talkhealth forums

Intercourse, smears, swabs, periods. I think I may have endometriosis but don't know how to go to the drs about it. I have very painful ovaries near enough constantly, intercourse hurts and has done forever, I have bad periods. My latest smear went badly and she couldn't complete it, too much pain.

I was falsely diagnosed with PCOS and was told I'd need to have IVF to have a baby, I had my baby naturally with no help, all the scans for pcos came back clear with no signs of cysts even ever existed.
My dr said I can have it without the cysts then my nurse for a smear said I can't have it without any cysts. So who am I meant to believe? So you may be able to see why I'm asking on here instead of going to see my GP as they all tell me different things every time.

Thanks.

PCOS reduces overall fertility, but doesn't prevent it: It's a hormonal / biochemical condition and you don't necessarily need to have actual cysts on the ovaries. For more info, see: https://www.verity-pcos.org.uk/what-is-pcos.html. Most importantly, it doesn't significantly contribute to pelvic, period & sexual pain, which you clearly need to have properly investigated.
Endometriosis is characterised by severe period pain - enough to cause time off or difficulty attending school or work and to need painkillers and/or hot water bottles to diffuse the pain - and deep pain with intercourse, often occurring from first pain with sex. If this hasn't improved significantly when taking the contraceptive pill, implant or the depoprovera injection, and if the pain with sex is bad enough to prevent any real enjoyment or to cause you to be effectively unable to have sex in any almost position (except "spoons"), then you should definitely ask your GP to refer you to a gynaecologist. If you experience severe pain when defecating during your period, then the diagnosis of endometriosis is almost certain - See: https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/unders ... ometriosis. For more background on endo see the Guardian Society thread on this, starting with the articles in September 2015 & reading forward from there: https://www.theguardian.com/society/end ... sis?page=3
Hope this helps.