TTC 2nd time with endo. WWYD if hospital won't treat it again?

[Coldhands]

I took 3 years to conceive DS. Found out I had endometriosis and had the laser surgery to get rid of it, conceieved 5 months later.

DS is now 2 and I would like to have another DC in a couple of years. I was talking to my doc today and discussing my symptoms, I do still have endo.

I assumed if it took a while to conceive again, I oculd go back to the hospital and they would investigate the endo again and I could have the laser surgery, but my doc has said as I already have a DC they won't do this. They would treat the endo which would mean stopping my periods all together which is obviously not what I want. They won't do anything for fertility problems this time.

Obviously I know once you have been pregnant, this can make a huge difference with getting pregnant again but there is this fear that the endo will mean that I will take a long time again. I was going to come off the pill early next year but my doc says it may take a while again and it may be worth while coming off the pill now.

Obviously I am not going to go just on what people say on here with such a big decision but I was just wondering what others would do in the same situation.

Your doctor is wrong, I think - I would push for a referral, in your place. Surgery (excision, not laser ablation) has a far better track record for alleviating symptoms than hormonal treatment - not that hormonal treatment doesn't have its place. But well-performed surgery should give relief from symptoms for far longer - it's not just a case of 'use surgery to treat infertility and hormones to treat pain/heavy bleeding/whatever else' - actually, surgery is often still the better option.

If it's a GP you've discussed it with, bear in mind they're not specialists and often know very little about endo, and occasionally they think they know more than they do. You need to discuss it with a specialist, as they will be better placed than your GP to recommend the best course of action. I don't think your GP can say for sure that the specialist will or won't do anything - it's a complex illness, the treatment options are improving all the time and so are surgical techniques.

Whereabouts do you live, if you don't mind my asking?
There is a specialist centre in Basildon that looks good (haven't been there myself so can't speak from my own experience). New patients get a long appointment so that everything can be properly discussed. You are now allowed to be referred anywhere in the country.

Hope that helps. good luck x

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately my GP is not wrong. She said she is treating someone else with the same problem and when she referred them, the hospital sent patient back to the doc saying they wouldn't treat for infertility as it was a second DC. Must be something to do with this ridiculous postcode lottery. It is crap down here, IVF you only get 1 cycle on the NHS, other places you can get 3 cycles.

I am in the South West so nowhere near Basildon I'm afraid.

If the time comes and we do have problems, I will ask to be referred to a specialist though, just in case.