Endometriosis specialist in London?

[elenaf]

Can anyone recommend a good endometriosis specialist in London? I have private medical insurance, so may be able to see someone privately.

My endometriosis really flared up two years ago, and now I'm in agony for one week each month when I ovulate and one week during my period, so I think I may need surgery.

If you can travel, I don't know if any of the consultants are Harley Street based, but the consultants in Oxford have a good reputation.

Dr Foster used to help with Drs at the top of their game, it doesn't seem to work now.

Is there anything specific you're looking for like surgery, fertility issues and endo, etc?

Thanks Fairytales - I could travel.

I have one daughter already and probably won't have another, so really it's just about stopping the pain.

I can't have a the pill as I had a migraine once, and the GP thought mirena might make it worse in the medium term. So really I need some advice and I think probably I'll end up with surgery.

I saw a consultant a year ago who diagnosed endo based on an ultrasound. I have endometriomas and my organs were sticking together so she said she didn't need a laproscopy to confirm. She wouldn't operate until I'd had a second child (even though I said I may not want to) - according to her I would be letting my husband and daughter down if I didn't! Her reasoning was that as I didn't have any proven fertility issues surgery could make conceiving harder. But I don't care about that so much as not being in so much pain.

She prescribed metafamic acid but it doesn't help and is getting worse, so I need more advice.

Any ideas about where to go would be much appreciated - I've heard that having a real expert helps but not sure where to find one.

Dr Trehan looks amazing but is very expensive even with medical insurance and works only in Yorkshire now.

I can highly recommend Chris Mann, based in Birmingham. He's one of the most skilled excision surgeons in the UK and a lovely man as well. Works privately and also does NHS via choose and book. I'm a surgeon myself, very picky about who I would let treat me and can't speak highly enough of him.

Shaheen Kahzali works out of Chertsey and specialises in excision of complex/ deep endometriosis. I'm not affected myself, I've just worked with him.

Within London, Peter Barton-Smith is meant to be excellent although I don't have personal experience.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, off to google...

Mr Richard Richardson at Chelsea & Westminster.

Very clever man who not only ensured I conceived naturally first time but also that provided I keep the merena coil in, the endometriosis hasn't returned.

It's Khazali sorry, spell check keeps on correcting it.

It was Tregaron I was thinking of. My old consultant was really good but he focussed mainly on gynae cancers, the last I heard was several years ago. Surgery wise they have different techniques, as you have adhesions, although they'll come back, you should get some relief if they put you down for surgery then if you would consider, in my experience of endo and medication, synarel is really good. If you don't like how you react to the GNRH you can stop, where zoladex and prostrap work for 3 months as a depo type injection. I had the coil but my body wasn't happy with that, if you have the Mirena I would advocate having it placed during surgery. If your periods are heavy you could consider ablation therapy. That should lessen your periods.

What are your main symptoms?

Thanks all, and thanks so much Fairytale, lots to think about.

MIn symptom is really bad ovarian pain, on both sides though worse on one side. It's especially bad for a week around my period and a week when I ovulate, but there all the time. I also get bloating and IBS symptoms from time to time. Mild discomfort when I empty my bladder sometimes.

I saw Mr Alvan Priddy at the Clementine Churchill for infertility investigations. Eventually I had a laparoscopy which diagnosed and treated moderate endometriosis (I didn't have any symptoms except infertility). Apparently successful as I got pregnant on my second cycle after the laparoscopy.

Angus McIndoe on Harley Street is tremendously good in my experience.

Questions to ask your doctor

You may think that if you become ill you just go the doctor and they give you a drug to take away the illness

What if your Endometriosis is caused - or made worse - by things that you eat, or don't eat ?

Here are some questions to ask your doctors about Endometriosis

• What causes it ?
• How will looking at it and scraping it help me get better ?
• How can I stop it recurring ?
• Could my illness be caused by things that I eat, or don't eat ?
• What can I change about my diet and lifestyle to help my body repair itself ?

These are easy questions to ask, but very difficult for doctors to answer as they know very little about Nutrition.
It may be worth asking them to refer you to a Dietitian or a Nutritional Therapist, as they specialise in Nutrition.
If your doctor won't do this, try a search for BANT and interview 10 local Nutritional Therapists who have had success advising about Endometriosis before choosing which one to work with

Here are 3 well-proven natural ways to reduce the Inflammation that causes the pain of Endometriosis

*Increase your Vitamin D
*Increase your Omega-3
*Reduce your Omega-6

Here are some relevant references that may be useful to you:
Vitamin D Wiki
Optimise Omega-6/3 Ratio
How much Omega-3 ?
15 Omega-3 Foods
What to Do About Inflammation ?
Expert Omega-3

Some people have reported that eating specific foods like meat or dairy gives them an instant flare-up
Which foods make your Endometriosis worse and which help ?
.

It sounds like from your symptoms you would benefit from GNRH drugs, or something like the depo provera if you can tolerate it. Anything to shut down your monthly cycle.

Having the endoscopy removed would also be beneficial, but it does come back. Plus further adhesions usually.

Some surgeons use a solution that is meant to prevent adhesions returning. The best way to stop your endoscopy returning would be to have the op, then start treatment ASAP.

A hyst won't help, that's an old fashioned theory. Many women still have issues after. If they do a total abdominal hysterectomy plus removal of ovaries, you'll likely start getting menopausal symptoms. To see how you react in that situation, the GNRH synarel would be really good. They do prescribe HRT, but that can make the ending active again.

As well as visible endo, like chocolate cysts and deposits, there's microscopic endo. So if not a GNRH, then a progesterone based contraceptive, avoid oestrogen at all costs.

I've had endo 20 odd years, so any questions I'm happy to help.

Thanks so much Fairytale - incredibly helpful. Thanks also Rufus. I made quite a big effort with diet, exercise and supplements last year - I need to get back on it. All too easy to reach for the chocolate when the pain gets really bad!

Fairytale What are GNRH drugs?

My daughter suffers from endo but only treatment (!) she's given is a contraceptive pill :(

In case it's useful to anyone, I'm seeing Mr Khazali in Chertsey. The difference between seeing him and a general gynaecologist is immense. Apparently a lot of what I've been told before is "1960s advice". He was able to feel the endometriosis when he examined me and I'm probably going to have surgery.

Thanks again for all the advice.

i hope you have already been seen and treated but thought to leave you with my experience.
I have suffered with period pains for a long tome and eventually was referred to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital . was seen by Mr Raza who was an absolute pleasure to meet with. He did the laser treatment to my endometriosis. since for me, Mirena coil has worked well and so far all good. if you are closer to chelsea hospital then he is one of the best for endometriosis

The latest research and opinion is that in general, surgical excision is better than laser for endometriosis. However, clearly every case is different and it's worked for you, so that is brilliant!!

Jane Bridges, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital & The Cromwell.

I speak as a nurse and a patient.

If you want to choose London, I suggest you look at the gynaecologists the King Edward V11 Hospital , Marylebone. It's arguably the best private hospital in London (where the Royal family go) and their consultants are hand picked.

Have a look at their website under gynaes and fertility specialists.

How did you get on Elenef?