To think women's pain should be taken seriously

[GothAnneGeddes]

I recently had a hysterosalpingogram (examination of uterus + fallopian tubes under xray)

The appointment letter said to take pain relief beforehand, so I took a strong ibuprofen.

The procedure turned out to be excruciatingly painful, to the point of being unbearable, ibuprofen didn't touch it.

AIBU to think provision for proper pain relief should be made available (entonox would be a start) as why should we suffer needless pain?

Oh god - I soooooooooooooooooooo feel for you.

I had this done about 17 years ago. I was NOT told to take painkillers or even that it would hurt, and I screamed bloody murder all the way through (getting tutted at by the nurses).

I think for some of us it hurts and for others (probably most) it doesn't, although I'm not sure why.

I find smear tests very painful too for some reason.

I got told off for gagging whilst having a endoscopic procedure to find a lost gall stone (gall bladder had been removed but one gall stone slipped out and the surgeons couldn't find it). I was sedated with as much medazolam as they could give me with out causing a heart attack but I kept coming round and involuntarily gagging (which you do when someone is shoving something down your throat whilst you are waking!).

I also had a LLETZ under GA after I made a big fuss having a colposcopy (tbf I did have 4 biopsies taken without anaesthestia!) and spent about 3 hours in recovery being given syringe after syringe of morphine to cope with the pain (op was supposed to take minutes and DH was told I would be on the ward within the hour - the op took an hour as I started to bleed out and needed packing to stem the flow of blood). I bleed for 3 1/2 months afterwards!

The main reason an HSG hurts for some and not others is because effectively when they blast the dye through so the tubes show up on the x ray it sometimes clears blockages. So if your tubes are open it flows through and if they have some sort of blockage it will be excrutiating as the blockage is blasted by the dye!

Having said that mine weren't blocked but the novice guy putting the balloon thing in to open the cervix took absolutely ages and had problems doing it.

He also couldn't find a lamp to see properly so half through left me with tubey bits hanging from my fanjo, legs in stirrups on my own whilst other random people came in and out the room. He did indeed manage to find an old manky (non surgical) lamp to shine at my bits and proceeded to rumage around without success to get the baloon thing in.

It was shortly after this and in terrible pain that I told him to remove everything and I'd get the hell out of there.

All he could say was "well I can tell you've not had kids"

The private hospital I went to afterwards did that bit of the procedure in seconds, pain free!

Just remembered something I read a while back - apparently ibuprofen is far less effective on women than on men. I don't know why & can't remember where I read it, but seem to remember something about a lot of the clinical trials being conducted on only men, so showing that it is effective pain relief, but only for men. Paracetamol is much better for women.

Incidentally, I had a colonoscopy a few years ago and read my report. It said that I "experienced mild discomfort". Like hell I did, it was excruciatingly painful to the point that I was screaming; it felt like the scope was trying to burst through my abdomen a la "Alien"!

I think it's a human thing, unfortunately, to minimise other people's pain. I remember after the first OBEM there were quite a few posts about a young woman who made a lot of noise during her labour that seemed to suggest people thought she was making an unnecessary fuss because she was young... I also read an awful paper describing widely differing pain relief practice in burns units - there was a unit where a culture of not 'over-prescribing' pain relief was so firmly in sway that patients were suffering terribly. I can't help feeling that health care professionals should have a specific competency to achieve about their attitude to pain relief and to other people's pain. Some are so wonderful, and some really aren't. Half the time, if you feel really listened to, you don't need as much pain relief anyway.

Oh gawd I've got to have a hysterosalpingogram soon and now I'm bricking it [frightened] I've had excruciating period pain in the past (endometriosis) and I'm really scared it will be as bad as that (fainting, vomiting etc).

Are HSGs ever done under general anesthetic?

It all sounds terrible.

I am now sat here with my legs crossed firmly.

Also class based I seem to remember - mc get less pain relief

I had a conversation recently with someone who said it was unreasonable to ask a man to have a vasectomy because of the pain. When I said something like, "but childbirth pain is ok then?" he said "but that's natural" and . I wonder how representative that is of a general feeling (which I know has been discussed here before) about certain types of pain being expected and therefore acceptable. Seems very odd to me that if we have the ability to minimise pain, we don't use it, unless the side-effects outweigh the benefits. Also seems to be the case that pain that is regarded in this way tends to be for "female" issues, so OP, I don't think YABU.

I have a condition that means that standard pain killers have almost zero effect on me. For years I knew paracetamol was useless for me and my (then) GP sneered and said "of course pain killers work". When I met my consultant who said "and a side effect of your condition is that standard pain medication is pointless, we have no idea why, but this is what we have found" I nearly sobbed on his shoulder.
Knowing this we booked into a maternity unit bursting with pain relief and epidural options.

