To think I should have waited to speak to the female doctor?

[purpletablet]

I’ve been experiencing pain in my right ovary since Monday. It’s not unusual for me to experience ovulation pain but it usually only lasts about a day. This time it has gotten gradually more intense and it woke me up during the night last night and was radiating into my back and down my leg.

I called the doctors this morning and explained to the receptionist and she said she didn’t have a female doctor available. I said that was fine and I was happy to speak to a male doctor.

He just called me there and after I explained my symptoms he told me that ovarian pain is not really a “recognised phenomena” and it’s much more likely that I’m suffering with bowel colic and that I should take some buscopan. I tried telling him that I get ovarian pain every month when I ovulate and I can tell the pain was coming from my ovary but he pretty much said he understands what I’m saying but I’m wrong 🙃

Thankfully I have a long awaited gynaecology appointment at the hospital next week but my goodness. Nothing like a man telling you your ovary pain doesn’t exist 🤣

A bad doctor is a bad doctor - male/female isn't the issue.

I awaited 14 years for an endometriosis diagnosis. Dismissed by 4 female doctors and 2 male doctors before being diagnosed by a male gynaecologist.

The oldest & most experienced female doctor told 14 year old me who was missing school, flooding, fainting and crying in pain that I needed to "stop being dramatic and toughen up - periods are part of life and I just needed to get on with it".

You know something is wrong. Be persistent until you get answers.

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I’m still in quite a bit of pain. It had eased off a bit this morning so I was hoping it was on the way out but unfortunately it’s ramped up again this evening. The area where my ovary is is very tender but the pain is also radiating upwards and feels like I have a stitch. I don’t have a fever or anything and no nausea or vomiting but I think I’ll have to call the docs again in the morning.

Thank you op for this thread.

I had a hysterectomy in August and kept my ovaries. The (male) consultant told me I might experience pain/discomfort around the time I would normally ovulate as the ovaries swell during this time. I've never experienced it, but yes, it's real according to his explanation.

Bit concerned by your description though, the pain going into your back and down your leg doesn't sound very pleasant - I think it's good that you have a gynae appt in the not too distant future.

Let us know how you get on 😊

My first thought is it could be an ovarian cyst. These can often come with the pain you describe. Worth another GP opinion.

If the ibuprofen is irritating your stomach, could you ask for some lansoprazole, they can prescribe that to help, I think it kind of protects the lining of the stomach.

Could it be your appendix? Not doubting you experience ovarian pain, (see my other comment) it's just you've mentioned it radiating a couple of times now and that it feels more intense. I think they say appendix pain is felt 4 fingers' width above the pelvis, right side.

I am the same. I can tell you which ovary I am ovulating from because of the pain! I had endometriosis removed a few years ago and the pain has lessened since but I do still get a dull ache.

I don’t know how they can say you are wrong when I have taken ovulation tests, know I’m ovulating and it happens every month!!!!!

OP I feel your pain (quite literally). I reported "pain similar to ovulation pain" that had got significantly worse, such that I could barely stand. My GP sent me to A&E with a suspected twisted/burst cyst that had been identified at a USS a few weeks previously. The (male) doctor told me it wasn't ovulation pain, that it couldn't be an ovarian cyst that had burst because that makes them stop hurting, that I should be monitoring my BP weekly, and that the pub culture in the UK is causing more alcohol related deaths than anything else. He also told me that it wasn't an ovarian cyst because the radiologist hadn't referred me to gynae, even though there was a record on my notes of the cyst being there. He told me he was finishing in an hour and a half, that it was a 3-hour wait for a CT scan, and that it made no difference to him whether I waited or not. He didn't examine me. He sent me away with codeine.
The next day I rang the GP again and was blue-lighted to A&E with severe UTI and pelvic inflammatory disease (swabs clear - no STIs - just a UTI that had gone hugely rogue).
14 days of antibiotics and a stone and a half lighter and I'm starting to feel a bit better.
If it's not YOUR normal, keep asking. Hope you get some useful advice, and feel better soon. 💐

They have the advantage of having had direct experience with their own ovaries

I had one sided ovarian pain and it turned out I had an endometerioma (so endometriosis as a cyst on my ovary) it was extremely painful. It was only diagnosed until I went private, nhs scan said there was nothing there

After putting me off about ovarian area discomfort, it took a new woman GP ask if she could physically examine me.
She did and referred me to gynecology. They operated and found a 17 cm diameter ovarian cyst.
I had had years of some GPs lecturing me about being fat. My tummy was huge.

It's definitely a thing and even has a name "mittelschmerz"

I too suffer with ovulation pain every month op. My cycle is clockwork and ovulation can be confirmed with the test strips, so I KNOW that's what's causing the pain.

I often find ovulation more painful than my actual period. The pain radiates down my groin and down the leg of whatever ovary I'm ovulating from. It only lasts a few hours and is gone as quickly as it appears.

Funny enough, I currently have a similar post complaining about the NHS and how utterly deflating it is trying to get seen by a hcp that will listen and take you seriously.

Good luck at your appointment next week. Let's hope you get one of the good ones, that's not fully checked out of their job yet due to the crumbling system.

