Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Sfifties on May 13, 2022, 12:29:26 PM
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Hello , has anyone had an hysterscopy performed?
I have just had a call and have an appointment on Monday as sn outpatient following my transvaginal scan results.
I had the scan a week ago so i know what it feels like but was wondering if the hysteroscopy causes more discomfort or pain as the nurse told me to take some painkillers 1 hour before it.
Thanks
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Hi! mayB put 'hysteroscopy' into the search box ? Make notes?
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They want me to have one too :(. According to Google some women have discomfort, others find it painful. Telling you to take painkillers sounds as though they expect it to hurt. Not convinced mine is necessary so I might chicken out.
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I feel the same the thickness of endometrium according to scan is 3 mm so very low risk of cancer.
1 small 1.5 cm fybroid and apparently some anechoic fluid found but main reason is the bleeding after 6 months of conti with utrogestan which it seem to be a very common problem.
I suggested to my Gp to up to 2 utrogestan to see if bleeding settles after my tranvaginal scan showed no thickness but instead she has referred me to the urgent two weeks gynaecologist referral.
I was ok with the tranvaginal scan, it took long so was uncomfortable at times but not in pain .
I am trying to find out if the feeling and discomfort might be the same or greater .
Sheila can one actually refuse to have it?
The amount of stress this is causing is just too much and my Gp even mentioned that i should come off hrt while this gets investigated .
But not sleeping because getting awaken all night from palpitations that feels like i am having a heart attack and sweats and the same during the day palpitations and hot flushes all day is something that i cannot imagine ever again , so now i am more stressed because she might not prescribe hrt and it and will run out soon …
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I’ve had one before. I found it totally fine, bit like having a smear test but taking longer. I think they did advise having a couple of painkillers an hour before. I wouldn’t say it was painful more just very uncomfortable!
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Hi … I went in for one last week at the womens health day unit but the consultant had to stop as I found it really painful… I have a high pain threshold normally but have never had vaginal births ( just C sections ) and someone said this can make a difference. I’m now booked in for one under a general anaesthetic next week !
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Hi Sfifties
In the last 20 years, I have had 2 hysteroscopies, although a little uncomfortable I did not find them painful. I had them to remove polyps and fibroid.
I have a scan on Monday to investigate post menopausal bleeding after starting utrogestan which like you I think is normal, I have stopped it now as caused too many side effects. I am preparing myself for another hysteroscopy in the event they find another polyp.
Take some painkillers like advised. It is a very quick procedure, I think for me it’s more thinking about the worse before you have anything like this. I suffer from anxiety so not in the best place at best of times. I was told if refused you may not get a referral again if any problems arise in the future, I don’t know if that is true but the GP was quite adamant. Good luck for Monday, big hugs. Xxx
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Hi I've had two, and can say from my first one only having the pathetic paracetamol and ibuprofen they gave me an hour before was totally inadequate to relief the pain, at my hospital they offered gas and air if you couldn't tolerate it, I didn't I had that in childbirth and it made me sick just sweated my way through it, I've had 3 vaginal births so didn't make a difference, I'm not a whimp either had 3 births with no pain relief other than gas and air, 2nd time my gp said to ask for anesthetic, which I did and consult gave me a local, two injections either side of the womb internally sounds awful but 3 minutes of mild pain, to have the procedure blissfully unaware of any pain was so nice after my first experience , I would definitely ask for the local anesthetic x
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I found it very painful and I took painkillers beforehand. If I ever had to have another I’d ask for help in the form of anaesthetic or whatever Amazing Grace had. Hope this helps x
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I’ve had two now.
Both were uncomfortable but painless. No bleeding and straight back to work after.
I took ibuprofen before and after.
Best of luck x
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Thank you so much for sharing your experiences , i will take the painkillers and hope for the best on Monday .
It’s absurd i was not given the choice though.
the transvaginal scan was ok in tetms of discomfort/pain although it lasted too long.
Looking at the instrument used for the hysteroscopy i panic it looks like a torture instrument and in the hands of a non experienced technician might a disaster .
My transvaginal scan was performed by what looked like a student , the scan took 20 min of constant insertion and moving around as she was unsure she was measuring the right part and after 20 full minutes she called somebody else to check she was doing it right , so hoping that the hysteroscopy will be quicker .