My aunt is a nurse and always recommends a good slug of alcohol (taken orally) prior to a smear test.

And yes, a lot of medication is only tested on men because if they use women they have to take hormonal effects into account and the drug returns a less effective result. This is why heart disease is the biggest killer of women, because all the tests were designed for men and the results are normalised against a male test sequence, so the warning signs in women are missed. And the heart pulse things aren't design to strap over bosoms either.

An ex boyfriend's mother told me that she nearly died of peritonitus in the 1960's. She had been to see a Doctor a year previously complaining of a severe pain in her side. Turns out it had been a grumbling appendix and should have been diagosed as such and taken out.

This is the interesing bit. Another Doctor told her that the guidelines for Doctors back then were to half the amount pain a woman reported.

Also emu, Many painkillers were tested on men because those running the tests didn't want the risk that any of the women in a clinical trial became inadvertently pregnant and harmed their unborn child.

It has since been found that the difference in body fat, hormones, muscle mass means that painkillers have very different effects on men compared to women. (think this was in new scientist a few years ago)

Not many painkillers work for me tbh.

Paracetamol doesn't work for me, which was particularly cross-making when I was pregnant and it's the only thing you're supposed to take. Interestingly it doesn't seem to work for DS either - Calpol doesn't help him, he has to have baby ibuprofen - which suggests there may be a genetic element to it.

Paracetamol has no effect on me and when suffering after-pains as bad as labour, all I was given was 1 paracetamol.
A pain specialist said on radio4 recently that over-the-counter tablets are much more effective taken in combination, eg 200mg Ibuprofen with 200mg paracetamol.

Hello. Thank you everyone for the responses.

I have previously had IUD's inserted several times, including before having a child, so I thought I would be ok. It's possible that the grim times experienced by that part of my body last year made it more painful.

Still, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. It's not just the pain, it's the humiliation of crying and yelping in front of a load of strangers when you're in such an exposed position. I've already been through a lot of gynae pain. I really didn't need anymore on top.

I've had two HSGs, didn't bother with taking ibuprofen or paracetamol before and never had so much as a twinge of discomfort. So please don't be scared, people who are waiting to have one! It honestly is different for everyone and it's perfectly possible to hardly notice having it done.

Paracetamol does absolutely nothing for me either, but Ibuprofen works very well. My DS is the same.

Interesting, hormonesnomore: that does suggest that my hunch that there's a genetic element may be right.

I had a hsg and I don't remember it being too painful. I guess it really depends on so many different elements. However, had a bad experience with pain relief after birth dc2. Had c section and afterpains and they really hurt. Just before discharge I was due a dose of paracetomol and codein I think. They wouldn't give me anything as paperwork at pharmacy for discharge. Next time I will be bringing my own.

Yes - I want to add to anyone that's waiting to have it done........don't be scared. It hurt me but the nurses & radiographer doing it (who had probably done hundreds) were clearly surprised that I was in such pain. Therefore, it's probably correct to say that for most people this is a painless proceedure.

Croko - Mine weren't surprised and told me I was being brave.

Looking at the procedure, it sounds like a IUD insertion with knobs on, that is something that could definitely be painful and there should be preparation for that.

Happy feet: I have had two emergency c-sections. The first time was at 10pm. I got back to the ward afterwards and had no pain relief at all after the epidural wore off. I remember every painful second of that night. Every time a nurse came by to check on me/DS I begged for some pain relief. They always shrugged and said that none had been prescribed. By the morning I was a wreck. Then building work started downstairs and carried on that day, banging banging and banging. But still no pain relief. By the time the gynaecologist came to check up on me I begged and begged to be discharged and for the prescription of painkillers, to no avail. My recovery at home was painfully slow and I think you could say I was traumatised by the experience.
When pregnant with dd I made a big fuss about pain relief at every appointment. When it came to a second c-section I was distraught at the thought of the pain. However this time I was given a shot of morphine after returning to the ward. Bliss! This time I was up and about in a couple days rather than a couple of weeks.

Anyway, my feeling is pain of all kind is eminently natural. But so is dying of typhoid or cholera and i don't hear anyone advocating that diseases should be left untreated because dying of them is natural. I think pain relief is one of man's best inventions and it is extremely sad that their use is seemingly rationed and given out on any basis other than what pain the patient is in.

Have had many smears in UK , lying flat on couch with knees bent, never painful. Had 2 in France, both in stirrups. The second wasn't too bad - and when the gp wrote the referral letter I complained about the previous gynae, so went to a different one. The second was uncomfortable, the first painful and I bled for 3 days after. Just shows, think it can depend on the person doing them.

OP, my sympathies. I've had that procedure and found it deeply, deeply unpleasant.

I've also had painful smears. The one I had after having dd1 was quite traumatic.