Video
Voiceover:
Rebecca is suffering with a gynaecological problem which makes it extremely painful when having sex.
Rebecca:
I just get a burning, stinging sensation, which is really uncomfortable for about an hour, sometimes up to an hour afterwards.
Voiceover:
Dr Pixie swabbed her in order to eliminate any sexually transmitted infections. Our microbiologist Val has the results.
Professor Val:
Well, the good news here is everything’s come back as negative for Rebecca. There’s only normal bacteria in her swabs. So there must be something else causing her problems.
Voiceover:
As she is all clear, Dr Pixie sends Rebecca to see gynaecologist Tyrone Carpenter to get to the bottom of her pain.
Mr Carpenter:
What I’d like to do…I think we need to examine you.
Rebecca:
Yeah.
Mr Carpenter:
And really what I’m trying to tease out is where the pain, I guess, is coming from. So we’re going to start on the outside, and I’m going to use a cotton bud and I’m going to touch various areas, and I’d like you to give me a pain score. So, zero’s no pain, and ten’s the worst pain you could possibly imagine. And then we need to examine you internally, and we’ll use a similar scoring system, um, on the inside.
Mr Carpenter:
Could you give me a number for that?
Rebecca:
About five.
Mr Carpenter:
About five, okay. And I’m just going to stretch the ligaments at the back of the womb now. Could you give me a number for that?
Rebecca:
About seven.
Mr Carpenter:
About seven. And one more thing, I’m just going to put the womb on a stretch one way…sorry, let me do that again, could you give me a number for that?
Rebecca:
About five.
Mr Carpenter:
About five. Okay, that’s fantastic, pop your things back on, come through and we’ll have a chat. Okay?
Rebecca:
Thank you.
Mr Carpenter:
Well, having examined you, I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps, the pain is started from somewhere else, beginning on the inside, and you’ve developed a learnt response to the pain—whereby you anticipate pain, and that causes a superficial pain.
Rebecca:
Okay.
Mr Carpenter:
Now the most common cause for pain deep on the inside with intercourse is endometriosis.
Rebecca:
Okay.
Voiceover:
Endometriosis is thought to affect around two million women in the UK. It’s a condition where cells like the ones lining the womb are found elsewhere in the body. During the monthly cycle, hormones stimulate the endometriosis, causing it to grow, then break down and bleed. This internal bleeding, unlike a period, has no way of leaving the body, and leads to inflammation and pain.
Voiceover:
A week later, and it’s the day of Rebecca’s operation to look for the cause of her pain, and she’s hoping that Mr Carpenter will be able to provide her with some answers. She is undergoing a procedure which is carried out using keyhole, or laparoscopic, surgery. Mr Carpenter begins by inflating Rebecca’s abdomen with carbon dioxide…
Mr Carpenter:
Gas on, please.
Voiceover:
...so he can see her organs more clearly and has space in which to move his instruments. Next, he inserts a camera into the area, and then manipulates his instruments in and around the ovaries and uterus to inspect the tissue.
Mr Carpenter:
What we do is gently lift the ovary and look underneath to see if there’s any disease under there. And that’s all normal. Um, same on the other side, here’s her left ovary here. Ah, and we’re just trying to move it up, and it doesn’t want to move very easily, and we can see there’s some disease there.
Voiceover:
Mr Carpenter has found endometriosis, which is where cells from the womb are found elsewhere. Finally, after five years, Rebecca has an answer for her pain. As well as under her left ovary, Mr Carpenter finds endometriosis in front of and behind Rebecca’s womb.
Mr Carpenter:
Here’s a classic bit of endometriosis here, you can see it’s, it’s pulled in, it’s puckered. And the interesting to note about this, it isn’t just on the surface, you can see it looks like it’s dug in underneath, it’s sort of under the surface. And that’s the thing about endometriosis, it’s an invasive disease, it starts on the surface and it burrows its way in. And that’s why when we treat it, modern treatment involves excising it and chopping all of it out, including the base of it, rather than just cauterising the top, which is traditional old-style treatment. This bulging structure you can see here is her rectum, and we’re just going to the right of the rectum, but we need to be wary, because we’re going to be needing to use heat to remove this. And we don’t want to cause an inadvertent burn to the rectum itself.