That's exactly the kind of thing I was expecting. Sadly not. Since 2020 they don't seem to have gone back to how it used to be. Yet if I've ever been in the surgery for a blood test, the waiting room for the GPs is empty. Every time. It always used to be rammed. Very strange and I worry that important things will get missed because people like me will not bother because it's too much hassle. Time to check out other surgeries I think.

A man telling you that you're imagining pain in an organ he doesn't have and clearly knows fuck all about?
Well Roger me sideways with a Tesco trolley, I'm shocked.

It obviously varies. I was very impressed with the one econsult that I had. Bit unusual as I was with nurse and just mentioned something that was a change but not a problem. She said I needed to do an econsult so I did. Within two hours I got the call, could I go in for a blood test the following morning and appointment to see doctor. Weekend in between, this was Thursday so tests on Friday , by Monday I could see blood results online (never had so many different tests and I've had plenty of tests in the past) and on Tuesday got call from doctor to say she was happy with all the results and suggestions of what was probably going on and instructions about what to do if it went on for more than 4 weeks or got worse.

I felt it was great treatment but having read some things on here I realise it was even more impressive than I thought. Hope you find a good alternative.

The downside here is so many surgeries were closing as doctors retired so the biggest practice has taken them over so sometimes if you need a quick appointment you can't go to the local surgery but they will fit you in at one of their sites. They also use nurse practitioners well and I've also seen a paramedic when they were busy and he was dealing with certain things. He was someone who had worked on ambulances for over 30 years and said he wanted regular hours as he went towards retirement. He was excellent.

I had a cyst on my ovary, lived with it for years but became more painful after 2nd child.

Male GP was really good, referred to hospital straight away. Had surgery to remove it, was on my fallopian tube which had to be removed and my ovary which was reconstructed.

The gynaecologist was a male, very dismissive to begin with. Said it’s not that big (scans were saying 6cm but still waiting for surgery notes to know for sure what it was). Pointed to his head and asked if my pain was all up there. Even on the morning of surgery said we might open you up and find nothing there are you sure you want to go ahead with it. I had to basically beg to be sterilised and he asked if my husband agreed like it’s his bloody choice?!

Despite me wondering why the heck a male would want to do a job he would only ever medically understand, the surgery went well and he clearly was very good at his job. Maybe taking the female element out of it helps keep a clear head - who knows!

Side note that I’ve had IBS as long as I can remember, so many trigger foods and always worse my time of the month. Almost 6 months since the surgery and it’s completely gone?!?!

JFC. I am absolutely speechless 🤯🤬

I had a panel of male expert doctors burst out laughing at me (when pregnant with a baby with potential serious issues) because I suggested that a mothers hormones might affect a baby (hence why some babies are born with milk in their nipples). The meeting up to that point had been so respectful and felt they were taking my questions seriously. Honestly too shook by it to do or say anything. But by god they like to take us down a peg or two… Sorry to hear your situation. I get ovary pain too, little cramps bi-monthly as it only happens on right side. iYKYK. ♥️

It's not new pain though, it's pain she's previously experienced, but it's become worse than usual which is why she contacted the doctor. She should really have been asked if there was any chance she was pregnant in case of ectopic pregnancy, and been given advice on what to do if the pain worsens in case it's a torsion.

And I took ibuprofen with codeine regularly year with no addiction issues - took it for regular monthly pain caused by a dermoid cyst, and when it would flare up if an activity like moving too much or too quickly set it off. A couple of days worth of prescription only strength co-codamol would be highly unlikely to cause any issues and is, I think, reasonable to consider for someone in pain that's not being controlled by paracetamol alone and who can't take NSAIDs.

And this is exactly why we don’t get anaesthetic for getting a coil because they think we can’t feel it 🙃

'And this is exactly why we don’t get anesthetic for getting a coil because they think we can’t feel it 🙃'
Actually you should be offered local anesthetic when having a coil fitted. It is (was) called instillagel and we used it at the hospital when I used to work in Gynae OPD. However not all junior Dr's are aware of it. I used to ask them when assisting if they would like to use it and all the other Dr's used it. So ask your practitioner next time you have a coil fitted for this. I had a coil fitted many, many years ago without it and it was agony!

Just had another experience with local surgery. DH is disabled and often gets skin breaking down on shins but worse than normal this week. Sent econsults this morning asking for HCP to have a look and asking if nurse can do the dressings and check if what I'm doing is good enough. Less than ten minutes later the phone rang, nurse to see him and assess it and then she will redo dressings and see if it needs to be seen by GP. I can't imagine private care doing more. They are always very supportive to me as a carer. I don't understand why it varies so much.

If this is on your right side it could be your kidney, appendix or gallbladder originating the pain. I've had what I thought was just worsened ovulation pain and it was a kid ey stone. Very surprised when it popped out on the loo

What a patronising pig of a doctor OP! How old is he? 12? He needs to learn to listen to his patients. This sort of attitude means women get sidelined and not investigated and treated properly, and it's all too common. I hope your gynaecologist treats you with the respect you deserve.
Or is he a physician assistant?