Thanks everyone
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I feel the same the thickness of endometrium according to scan is 3 mm so very low risk of cancer.
1 small 1.5 cm fybroid and apparently some anechoic fluid found but main reason is the bleeding after 6 months of conti with utrogestan which it seem to be a very common problem.
I suggested to my Gp to up to 2 utrogestan to see if bleeding settles after my tranvaginal scan showed no thickness but instead she has referred me to the urgent two weeks gynaecologist referral.
I was ok with the tranvaginal scan, it took long so was uncomfortable at times but not in pain .
I am trying to find out if the feeling and discomfort might be the same or greater .
Sheila can one actually refuse to have it?
The amount of stress this is causing is just too much and my Gp even mentioned that i should come off hrt while this gets investigated .
But not sleeping because getting awaken all night from palpitations that feels like i am having a heart attack and sweats and the same during the day palpitations and hot flushes all day is something that i cannot imagine ever again , so now i am more stressed because she might not prescribe hrt and it and will run out soon …
They can't force you to have an invasive procedure but there's always the threat they can refuse to prescribe hrt. I asked my gp for a course of norethisterone first but she sounds like yours 'I am not an expert (she's right there) but the book says urgent investigation under the 2 week pathway and I can't/won't deviate from what the book says'.
My problem is that I rarely bleed now on sequi hrt, lining is 6.7mm after the latest 6 week cycle with no bleed. I think that's actually quite thin when it's a couple of months since the last bleed but there's a big panic because it's thicker than 4. I'm starting to wish I'd kept my trap shut.
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I don't see how paracetamol or ibuprofen would be any help. I was petrified and asked for a general anaesthetic which I got, although it wasn't offered.
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Hi susysunday , i was called today for the Monday appointment as this is a two week urgent referral, so not a planned appointment as such and when i queried how the procedure would be performed i was told that as an outpatient they do not offer any form of anaesthetic and that’s why i was told to take painkillers before
It didn’t look like i had a choice at all .
I think that should they not be able to perform the hysteroscopy on Monday they will possibly offer it as a planned appointment with a form of anaesthetic but will have first endure Monday .
Was yours a planned procedure ?
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Hi. i’ve had two. The first I was so scared of the pain that I opted for a general. completely pain free but obviously a risk and I wouldn’t ever have it that way again. Way too much risk for me for a procedure which didn’t have to have one for. I DO feel terrible pain during smears as I’ve become menopausal so I just anticipated I would with this.
The second I had with a non general.
in my opinion, and I can i only speak for me, there’s no way over the counter pain killers would let me cope with this. As soon as I went in there, I asked could I have an injection to numb the pain. Doctor agreed.
So she inserted the needle and proceeded to inject something to numb me. Did it hurt? I’d say as uncomfortable as a dentist injection. Yes it was painful ( ish) but not so I screamed or writhed in agony painful. The nurse held my hand the whole time and within 20-30 secs it was over. The doctor could then perform the hysteroscopy. And as I had complications - i actually can’t remember why, something to do with my cervix and a backward facing womb I think, mine took ages. But i didn’t feel pain and that was the crucial thing. In fact the nurse kept asking me loads of questions about my holidays and kids- to the point where I really wanted her to shut up ;D but I know she was doing it to distract me. For me, if I had to do it again, I’d definitely have the injection. 💯 %
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When I had my failed attempt ( extremely painful ) at the day unit , the consultant said that a local would only dumb the actual womb and not the cervix so he recommended a general anaesthetic for me ! Everyone ( and their wombs ! ) are different though ! Xx
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Hi
I recently was referred under the 2 Week Wait pathway and an appointment was booked for a hysteroscopy and biopsies. I was really worried and asked for it to be postponed so I could discuss the procedure with a consultant first. She was amazing and took the time to explain the procedure fully. She said that I could have a local anaesthetic to numb the cervix and that gas and air would also be available. She said the procedure could be stopped at any time if I was not coping and that it could be done under general anaesthetic. At the appointment, all the staff were brilliant. It was uncomfortable but bearable and the staff constantly checked that I was okay. I could not fault them xx
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We are all so different in how we cope. I was offered the procedure with no mention of a general. I was petrified reading some women's experiences also I have never had children. Looking online I found a ga was an option. I contacted my GP who contacted the hospital. I got the ga with no trouble and the hospital were really good about it. For some a general is too extreme for the short procedure but it was the right choice for me. I did not have to stay overnight if I had someone to take me home and stay with me. It's difficult if your procedure is Monday,. it's going through with it or postponing till a general can be organized. It's not easy asking for these things.
