Endometriosis - would I really need surgery to concieve?

[SpongeCake23]

I have been ttc for 6 months. I know not that long, however in the back of my mind I feel sure I have endo and a possible cyst.
The problem is that I'm terrified of surgery, I've never had an op and I don't want to be put out. The thought makes me so anxious. I already suffer quite badly with anxiety.
I'm in pain every month and recently I've had pain in the week leading up to AF, pain in my bum and pain down my leg which I know are endo symptoms.
I always have heavy bleeding with clots (tmi) and my IBS flares up.

My mum told me she had a lot of these symptoms and she just put it down to 'heavy periods' and went on to conceive me and my brother fairly easily. She's never had it confirmed either way.

I want to be able to have a baby but I'm really really scared of any kind of surgical procedure and doctors/hospitals give me panic attacks. I know I'd need to be in a hospital to give birth and I'd need lots of invasive tests then but I think I could handle all that as long as I wasn't put to sleep.

Any success stories of conceiving with endo/cysts without surgery first?

I can't help 're the conceiving I'm afraid but I can reassure you a bit about the endo op. I've had it done twice and it's keyhole surgery that they do as a day case, it's very straightforward and both times it's really helped my pain no end (I had it because I was in a lot of pain as you described, not because I was ttc). The second time was a much better experience than the first, I had it done in a private hospital where they had much more time to reassure me about the surgery and the anaesthetic (which is the bit that terrifies me). It might be worth a discussion with your gp about the options. Both of my surgeries were nhs treatments but I was given a choice of hospitals, most people opt for the main hospital in the city not realising that you get the same surgeon regardless but the waiting list was shorter for the private hospital for some reason (maybe because people have never heard of it where I live?). Life's too short to be in pain if it's fixable. (I'm also currently pregnant but whether the ops made a difference I don't know as we wren't ttc before)

@thecolonelbumminganugget thank you. Do you think there's an option for them to do it under local or possible epidural? I'm just absolutely terrified at the prospect of being put out and being 'out of control'

I conceived mine with severe endo and two cysts around 20cm one on each side. No idea how but only found out about them on first baby scan.

I believe endo removal can be done under epidural but be aware in bad cases it can come back.

I would add though as I missed your bit about a possibly cyst. If you have a baby and cysts be aware that they might need to operate to remove the cysts while you are pregnant in order to make sure that they don't burst or cause problems.

I was told at my first scan I would probably have to have a termination. I refused and had to have full stomach surgery as soon as my child was 'viable' and might survive if I went into labour as a result of the surgery. So around 22 weeks.

You can’t have endo surgery under spinal, you would need a general anaesthetic. I’d give it a year of trying then get referred if nothing has happened. You’d need a laparoscopy to diagnose endometriosis and they’d check the latency of your tubes at the same time. If you were found to have endo then there is good evidence that having it excised (not burnt away) improves fertility. It certainly helps with the pain.

Plenty of people with endo conceive naturally, particularly after surgery. Unfortunately I needed IVF (successful) and I can assure you that’s far more invasive than having the endo surgery done.

@welshweasel can I ask why it couldn't be done under spinal? I'm just curious really. As I thought it would have been an option?

Oh apologies I thought I had read you could.

Endo surgery is done laparoscopically, requiring the abdominal wall to be relaxed and the abdominal cavity to be filled with gas. Just not possible with an awake patient!

Hello!

I've just had my third lap for endo and am about to start ttc. So I don't know whether I'll be able to, or if I wouldn't have been before but I will now, or anything like that, unfortunately. What I can tell you though is that it's so so not worth living your life in that pain because you're scared of the surgery. The doctors will be kind and reassuring if you're scared and it literally is just like falling asleep. It's quick, you might be mildly sore and uncomfortable for a few days, and then...done. Whereas that burning pain through your pelvis and legs all the time is just hideous and you deserve to live without that. And if it helps you to conceive, even better, right? I know it's scary, but honestly, I think it will be so worth it for you. I wish you luck