So upset after GP

[Enterusername111333]

I wanted to share a recent experience in case anyone else has been through something similar.

I’m 42 and have been dealing with extremely heavy, painful periods for over two years. A scan a while back showed fibroids, and I was fitted with a coil, which helped a little with frequency but not with the heaviness or pain. I’m also on iron tablets.

This week things got worse. I started passing very large clots — they were literally pulling and plopping into the toilet. I felt scared and unsure what to do, so I called 111, who advised me to contact my GP.

I got an appointment, but it left me in tears. I was clearly distressed, crying and asking for help, but the doctor just smiled and smirked throughout — not in a comforting way, but in a way that made me feel laughed at. At one point she said, “You’re making me uncomfortable.” She also randomly asked, “Are you worried this might be cancer?” — a comment that’s stuck with me and honestly left me reeling. Up until then, I hadn’t been worried about that, and she didn’t explain why she brought it up.

She kept repeating questions and confusing me about medications — saying tranexamic acid and norethisterone were “the same” (I’ve taken both and know they’re not). It felt like she was trying to trip me up. I had to push to even get my temperature and blood pressure taken.

She eventually agreed to a referral, but said it could take up to two years. After I left the appointment in tears, she later called me to book bloods for iron levels — which just added to the confusion given how dismissive she’d been earlier.

Honestly, I left feeling completely fobbed off and like I was being gaslit. I wasn’t aggressive, just clearly upset and in pain — but was made to feel like a problem rather than a person. If I were bleeding this much from anywhere else, I think the response would be very different.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you push for better care? I’m exhausted, physically and emotionally.

Your post made me think of this www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65574106.amp

I had never heard of Adenomyosis until I was recently diagnosed with it. I am now post menopausal but on hrt. I suffered with painful periods all my life and only now got a diagnosis. I didn't have the flooding but if you read the article flooding is a common symptom. Apparently it's difficult to diagnose. I had a scan a couple of years ago that didn't pick it up but a recent scan did.

It was way longer than two years post-referral for me (albeit with the pandemic in the middle). I was referred in 2019 and, with my condition having worsened considerably, I had my hysterectomy privately in 2023. Fifteen months after that, the NHS contacted me for a pre-op. So six years. And before 2019 I had several years of battling my GP to get a referral. I wish I'd had the foresight to just go for a hysterectomy privately straight away instead of losing any quality of life for a decade.

Who is the scan with and who are your results being reviewed by? Complain to practice manager but perhaps the scan results will enable you to have a more focussed appointment.

You probably were fobbed off and gaslight. Thats pretty normal towards women esp. by NHS practitioners. See someone else OP either another GP or go private. You could also submit a complaint if you wish. It wasn’t acceptable and it isn’t you.

I’ve just had a hysteroscopy and biopsies taken under GA. Good experience and I saw the surgeon afterwards. We are going to try and ablation next and that should be done after the biopsies are back.