She's also said she doesn't want to go on the pill, which is her choice. Leaving her to it all this considered is lazy.
If they diagnose adenomyosis - which seems overwhelmingly likely - then the treatment to manage the symptoms IS the contraceptive pill or hormonal contraception. There is no cure - so it’s either medication to manage symptoms and improve quality of life or looking into a hysterectomy to remove the issue all together but in a young woman with no children a hysterectomy is almost out of the question.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying just throw the pill at it and get on with it. But I’m just saying that sometimes there is no other option. Sometimes you have the choice of either carrying on as you are now or taking the medication that’s on offer to help improve things.
I personally do not want to take any medicinal forms of birth control and never have done
it just doesn’t agree with me, especially after having severe side effects to the plan b pill once (I know they aren’t the same but just seeing what putting artificial hormones into my body did reassured me that I never wanted to do so again). I do believe that doctors are so quick to dismiss you even when you are suffering so taking the pill to mask my potentially worsening symptoms is not the answer, you’re right!
It’s difficult as it is to get them to listen so if the pill ‘solved’ any one of my issues per say I would never get a diagnosis. I’ve been told I could have ibs, polycystic ovaries without the cysts, that it’s nothing or suspected adenomyosis so my point is - who the hell even knows at this moment in time?!
So I ultimately need to wait and see what the diagnosis is before taking any further action such as birth control I don’t even want, which in turn could stop me getting the answers I deserve!🥲hi again! i'm a lot less stressed about the actual procedure but does anyone know how long an appointment for an internal ultrasound would usually take to come through? it's been about six weeks since the main pain that triggered this line of thinking and still not heard anything about a scan. i had a general consultant appt with gynae but they said the scan would be a separate referral and maybe not with them.
i think because my past attempts at getting answers were a struggle i don't want to be made out to be overreacting about the pain i was in. If i've understood the point of the scan correctly it'll probs be less and less likely there's fluid / anything remaining that would indicate a cyst was there and ruptured if i wait much longer?? or maybe i'm completely wrong!
i think because my past attempts at getting answers were a struggle i don't want to be made out to be overreacting about the pain i was in. If i've understood the point of the scan correctly it'll probs be less and less likely there's fluid / anything remaining that would indicate a cyst was there and ruptured if i wait much longer?? or maybe i'm completely wrong!
I think the NHS is pretty overwhelmed at the moment so may be a while for your referral. You could always give your consultant a call and ask? Or can you afford a private scan? Mine was less than £300.
I just had my follow up for my cyst on Friday, it was a couple of months since I had my first scan and my cyst is still there, I don't think they always disappear.
i dont mind waiting tbh i think i'm just paranoid about looking paranoid! didn't even consider it being due to demand bc my consultant appointment was pretty quick so assumed scanning would be running in a similar way. thank you for the reassurance
Hi all. I’m glad I’ve found this thread. In November 2020 I had a smear which showed I had the HPV virus and was told to go back a year later. I was a bit late and went in April this year instead. I’ve had the results back and the HPV hasn’t cleared so I have to go back again next April.
Has anyone else been through this? I’m dreading yearly smears (if it comes to that) and worried about cancer.
I don’t know if this is related or not but I go through phases where I have no periods for 2 years and then it comes back as normal. This has happened 3x in my life. They’re always really heavy (to the point where I’ve called 999) and quite painful for the first couple of days. I realise the two things probably aren’t linked.
Has anyone else been through this? I’m dreading yearly smears (if it comes to that) and worried about cancer.
I don’t know if this is related or not but I go through phases where I have no periods for 2 years and then it comes back as normal. This has happened 3x in my life. They’re always really heavy (to the point where I’ve called 999) and quite painful for the first couple of days. I realise the two things probably aren’t linked.
This happened to me, I've had hpv show up three years in a row and I'm having a colposcopy in a few weeks. I'm quite nervous, but it's very common apparently and it doesn't mean you have cancer. I wouldn't imagine it would be related to your period, but I'm sorry to hear you're suffering so badly
Yes I can imagine you’re nervous. I hope it goes ok for you xThis happened to me, I've had hpv show up three years in a row and I'm having a colposcopy in a few weeks. I'm quite nervous, but it's very common apparently and it doesn't mean you have cancer. I wouldn't imagine it would be related to your period, but I'm sorry to hear you're suffering so badly
I need some advice, had my first colposcopy on Tues, they took one biopsy. The info sheet they gave me on what to do after says no baths or swimming for 3-4 weeks. Last couple of days I've had strip washes but I'm desperate to feel properly clean. I only have a bath and a shower attachment for the taps but to put that down when it's on I have to hook it round it's own hose so it faces the back of the bath, no shower curtain and no way of creating something to throw something over. I don't want to flood the bathroom but I can't not have a proper wash. What can I do? 3-4 weeks of strip washes isn't going to cut it when I usually bath every night
You can have a normal shower!!!! Your just not meant to sit in a bath or in a swimming pool due to the risk of infection from being in water for any length of time. You can 100% just have no a regular shower and wash in the normal way.
Just use the shower attachment in the normal way to get your body wet/use shower gel and then rinse as normal.
That's the problem, I can't use the attachment without flooding my bathroom. It literally only ever gets used for washing my hair over the bath and for cleaning the bath.
Can you not sit down in the bath and wash yourself with the shower taps that way?
Just sit down in the bath tub and use the shower attachment to wash yourself down.
update - got my appointment through the post today! worrying over nothing as per usual. it's for monday which is quite quick so i think i got lucky with a cancellation. it also said they'll do a normal pelvis ultrasound first too so i've probably stressed over the internal scan for no reason as well
You can shower and bathe as normal after colp, don’t worry!