Hysteroscopy without anaesthetic is a women's rights issue

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'Being a woman means living with pain!'

Ever heard that lie?

Ever nodded along with it, resignedly accepting some intrusive gynaecological procedure that causes you excruciating pain?

BECAUSE THEY WERE OPERATING ON YOU WITHOUT ANY ANAESTHESTIC?

I had never given birth at that point and also had a tilted uterus. That might be why mine was so painful. The pain was bad enough but being handled so roughly by the doctor and then in effect told off for experiencing so much pain made it so much worse.

I had it without an anaesthetic, didn't even know a general was an option at the time. Excruciating!. I insisted when I needed the procedure again and a small polyp removed from my womb. And was treated like a nuisance!

It sounds utterly horrific.

@SpnBaby1967 you can ask for a general anaesthetic. When I had my first one, I was told I would have to try to have it without pain relief and I did so and it was traumatising for me. When I had to have another, I discussed it with my gynaecologist and he said don’t put yourself through that again. I had the second under general anaesthetic. Much better experience for me. Have a look at the website here
www.hysteroscopyaction.org.uk/

My old gynecologist intended cutting out my lymphoma (fibroid) without sedation or GA. He got as far as injecting local into my cervix, at which point I started urgently telling him to stop. He asked the nurse whether he should, and she said yes (thank goodness for her).

It remained agonizing for perhaps thirty minutes afterwards. He said it couldn’t possibly still be painful. I guess he meant the local must have caused numbness, but I suspect something went into spasm.

I had it done under GA in hospital eventually and the bleeding was something else. I’m so glad I stopped him.

But imagine telling a patient they can’t be in pain. The arrogance of that still astonishes me. I wish I’d been strong enough to ask him whether he thought I was making it up.

I still went back to him. Pretty sure if it happened now I wouldn’t.

God I had one of these last week. The whole consultation was awful. It was a male gynae which I wasn’t expecting. There were 3 other people in the room none seemed particularly “caring”. I didn’t know I was going to have the procedure. I couldn’t barely understand what was being said as thick masks throughout preventing communication. I was then told I would need to have a GA which I’m terrified of having and don’t really want and then booted out of the hospital in tears because it was closing time. Honestly I still feel traumatised a week later and I really don’t want to go back for the polypectomy. The post procedure pain was worse than the procedure though.

I had the procedure done under general anaesthetic as a day hospital in-patient after the unexpected attempt at an outpatient procedure was abandoned. It was absolutely fine.

But doesn't this seem like a reasonable approach? If it's too painful, then abandon the procedure and reschedule for a GA in hospital. I do agree about giving information regarding pain relief options beforehand, and possibly having more options including mild sedative. But what happens if everyone decides they want a GA? You'd never get through the waiting list! And then you'd end up with unhappy patients and delayed diagnoses, possibly leading to worse outcomes.

We don't offer GA for colonoscopies either, or for vasectomies. My DH was one of the unfortunate people who experienced vasectomy as excruciating, even with local anaesthetic. There are plenty of unpleasant procedures that men undergo as well, with minimal pain relief.

@SpnBaby1967 I've had one and it didn't hurt at all, no more uncomfortable than a smear test, everyone is different so please try not to worry, I have had three children though which I think makes a difference.

I had this before a hysterectomy, after years of trying to get flooding periods sorted. It was excruciating.
The only thing more painful was the scraping away of a full placenta after it did not detach.
Both without so much as a paracetamol.

The part about not being told what is going to be done during appointments rings very true for me: I’ve not had this procedure but I’ve twice gone for follow up gynaecology appointments and not been told I’ll be having a certain procedure which were painful and left me feeling quite shaken; the first time by luck someone was picking me up from the hospital and the second time I called ahead to interrogate the receptionist and got some information about what the appointment was for so I could organise things for after.

I had a hysteroscopy 6 weeks ago and my biggest fear was that they would try to persuade me to have it without a GA.

On the day, they couldn’t get my cervix open enough to get the scope in because of the angle my womb tilts at, and ended up using a small curette to take biopsies. I’ve only had 2 days without bleeding in 6 weeks despite a couple of courses of antibiotics for infection. The thought of them attempting what they did while I was awake horrifies me.
@LemonRoses you said ‘most women tolerate it well’. I do not see why we should have to tolerate it at all! If men had to deal with this I suspect that they would never have reached the point where that was a reasonable idea.

It's true you don't get a GA for colonoscopies, but you get a LOT of sedation and pain relief in an IV. I was given something really strong for all of mine, and if I asked for more sedation or pain relief not a problem - it was topped up. Spent a couple of hours recovering in the outpatient ward then went home. It's insane that gynaecological procedures are not treated similarly.

Something I've noticed is when I've had colposcopies I've had doctors say I'm silly or overreacting for saying that the biopsies hurt. According to the doctors there aren't many nerve endings down there. But apparently this isn't true - there are nerve endings, there just isn't detailed discussion of this in medical textbooks and med school. So these doctors must encounter women day in day out saying 'that hurts' and the doctors think ...what? They're all lying?

@Theeyeballsinthesky

Totally agree! I’m horrified women are just expected to have (for many women) this deeply painful procedure without anaesthetic and worse that when they ask for one, they’re made to feel that they’re making a fuss & being cowardly

I’ve had two in the last seven months without anaesthetic. I’m glad I knew what to expect. Actually with cocodamal I found it tolerable. It would have been hard to have had anaesthetic during lockdown and nobody to drive me home for various reasons.

