HSG - How bad was it?

[Rtmhwales]

The fertility clinic requires this test before they'll even give us an appointment. The internet has lead me down a dark path where it seems 20% of the women who had it said it was crampy and 80% said the dye felt like hot oil exploding their internal organs.

Can anybody share their experience - the truth of it, no matter how bad (or good)?

I've had it twice and honestly it was fine - no worse than a smear. It really depends if you ultimately have a blockage or not though as I know women who did found it more painful

No worse than a smear. 100 percent easier than I expected, I Googled it too!

It's totally fine. I took a couple of paracetamol before hand and it just felt like period pain.

@Rtmhwales In the interest of honesty, mine wasn't good. I personally was told there was nothing to worry about and then afterwards they said 'I didn't want to put you off' but I'd rather have known! I found it very painful and would've taken stronger painkillers had I known. The balloon was the worst part, but also the dye got stuck and they had to really push it. I really hope you have the above experience, but just plan ahead and take painkillers first and get stronger than paracetamol just in case! Good luck, I hope it all goes well xx

I have had 2, bit of cramping but passed quickly, I would say more uncomfortable than a smear but not as bad as a hysteroscopy, nowhere near as bad for me as what I had expected after Googling, I had blocked tubes too

[quote IVFBaby2022]@Rtmhwales In the interest of honesty, mine wasn't good. I personally was told there was nothing to worry about and then afterwards they said 'I didn't want to put you off' but I'd rather have known! I found it very painful and would've taken stronger painkillers had I known. The balloon was the worst part, but also the dye got stuck and they had to really push it. I really hope you have the above experience, but just plan ahead and take painkillers first and get stronger than paracetamol just in case! Good luck, I hope it all goes well xx[/quote]

@IVFBaby2022 can I ask what you took and what you'd recommend?

I'm surprised reading what I do that they don't do this under sedation. I feel like if it was a man they would. I'm super stressed about it as I feel like I'll be in the unlucky few. Though all the other kind hearted ladies who replied are giving me a (small) glimmer of hope.

@Rtmhwales I only took paracetamol, but I would say go for co-codomol if you can.

I think everyone has such different experiences, and looking at above I was in the minority (thankfully!). I'd just remember that it's over fairly quickly, I was in there for 15 minutes tops and afterwards I had no pain or spotting!

Mine was perfectly fine. No pain at all during the procedure, but some very mild cramping afterwards.

I found it really quite painful. I wish they had warned me in advance rather than playing it down as I thought something was wrong during the procedure. Afterwards they told me I did well not to swear as most women do so clearly it wasn't just me being a wuss.
I had quite bad cramps for several hours afterwards so bear that in mind when you're making plans

If it makes a difference, I'm another one who found the speculum the most difficult part (but I find smear tests painful too). Honestly in comparison I didn't even notice the catheter going in or the dye - admittedly my tubes turned out to be clear though, I've heard the dye can be crampy otherwise.

I did take two paracetamol and a low dose Valium beforehand (no reason not to imo as unlike say, future IVF transfers you aren't risking any meds potentially affecting an embryo) - but unfortunately it didn't seem to make much difference to the speculum pain for me.

@IamnotwhouthinkIam See the speculum for me was no problem, it was the balloon and dye! I had no blockages but the dye did get stuck which was the worst part, however my results were clear.

@Rtmhwales I think this is very much down to our own bodies unfortunately! I would just take extra pain relief before and after (maybe even ask your Doctor before you go?). Just be prepared and chances are you'll be absolutely fine, it seems the majority of ladies find it OK 😊 good luck!

@IVFBaby2022 - Yep, I must be weird as most people seem to feel the dye was worse, although I suppose pain tolerance levels do vary (maybe I have unknown nerve issues higher up near my cervix?). For me speculum going in- very little discomfort, catheter/balloon/dye - very little discomfort (perhaps mild cramping, but less than period pain). Speculum opening - bloody agony, exactly the same for all my IUI's and IVF transfers too! and this is speaking as someone who has had regular bad period pains (likely endometriosis), vaginal IUI/IVF probe scans and egg collections - even having kidney stones, broken bones, chemical burns in the past... all far less painful than an opened speculum for me . I can't believe I went through that pain 10 times before it finally worked - my DS will never know what I went through to have him ... and I've still got to get through the birth yet! (praying for C section).

I had it and had blocked tubes and was fine just Had mild cramping. I did however had bad cramps afterwards but apparently this isn't that common. I know everyone's different but even if you do get bad cramps during it won't last long as it's over very quickly.

If you have blocked tubes, is there a further procedure needed to unblock them or is the dye itself enough to unblock them?

@Decaffe

If you have blocked tubes, is there a further procedure needed to unblock them or is the dye itself enough to unblock them?

Sometimes the dye will unblock them if they not too bad. Unfortunately if the tubes are blocked there isn't much that can be done to fix them.

Agree with pp - I was told by a fertility nurse that if there were minor blockages that the dye could clear them, so while it's not a fun procedure it's very helpful for IUI and even continuing to try natural conception. But if one or both tubes are fully blocked then they would suggest going straight to IVF (particularly if both are blocked - this counts as your "proof of infertility" even if you haven't been trying for the full year/2years by many CCG's - providing you are eligible on other counts for NHS IVF).

Crikey, I didn't realise that. Learn so much on here. Thanks both

I thought I'd come back and update as I had the procedure the beginning of the week.

They had to do it three times (move catheter around, inflate balloon, inject dye) for some reason. The first two times were unpleasant but bearable - maybe 5/10 on the pain scale. But the last one was excruciating for some reason. Worse than my labour was in all honesty. So sounds like I was one of the unlucky ones. The test was clear, no blockages at all so I can't even blame it on that.

Just hoping that maybe I'll be one of the lucky ones who gets a BFP after the procedure anyway. Otherwise I think it's on to IVF.

Thought I'd update this thread. I just had mine and it wasn't painful at all. It was like a smear and I barely felt it. Initial results show tubes were clear and everything looked normal.

I'm so glad it went well for you. It's wild how different the experiences are. I still have flashbacks to mine and break out in a cold sweat.