Deess

Sorry for the experience you have suffered. Same happened to me. I did require a further investigation 2 years on but insisted on a GA. It is available to you, you just have to be firm with the care you expect to recieve. Best wishes, hope you feel better very soon.

Thank you for your story. It's great to hear positive outcomes. The reason for my and others pain is we are post menopausal. The cervix closes/ narrows, when the hysterscope is forced through it causes severe pain, shock ect. Wish you well for your future. Xx

Sorry peoples experiences terrified you. It certainly is not the aim. The aim is to inform you of the alternatives. Because you were forewarned you were able to express your preferences for pain relief. This has been sadly denied to so many including myself. Not knowing if you ask the procedure to stop there is an alternative? I see you took over counter meds, recieved pain relief to cervix & had access to gas and air, however you still describe the experience as awful, not without pain, the fact you struggle with speculum too all suggests you didnt recieve adequate care, in my opinion. Thankfully you went into the room with prior knowledge so that it made it tolerable for you. Wish you well for your next procedure for fibroid removal with spinal sedation.

It is great when you hear women having a positive experience and feel they were in control, that the persons carrying out the procedure explain truefully what will happen. You dont state your age? I note you were offered & given pain relief to numb the cervix. Unfortunately most women that suffer severely from pain are post menopause with a closed cervix & the practitioner as in my case noted out loud how closed the cervix was! Yet he proceeded to force his way through and this is when I experienced horrendous pain, the room span and was incapable of answering when I was asked if " I was still in the room?" He continued still. The biopsies were painful too but maybe could have been more tolerable if I was not already in so much pain and traumatised. You say you were anxious after reading " horror" stories? The women who shared them wrote them to initiate change. Shared their awful experiences so no other has to suffer as they did. These are procedures that should not have happened. I would see them as positive stories as it means women reading them can be better informed & ask questions before they make their choices for the procedure. Again I am so pleased your experience of Hysteroscopy was not like mine. I hope that women in the future have experiences like yours because they were informed & can make choices & know that if it is too painful they can say stop & know in advance the alternatives in place. Wish you well for the future & that your biopsies have a positive outcome. X

Having had a painful out patient hysteroscopy some years ago it is refreshing to read this article. It one of the first I have felt that I was not at fault for feeling such severe pain! Thankyou.

It was covered on womens hour & there have been articles in the Daily Mail. Radio Shropshire also covered OPH. Please be aware that you do not have to pay for a GA if you need another Hysteroscopy, you are within your rights to request it. The RCOG patient information leaflet will give you more details.

I attended a 2 week referral for post menapausal bleed stating I would require an out patient Hysteroscopy. I was not anxious despite knowing that it was to check for possible womb cancer. As the literature had described the procedure was like a smear test I had no concern. During the quick consultation I was informed biopsies were required but it would not be painful but may experience period like pain. The procedure started and a nurse was chatting away, hairdresser like chat, I thought it quiet irritating. I later discovered it is a distraction technique!! The consultant inserted a speculum, he then announced that the cervix was very tight considering I was only 2 years post menapause. Then I experienced the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life!! I felt faint, the room was spinning. I found myself trying not to vomit & breathed slowly to try not to pass out. I heard the consultant say " are you still in the room" I could not reply. The pain had been caused by the hysterscope passing through the cervix. He was now in the uterine cavity and was filling the womb with saline, this was uncomfortable but bearable. Then he announced he was planning to take biopsies. He took 3 and with each one I felt labour type pains, these continued for hours following the procedure and duller pains were experienced several days after requiring pain relief. Following the procedure he instructed me to get dressed and join him at his desk. I felt extremely shaky and was struggling to believe what I had just experienced! I negotiated myself around a bowl below the chair that was filled with saline and blood. I was quite horrified by this, what on earth had happened to me. The nurse passed me a sanitary pad and left me to dress. I joined the consultant behind the screen once dressed, I believe I was in shock. I have no idea what he said and could not wait to get out of that room. The nurse returned me to the waiting room & said I could leave when I was ready. I walked to the hospital entrance in tears wondering how I was going to drive home?? I figured it not safe, I was in tears and in pain. So I called my partner from work. I got home, went to bed and cried for several days. Two years later, I experienced another PMB. I went to my GP dreading that they would refer me for another Hysteroscopy. When the GP confirmed this I just broke down in tears. However the GP referred me too an alternative hospital within the Trust. They completed a vaginal ultrasound first & confirmed I would require a hysteroscopy. I informed the consultant that I would not agree to this in a conscious state. It was agreed that I could have a GA. This procedure went ahead within the 2 week timescale. I obviously had no pain during the procedure they removed a polyp & I did not require any pain relief post op. Bleeding was also minimal. The literature for the original hysteroscopy was seriously lacking as was the consultants information. I do not believe I gave my informed consent on that occassion. To be honest the info for the 2nd was no better, it is just I had managed to inform myself and know my rights to request a GA. My trust has now adopted the RCOG patient info leaflet. However not all trust are offering the full information. Until they do they are wilfully in breach of montgomery consent. This has to change.