Voiceover:
He then carefully cuts away the diseased tissue and removes it from the area. It’s a technique that requires a great deal of skill, but is the best way of resolving the problem.
Mr Carpenter:
For many years endometriosis was simply being treated by people burning the top of the disease in the hope that they would get rid of it. However, by virtue of the fact that the disease invades within the tissues, burning the top is simply like just melting the tip of an iceberg. So nowadays, with advanced laparoscopic surgery and with a high-definition kit, we’re able to go as deep as we need to, and that way we ensure that all the disease’s out. Obviously having had the operation, Rebecca’s going to be rather sore this afternoon, however with radical analgesia, she should be fine to go home later today. Now it’ll take some time to see how well, uh, this operation’s worked, as obviously the areas that we’ve treated on the inside need time to heal out, and these will be more painful initially, rather than less. And she certainly should be back to full normal activity in a couple of weeks’ time. However at two weeks, it’s far too early to assess whether this has been of any benefit with regard to intercourse, we really need around six months for that.
Voiceover:
Six weeks after her op, and Rebecca is back to update Dr Pixie.
Rebecca:
I had it in three places: on my bowel, behind my womb and around one of my ovaries. Um, so he actually managed to cut all that away, while I was under anaesthetic, and managed to remove it all for me.
Dr Pixie:
So, one would hope that because he’s gone in, and done some surgery, that in time…I guess you’re, I guess the whole thing has to sort of settle down first.
Rebecca:
Yeah.
Dr Pixie:
But I think it’s worth giving it a bit of time to see, to see what happens.
Rebecca:
Yeah, I’ve been told, um, that three to six months is kind of a recovery time, when I should start to see a reduction in my symptoms, so I’m just waiting for things to settle down, really.
Dr Pixie:
Are you pleased now that you know what’s going on?
Rebecca:
Yeah, at least now I’ve got something that I can research.
Dr Pixie:
It’s really a case of watchful waiting now, and see what happens.
Rebecca:
Yeah, exactly.
Dr Pixie:
Super, well, thank you very much, and really nice to see you again.
Rebecca:
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
Dr Pixie:
And yeah, keep us posted.
Voiceover:
Since seeing Dr Pixie, Rebecca has been able to enjoy an active sex life.
Rebecca comes to talk to Dr Pixie about the severe pain she gets whenever she tries to insert a tampon or have sex. Dr Pixie performs an examination to check the cervix and ovaries but finds everything to be in order so sends Rebecca to see a gynaecologist. Dr Tyrone Carpenter soon finds Endometriosis around Rebecca’s womb, ovaries and bowel. Subsequently Rebecca undergoes surgery to literally cut the Endometriosis out. 6 weeks later Rebecca returns to Dr Pixie and, although the healing process is a long one, notes a marked improvement in her sex life.
Patient Name: Rebecca Gibbs
Condition: Endometriosis
Specialist: Mr Tyrone Carpenter, Consultant Gynaecologist
Hospital: BMI The Harbour Hospital, Poole
Length of operation: Approx 20 minutes
Yes
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i seem to have lots of symptoms but im not sure if its endometriosis? i have back pain most of the time, i get really bad lower tummy pains in the middle of the month, my periods are very irregular, i have deep pain during sex and am always tired. It took me two years to fall pregnant with my second child, which i had a missed miscarraige at 12 weeks. im 24, could this be endometriosis?