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I found it very painful...but that is probably because of other issues...but I managed it. A couple of my friends had one and they were fine, said wasn't painful at all. Like most things..it's personal. The lovely consultant said to me that if I found it too painful he would stop. In his letter he said I "tolerated an outpatient hysteroscopy....remarkably well"
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I had one, or an attempted one. I was told to take paracetomol beforehand, it was extremely painful. No gas and air or local anaesthetic offered. I got as far as her trying to force the camera in and trying to pump water into me, but she couldn’t get through the neck of the womb so got a pair of like scissor things and started to cut her way in and that’s when I said please stop. They said if there any fibroids they will snip them off at the same time.
They said have a break and we’ll go again.
Again the pain was too much, I’d had a biopsy done the week before and was ok with that so thought the hysteroscopy would be about the same, but I couldn’t work out how they could get ‘in’ for the biopsy but not get ‘in’ for the hysteroscopy.
Anyway, I had it under general anaesthetic, about 6 fibroids removed and more sent off for more biopsies.
Very painful when I came round from the anaesthetic, but would never have it again without general anaesthetic.
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Poor you, that sounds horrendous xx
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Hi Sfifties
How did you get on yesterday with your hysteroscopy? I hope you are okay and it was not painful or as bad as you feared.
I had my scan ultra sound and trans vaginal, luckily they only found a small fibroid and my lining is all okay so relieved now. X
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Hi ! Thank you for asking .
I didn’t need an hysteroscopy!
Keep reading ..
So as you imagine i was terrified although grateful lots of you had shared their experience.
This was s 2 week urgent referral from my Gp and i saw the form she sent it clearly stated reason for referral as suspected endometrial cancer so i was quite anxious about it all.
When i got to the hospital the Gynaecologist consultant called me in an office and asked me to tell him about my hrt history etc.
We went through my scan results and was aware that endometrium was 3mm
So very low risk for cancer , regarding my small fibroid he told me that if he scanned every woman in London half of them in middle age will have fibroids and regarding the anechoic fluid in my uterus he explained that as things change down there, don’t remember the proper words he used , some fluid can be trapped but it’s not a reason of concern ( at least in my case given the rest of the scan findings), so it seems my bleeding it is hrt caused ( i am on my 7th months of conti regime with 100mg utrogestan) and suggested trying 200 mg which i had already asked my Gp as i had read here that could settle it but my Gp said she’s not allowed to prescribe it.
So it was the Consultant decision that I didn’t need the hysteroscopy after all.
He did say that it is the standard procedure for Gps to refer but he sees lots of women in my same situation .
I did have an internal examination and he said everything looked normal, and i had a smear test too which had not been able to have as in my two last attempts had been impossible as too much blood present to take a sample.
I have had several smear tests and this was the quickest and least uncomfortable of all , it was over very quickly , the examination was fine too slight discomfort at times but nothing unbearable but i think it was down to the Consultant being very confident and experienced .
I now will get my smear test results in 4 weeks.
He will write a report to my Gp and hopefully that will make her comfortable prescribing double utrogestan, if that fails will try sequential .
Sorry if i have given you so much information..u just asked about tge hysteroscopy!
Glad everything ok with you too .
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Good news xxx
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Very good news. I am pleased you did not have to go through with the hysteroscopy. Xxx
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Thank you so much .
Should the Consultant had decided i needed one , the nurse who had checked me in confirmed that as an outpatient there was not any anaesthetic possible not even local but she added that they do several a week like that .
It’s a bit like when i gave birth i remember my sister who had 3 births with epidural told me to absolutely ask for one, and on that day the Anaesthetist at the hospital was not available and i went through without it
I think we are capable of more than we think at times, although i do appreciate we are all different and i understand some ladies have had real bad experiences and found these kind of procedures too uncomfortable.
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So glad you didn't have to have one. X