Has anyone been in actual pain when speculum inserted?

[Komodia]

I was meant to have CIN II cervical changes removed by loop excision today.

I was pretty nervous about it, but I had been there twice for a colposcopy and biopsy, so I figured it would be similar, but obviously the after effects would be worse.

Anyway, I'd been experiencing a bit of discomfort down below and have had pain during sex, so I explained this to the gynae beforehand.

Anyway, he put the speculum in and as soon as he started to open it up, I just had this stabbing/stinging pain. He tried three times, and I ended up in tears, so he said that I will need to have it done under GA next month.

I just wondered if anyone else had experienced anything like this? I feel like such a wuss, and TBH I could have just lay there and let him try, but I think he didn't want to hurt me.

Any ideas what this could be? Could the pain be related to the fact that I was very tense?

Am glad you had a caring gynae who stopped this procedure when it was hurting you.

You may have felt tense on this occasion but I would say that deep pain felt during sex can be very indicative of endometriosis being present. I am wondering if the gynae is thinking along these lines.

I wish you luck with the op next month and I would ask about endo in the meantime.

I was in pain for first ever smear, suspect it was because nurse had a lot of trouble finding my cervix as apparently it is set very far back so it took her ages. second smear was fine, as I explained the saga the previous time to GP, so GP did an internal to check location of my cervix before doing the speculum bit.

best wishes for the procedure next month.

Yes, me.

I had this quite a lot before I had ds presumably because nothing had been 'stretched' .

It got better after having him but then when he was about 2y8m I started getting pain during/after sex and when i went for a speculum to find out why it was agonising. They didnt do anything other than scan my ovaries (ultrasound) as I also had pain in my tummy when examined. They didnt find anything wrong. I am due a smear but am 7m pregnant now so cant have one.

Pain could definitely be related to tenseness (if thats a word)

(Oh and for me it felt like she had the skin either side stuck in teh speculum iyswim? She didnt.)

Thank you for the replies .

Attila - he was great - when I got upset, he left me for a few minutes to gather myself, then asked if it was ok to try again. As soon as I winced, he took it straight out again and said that it would be better under a GA. He has also arranged for me to have an ultrasound, which I thought was really good of him as he is a specialist in colposcopy and I think that I really should have been referred to a general gynae. My mum had endometriosis so I wonder if it is hereditary?

waitingforbedtime - it was definitely that sort of pain - exactly as you describe, and it is the exact same pain as when DH and I attempt to have sex .

Interestingly, a few months back I saw an osteopath for back pain - afterwards I felt great and DH and I had the first pain free sex in ages, so I may make an appointment for this week.

Endometriosis can be inherited.

Waiting for bedtime - endometriosis is not detectable on any ultrasound scan as the deposits are so very small. It is usually only diagnosed through a keyhole surgery type op called a laparoscopy.

Good luck to both of you. You will need to be persistant in order to get answers.

Not sure of spelling but sounds like vagiumus- basically your muscles seize up and prevent naything going in thre.
Treatment is relaxation techniques, and dilators to use at home so you get used to it slowly.

Your gyane should know this- it's quite common.
Google and see what's what.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaginismus/Pages/Introduction.aspx
here you are

Attila thanks but am ok now, no pain since before I fell pregnant so I presume all ok.

After looking at that webpage (thanks purplepeony), I'm about 90% sure that it is vaginismus, although it is intermittent, as I can sometimes have sex with DH, but any kind of clinical examination is a nightmare.

I wish there was some sort of simple answer to it, but I guess it will be either a case of waiting months for a referral on the NHS, or forking out lots of cash for private therapy .

You might get by meantime by buying a simple book on CBT techniques though obviously not as good as the real thing.
I suppose you- or someone needs to get to the bottom of why you are siezing up during an examination.

is it triggered by anything that has happened before?

You could try hynotherapy which is cheaper than CBT- worth looking into.

Thanks for the advice - I have always been a bit anxious with smears - aren't we all, but it has got really bad since giving birth to my son, same with sex. I think it may be due to the fact that the first time we tried sex after the birth it was painful, and ever since then I have had a fear of pain. Also, things just don't feel the same down there as they did before and I guess I have that on my mind too.

I have seen the GP several times, but not since I was referred to the colposcopy clinic for the abnormality. This has obviously compounded the feelings even further.

Hi, I've changed my name as this is a wee bit personal, but could it by vulvodynia (literally 'burning vulva')?

I had this on and off for years. At one point sex was impossible - it felt absolutely raw, like razor blades around the entrance - and I couldn't wear pants. Your description of the smear sounds like it could have been written by me!

I saw loads of doctors before it was diagnosed. The problem was that there were no external symptoms like redness - it was a neurological problem.

They tried me on anaesthetic creams and antidepressants, neither of which helped. Then I started taking gabapentin (brand name 'neurontin', a kind of epilepsy medication that also works on neurological pain). That and a bit of therapy to help with the bad associations I had formed around sex, did the trick.

It was triggered, I think, by a bad bout of thrush. I also had shingles as a teenager - maybe that didn't help? Now, if I feel I'm starting to get a bit, um, 'fungal', I use a dab of Daktakort to knock it on the head.

Don't know if this helps, but thought I'd add another possibility to the mix!

There will be an answer, don't lose hope!

Also, did you tear giving birth? The skin around the scar can tighten up and become inflexible, causing that kind of pain. Maybe some perineal massage might help?

Yes I did tear - 2nd degree. I've had a few internals done by the GP and they have pressed on the area and I have experienced no pain - it is more on the upper wall of the vagina. I do wonder whether or not it is possible that this area was grazed when I gave birth.

I am wondering now whether or not the stitching was done correctly. It doesn't feel "tight" as such, but there does seem to be some excess skin down there where it has been stitched.

Thank God I namechanged !!

Hi
I have had this - it turned out to be an ovarian cyst and endometriosis. The pain was excruciating.
"He has also arranged for me to have an ultrasound, which I thought was really good of him as he is a specialist in colposcopy and I think that I really should have been referred to a general gynae."

Colposcopists are either nurse practitioners or medically trained and specialising in colposcopy. Most of the medic colposcopists are also gynaecologists (and obstetricians) so most of the ones I know would refer you for
u/s if needed.

Hang in there - sounds like having the LLETZ under GA is probably the best thing.

BelaLugosiNoir - I think he put on the consent form that he was a consultant, but he said to me before the attempted procedure that although he was happy to answer questions, if I had a separate gynae problem, that I would need to see my GP and be referred to a different gynae department.

I had an ovarian cyst when I was about 14/15, but it was a follicular one I think, which had completely gone by the next time I went for an ultrasound.

I suppose it's just a case of waiting for all the apointments now.

Thank you for sharing your experiences .

Oh that's interesting, technically the referrals are supposed to go back to the GP, but the sensible approach is to just make an internal referral. Not sure how it will all work in the Brave New NHS to come.

Hope it goes well, do chase them up if your appointment date doesn't turn up within 2 weeks.