But I can imagine what a huge shock it could be for some women. The female consultants who did the last two were very caring, as were the nurses.

marriednotdead. I don’t think many women enjoy the experience, so suggest tolerate is a good word. The risk of a little discomfort for a few minutes is a much lower risk than anaesthetic.

If women cannot tolerate it, GA is an option but many would prefer not to waste a whole day and prefer to just get it done.

Men might feel similarly about prostate biopsy, which many but not all tolerate well. Both sexes might feel the same about gastroscopy or bronchoscope without sedation. Many tolerate it, but some people don’t.

Maybe gas and air could be offered rather than GA? I had a colonoscopy a while ago and could have been sedated or gas, I opted for the gas and was fine.
I've never had a hysterscopy but had various colposcopies where biopsies were taken, they were fine but always were with female staff.

I had one years ago as i was having my tubes clipped. It was ‘kin HORRENDOUS. Plus after i was given strong antibiotics tablets and sent to get the tube home, no recovery time. I was so nauseous i had to get help from staff at Oxford Circus …. and on later inspection online of what i had taken that the surgeon had had me take a whole day’s dose of ab’s in one go. A totally f’d up experience. By the way the tube clipping failed. And turns out THAT was a blessing as there was a class action lawsuit as many women suffered awful pain due to the clips.

I had one under general, I was supposed to be having an endometrial ablation but the fibroid I had was too large so I had a tcre.
I'm horrified at the thought of anyone having to go through it without any pain relief.

I’ve had two under general to remove growths and had to have a day off work after the first and spend a night in hospital after the second. (Not UK. No kids at the time and tilted back uterus if this makes a difference)

I’m utterly shocked they would attempt this without anaesthesia.

I had an endometrial ablation. Without anaesthetic! I passed out in shock whilst they did it and I have had 4 kids so can handle pain! Absolutely disgusting. As I tolerated the camera they thought I would be ok with it!

Why do this?

That pain relief or sedation is not offered for certain gynae procedures is barbaric, and institutionalised misogyny.T

I don't want to turn this thread frivolous, but just want to say that the ad I am getting on this page, with a twirling piece of fusilli, really isn't helping. At all.

I had one with no anaesthetic and it was horrendously painful. Aside from the fact that the biopsy means they are clipping off parts of your insides, you are in a chair in stirrups which they tilt until you're nearly upside down and then pump you full of water. It's fucking medieval.

I had a female gynae and two female nurses who were brilliant at the art of distraction. We had an in depth convo about orange is the new black after I told them I was terrified I might cough and drown the gynae.

I haven't had a hysteroscopy, but I had a uterine biopsy followed by coil insertion with no pain relief and without chance to think about it and the nurse had to pin me down to keep me still, it was so horrifyingly painful. When I wept after, while dressing, the male consultant informed me 'most women ' don't find it that painful. I drove myself home, bleeding and feeling like I could pass out. The coil is awful but noone will remove it and my hysterectomy has now been cancelled 3 times. The whole thing has been horrendous and I really thought that by my (40 something) age I would be able to find my voice - I am not normally silent! but this whole process has broken me and left me feeling like a foolish middle aged woman who is quite weak.

I have to disagree. One in four women find it extremely painful which means that 75% of women don't. A GA is a serious procedure and I for one would not want to have. a GA if I could possibly avoid it.

I've had 2 hysteroscopies, both were fine. A bit uncomfortable/painful but bearable. Both of them also involved a biopsy being taken. I was able to drive myself back to work straight after.

I do feel sorry for those women who find it excruciating. As a pp suggested, maybe the way forward is to offer that if someone finds it unbearable then the procedure can stop and the woman be booked in for a GA.

It's true you don't get a GA for colonoscopies, but you get a LOT of sedation and pain relief in an IV

You only get sedation if there is someone there to take you home. Sedation is not an option if you're on your own.

@WeeBisom

It's true you don't get a GA for colonoscopies, but you get a LOT of sedation and pain relief in an IV. I was given something really strong for all of mine, and if I asked for more sedation or pain relief not a problem - it was topped up. Spent a couple of hours recovering in the outpatient ward then went home. It's insane that gynaecological procedures are not treated similarly.

Something I've noticed is when I've had colposcopies I've had doctors say I'm silly or overreacting for saying that the biopsies hurt. According to the doctors there aren't many nerve endings down there. But apparently this isn't true - there are nerve endings, there just isn't detailed discussion of this in medical textbooks and med school. So these doctors must encounter women day in day out saying 'that hurts' and the doctors think ...what? They're all lying?

I had a colonoscopy quite a few years ago. No sedation or anything. Agony. I struggled to eat for several months afterwards, lost over 3 stone & went from rather plump to slightly underweight in less than 6 months, despite nibbling hobnobs (high calorie), sipping milkshakes, fortisip type crap etc instead of water all day, & switching to full fat everything because I couldn't tolerate more than 4 mouthfuls of food every couple of hours due to the pain of digesting solids. Later investigation revealed they'd slightly damaged my colon & it wasn't healing. I made a complaint at the time but they just persuaded me to drop it on the basis that they needed to be thorough & it was easier to finish all in one session than have me come back later(!) I wish I hadn't.