Sooo anxious and nervous...?

Question

I'm going for my long awaited appointment at my gyno this Friday - my doctor thinks that I might have endometriosis due to my symptoms and the constant pelvic pain I've been experienced over the last 4 1/2 months. I feel sooooo anxious and nervous as I don't know what to expect and don't know what I'm going to find out.

Has anyone been through something like this recently (especially to find out whether they may or may not have endometriosis)? And if so, how did you handle your nerves?

Also, what could I expect when I'm at my appointment, would the gyno do an ultrasound, examination both externally and internally or would he only just talk to me about my symptoms and medical history?

I know I'm probably just silly, but I can't help it, I just feel anxious and nervous and I guess the waiting is killing me since I've waited weeks for this appointment and months for a diagnosis...

Answer 1

It's ok to be a bit nervous about going to the gynecologist about something like this to find out what the diagnosis is whether it's endometriosis related or not. I always get a bit nervous whenever my endometriosis acts up but then (with the exception of last week when I had to go to my doctor about a different problem) I always feel much better because I know that my doctor is there to help me in any way she can to try and find out what's wrong with me.

Yes, the doctor may do an ultrasound to check to see if there are cysts going on and check your uterus to see what's going on with that to see if polyps (a kind of cystlike structure) could be causing part of the problem.

Yes, he will do an internal exam to check by feel the size and shape of the uterus and ovaries. He will also be able to tell if there is a mass on your ovary (can be a cyst, had one in 2002/2003 that caused me a great deal of pain but we didn't know it was a cyst til later down the road).

He will also ask about your symptoms as to what you notice. Make sure to use words like "sharp", "dull" when describing some of the pain. For example if it's sharp say something like "sharp like a knife" or something similar and the same type of thing for "dull". Let him know if certain times of the day are more intense painwise for you than others.

If you have kept a log of all your symptoms bring that in to show him because it will help him out a lot.

As for how I handle my nerves I try to think positively, such as about my wonderful doctor and knowing she will try to help as I said and also sometimes think about my dog and how cute he is.

As for the ultrasound when done in a gyn's office it's often done internally because they can often see the female structures better than doing it on the abdomen. But please by all means ask as many questions as you need to in order to feel comfortable with all of this.

I have to get the status of my endometriosis checked every so many years because of what it does to my body and I had that done last year.

I'm here if you have other questions. Please feel free to e-mail or IM me off site any time.

Answer 2

this is kind of long so bare with me:

I found out i had endo in june. i've had pelvic pain since i was 13 years old, and they couldn't find anything for the longest time. my mom took me to the hospital thinking it was appendicitis, they didn't find anything. i suffered from the time i was 13 until i was 18 years old without answers. i'm 19 years old now, so let me get you back up to par. in january i went back to the hospital sick of this pain i'd been having for seemingly forever. finally! something was found. i had a cyst the size of a golf ball on my ovary. well, since cysts were fairly common with girls my age, we didn't think twice. i had a laparoscopy in february to remove the cyst. after my surgery, the pain continued and we could't figure out why. i went back to my gyno, told him my symptoms, and later was diagnosed with endometriosis. (i'm leaving out the part where my first gyno that did my surgery KNEW i had this and didn't tell me or my family about it until i switched doctors. the guy was insensitive and could care less about me. any questions why i switched?) okay heres the part thats relative to you. they probably will want to do an ultrasound to make sure. the internal ultrasound is how they found mine. when i first found out, i was upset and scared and i had so many questions running through my head. but in a way it's a great relief, especially if you waited forever like i did to find out. you will get started on treatments for pain and birth control to subside it. i'm going to warn you that you'll probably have to try a lot of different things, as that is what i have to do. i'm on my 3rd prescription of birth control, and i'm constantly on pain pills. its not a fun process but i promise they will help you any way they can! don't be nervous! sorry for the novel. i hope i helped. good luck girl.
:)

Answer 3

I know how you feel completely, They will want to help you best they can, so will probably want to do all test so they can find out the problem for you.

All I can suggest is to from now and everyday till you go write down everything that you feel and symptoms and also any questions that you have, so that you have it all written down for when you go, cause if your anything like me once they ask you a question, you'll get stuck, but if you have things written down it does help.

I also suggest to look on www.endo.org.uk as they give you a list of possible questions you'll be ask and questions you can ask.

Good luck, I'm still trying to get a diagnosis for my problems.