I’ve suffered from periodic bouts of pain between menstrual cycles and have made efforts in the past to investigate this. I’ve had pelvic ultrasounds (yes, more than one) and was initially told I had PCOS, then told that I actually don’t and everything is fine. Nothing else was done to investigate this issue further. This was maybe 2-3 years ago.
Then a couple days ago, I was in such severe pain that I could barely walk and had to stay home from work. I scheduled an urgent appointment with my GP, where he asked me all the questions (I have no symptoms of UTI, no constipation, no fever, no nausea) and he prodded my abdomen which illicited some painful exclamations… And he told me, “This is a bit of a mystery, isn’t it? But my best guess is a pelvic infection. Take some antibiotics. If you feel worse, go to hospital, if you stay the same then come back.”
I was in so much pain that every bump in the road as I drove sent me into tears, and I’m a tough cookie. I tried to do some simple household chores like hang out the laundry, but it sent me into such intense pain I had to lay down on the floor until it passed and I could crawl into bed.
This morning I decided I needed to see a specialist. I checked my insurance to find a women’s health specialist and of course it costs 3x as much for me to see her. I get that specialists cost more, I totally do, but when more than half of the world’s population are “female” then why is it special? It should be standard.
Not only that, but medicine has and consistently still does fail women. Women’s health is woefully under researched but we still have to pay a premium for it? Bullshit. Utter bullshit.
I’m in pain, I’m tired, and I’m angry at the fucking patriarchy. Being a woman is expensive.
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Did he say pelvic infection without doing a pelvic exam? Blood draw for WBC? Just gave you antibiotics without some kind of confirmation?
How soon is the specialist visit?
I am not a doctor and am not sure how much economic hardship it would put you in to go to the emergency department, but it doesn’t seem like your doctor was particularly thorough or sufficiently concerned about the source of your pain.
I don’t want to scare you, but this could be something like an atypical presentation of appendicitis, which could kill you. Or ovarian torsion. Or any number of things that can’t really wait for a specialist. If the pain is unprecedented it is better to go to the emergency department and be told there is nothing wrong than to die because no one investigated the cause of your illness. Women die from stuff like this all the time.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing w this and hoping you get relief soon and it isn’t anything serious, but also hoping that you receive proper medical treatment to adequately ensure you are OK.
Pink tax on medicine.
We have had ONE generation that we’ve had anything like equality and forward progress.
It was 1993 when Congress forced the issue that women should be included in medical studies rather than blocked. (Women older than 30 or so basically had medicines that were untested because women weren’t included in the studies to see their dosages and effects.)
It was 1980s when apartments wouldn’t discriminate against renting to single mothers.
1974 was when women could have a banking account and own property and have credit. Before then, they had to have a son or father or cousin or uncle “own” the account and give them permission to draw from it. (Anyone wanna bet how many men stole from women like this?)
ONE generation.
I think you should go to the ER.
I had a similar situation and my ovary was torqued. It was excruciating and hurt constantly. I ended up needing surgery and lost the ovary.
Not to scare you but you need a thorough exam, including ultrasounds and other imaging. Keep pushing. It sucks but you have to be super persistent with these things. Tell you GP you need a gyno referral immediately if you don’t want to go to the ER.
Yes it might be expensive but it’s not optional at this point – it’s your life.
i’m not a doctor but that amount of pain means you should probably go to an ER. you need an ultrasound.
I would have a CT scan done and see if they can see any sign of infection. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the uterus and intestines in the same spot.
ER is your best bet. Pain in the lower abdomen could be lots of things, not necessarily gynaecological. Doctor’s dismiss women’s pain all the time. It’s infuriating.
My spouse had a hysto a few years back from PCOS and endo. Opened them up and there was an abscess of chlamydia that had been there for god knows how long, just chilling near their reproductive organs. So antibiotics isn’t TOTALLY wild but sending you to a women’s health specialist is beyond just seeing a gyno. my wife needed one as well.
I think you need a new doctor, and more imaging to see what’s going on. That amount of pain could be any number of scary, fatal things and it’s not something to wait on.
I went through pain in my lower abdomen, which increased over time a few years back. My ob/gyn insisted that I “too old” (early 40s) to have endometriosis. I had a vaginal ultrasound that “showed nothing” but put me in so much pain that I could barely walk afterward. I elected to have surgery to have my tubes tied, and during that surgery, they found:
multiple ovarian cysts
endometriosis
uterine fibroids, including one the size of a golf ball pushing on my pelvic floor
Point being, these arrogant doctors don’t know as much as they think they do, imaging doesn’t always show what’s wrong, and you shouldn’t listen to medical professionals that dismiss your pain.
Go to the ER immediately. It could be an ovarian cyst or an ovarian torsion, or it could be deferred pain from your appendix, spleen or gallbladder. Don’t wait for the specialists appointment, get in the car and go now to the ER.