i am having my laproscopy in two days time. after six years of pain i have finally had a referal ten days ago and am going in for my op in two days so its all happened very fast scince seeing my gynacologist. I am however a little confused as i have always had bad period pain and tummy ache after sex but my severe bouts of pain come every three months to the point of hospital admissions each time. They put me on morphine i am in so much pain. i think more awarness of it should be out there because they did not take me seriously until a couple of months ago. i am 19 now and have had this for six years. it has really got me doen emotionally and affects my relationship sometimes. its hard to understand the pain if you arn't the one feeling it and its hard for me to understand it when i have no diognosis. hopefully the next two days will bring me luck. good luck to everyone out there in the sam eposition :)
i was first diagnosed with endo when i was 19 through laproscopy, i tryed various treatments firstly the pill, then other hormonal drugs, this went on for years without any joy.. My advice for anyone who has had symptoms for years is get referred to a gynacologist who has a speciality in this disease, that way you get best treatment availalbe. this eventually happened to me and after trying just about everything 2 years ago i had a hysterctomy, it has changed my life completely and i am not not a prisoner at all, enjoying life to the full and most of all no pain. This was the last resort after trying everything, the only thing that gave me relief was implants but you can only have maximum of 12 months due to bone disease. A good resource site and all very helpful is http://www.endometriosis-uk.org/
I think i may have this too i have been to the doctors who done urine test a pregnancy test which was negative and a smear test, i have been refered to the hospital for a us pelvis scan. i get pain in both my left and right side and sometimes my back the pain hurts when i urinate also and i feel like i need the toilet all the time and my stomach feels bloated all the time, when i eat i get full really quick and the bloating gets worse throughout the day. please could you help so that i dont get fobbed off anymore
Hi all. I think it's great that Channel 4 are highlighting this disease - it affects nearly as many people in the UK as diabetes and yet most people have never heard of it. I was diagnosed 9 years ago, have had major surgery twice and am now probably looking at a hysterectomy in a few months time due to adenomyosis (when the endo grows inside the wall of the womb). My only criticism of the programme would be that they didn't make it clear enough that this is a chronic illness - surgery is often only successful temporarily, it isn't a cure. For anyone who is recently diagnosed, I would really recommend joining Endometriosis UK - there is a wealth of information and support on thier website: www.endometriosis-uk.org
I started my period when I was 16 and ever since then they have been extremley heavy and I have had serious pain I just thought it ran in my family as my mother was the same. About 5 years ago I started to get pain while having sex it gets to the point where it puts me off which is putting a strain on my relationship. The pain started to get worse and then I started to get cramps in my stomach almost everyday especially ony right side of my stomach, I couldent work out why I was on such pain on an everyday basis so I visited the doctor. The doctor decided to do lots of ivestigations and eventually I had a laparoscopy which showed I had endo but it was only a min amount they laser surgery to take of what was there. This was 2 years ago and my pain has got worse my stomach and I have also started to get lower back pain everyday. I Did go back to the doctor and they said the next thing to try is an implant called Zoladex, I had this once Month for 6 months and had no joy.I have run out of options on what to do next my doctor says they can't do anything else as he. Dosent think it's a gynaecology problem I honestly don't know what to next I am in so much pain and so frustrated.
hi, i'm 26 going on 27 now andsince i fisrt had got my period i've always been sick when ever i get it. throwing up, head ache, tummy ache, the shivers, numbness and reslessness no to meantion the need to be in the loo with runs. but it was the pain that was excrushiating. often enough i wouldnt go to schoon on my fisrt day i got it as it was always on the firt day fisrt couple of hours. if i got to sleep through the pain in a few housrs i would wake up better. i suffered like this for 10 years. doctors just said u'll be fine when u get married or just need to eat more etc. but i was very hearlthy! i came here to uk and the doctors just litereally pushed the pills on me. i didnt have a bf so i had no need for it. but then when i would fall i'll like the way i meantioned- though it was humilating and normal for me my housemates paniked, called the ambulace on 3 occations and each time all tests showed fine yet my body was going into shock and i was shivvering. finally the girls suggested taking the pill as it helps with the period pain etc so i was told, so i did. but it didnt stop. infact at one point i had a continuous chocolate like dischage/period continuourly for a month- no help from the doctor. she