I was diagnosed with severe deep infiltrating endometriosis in March this year after a laparoscopy. Six weeks later I was having further surgery to remove the endo from around my bowels, bladder, ovaries, uterus and basically everywhere in my pelvis.
My symptoms evolved over the years; I’ve always had very heavy, very painful periods, but after having children I started to get gastro pains, vomiting and diarrhoea, pain during sex. None of the usual contraception suspects worked so I kept pushing for a gynae referral, and after speaking to a very kind doctor who finally listened to the full story, I was put on the waiting list. In the end it was a 96 week wait between referral and surgery, but in the meantime I went to a private consultant who told me that I categorically couldn’t possibly have endo, because I have children and fell pregnant without any problems. So don’t think that going private is a golden ticket - it certainly wasn’t the case for me.
I would urge anyone with gynae pain to push and push your GP to get you referred to hospital where you can get access to specialists, because you can only be diagnosed with endo via laparoscopic surgery. GPs are quick to dismiss any kind of gynae pain with a prescription for the pill but that is rarely the answer for these complex issues. My hospital has an endometriosis clinic within so I’m now under their care moving forward and have regular appointments, and complete pain questionnaires to monitor symptoms. I’m not out of the woods yet as some of my symptoms have actually worsened since the excision surgery, and I’m now being investigated for Crohn’s disease/ulcerative colitis (which is more likely in endo sufferers) so it’s imperative you get these things checked, diagnosed and treated, because it could be masking other problems.
Happy to help if you want any more information. I feel very strongly about this having not been believed for so many years and finally getting diagnosed.