just said it happens?infact there was no point to it so after a year of taking it i stopped taking it only then to not get my period for a good year! and doctors here wont do anything about it as i have to wait for a year as they think it might be an effect of taking the pill. my family has a history of cysty breast and breat cancer and i have 2 on my breast. this was smthing i told my doc before going on the pill(as the leaflet says) but they said it was fine. anyways i wasnt happy at all about my condition and insisted i see a specialist as soon as the year was up (in england they dont refer you to a specialit breast surgen/department unless your like 26! insaine. so finally i got them to do a scan to prove i have one- a lump at least(i had done this ultrasound scan when i went on holiday to my home country but my doc count refer me to a specialist cos of my age at that time-21) anyways as u can see i insisted they refer me to a specilst and when they did, the gynocogist insited that i was under weight accourding to his charts and that that was the reason why i didnt get my period! i was a booliming size 10 not even an 8 or 6. and i'm only 5.4. after much persuation and insting i get a scan he sent me for a uscan. lovely nhs didnt notify me untill i rung them and asked when it is and they said it was infact that day in the next half hour. thankfully i hadnt eaten, and rushed over with my partner drinking as much water as i can. but it wasnt enough for the scann and the lovely radiologist told me i can either come back another day or she can do a laparoscopy. i told her waht was wrong withme and she suggested the lap. was the best as u can see things better. so i emptyied up and she did the scan. the scan showed i had polycistic ovaries and endeo on both tubes and womb.. overall bad for me. my sepcialist gyno man took none of this into account and all he cared about was trying to push some pills similar to the brith control pill to so i would have a period like bleed hoping that after i stop taking them after 6 months that my body should make me have a natural period!. call me blust but this idiot just hasnt even bothered to look at my file. i questioned him over and over about the results and if this was right that i should even take more pills like this that specify not to take if u have a history of cysts and here he was pushing it to me. i tood the prescription and even bought it, then calld the information number for that pill and asked them if with my condition i should take it and they even suggested no as with me having poly.ovaries the cysts can grow and the hormones can make endoe worse! and to think this specialist gyno insisted i take this. he even wrote this in a letter as i went back to my gp and siad no real treatment was given. speaking with my gp we decided not to take the pills the gyno had asked me. ofcourse this meant that i had no period yet, but decovered that i had endeo and polyc ovaries. I then did alot of reserch and consulted in my family. for my luck a distant relative who had a similar problem but in her case one ovary+tube had been cut off 3months earlier and she was put on the pill so she didnt get her period to heal. but this caused a huge cyst on the other side and endo all over they had told her take it all out- but cos she was married and hadn't even had the chace of having kids she decided to go see alternative therapy and went to a homeopathic doctor- one that i had gone to when i was young due the nose bleeds i would get when out in the sun too long-sinus problems. but i was cured of all that. anyways she had gone to this doc who gave her treatment for 6 months and and it was all cleared and the big cycst she had had (size of a tenis ball) shrunk for a small pea,in 6 months. this was my sisteres cousin inlaw. she insited i should do the same- and my sister pleaded i take homeopathy. so i made a visit back home, and saw the doc. she told me the pill i smthing i must naver take,chocolate occationally as it makes it grow and cofee is an absolute no as it makes them grow rapidly. fizzy drink and juice that have preservative and flavoring i can not have unless it's freshly squeesed. she gave me treatment for 6 months as well that included for my cycts on my breast. and well though i'm not the best person in sticking to my no coffe or chocolate, i did occationally have them. butafter a month of taking them i had a prober period, yest is was painful but atleast i got it after not having it for a year! and the months after the period pain was just a pain and smtimes i didnt even know! as i did turn 26 and could go an see the breat specilst i did get to and the cyst i had on my breas- compared to the scan i had done when i was 21, was smaller. of course it's down to the fact that i avent been taking my meds properly but it surely has worked. well if i'm having no period pains like b4 etc. i'm sure smthings working. there is no harm in taking homepathy as it's all herbal. i would suggest it to tall to go and see a homeopatic doc.and dont take your doctors word for it always. what ever they give u always double check it and question it with your gp if your not sure. i think my endeo + cysts growing have all to do with taking the pill based on my family history. oneday we all want to be a mother and be able to have a family so i would only urge you all see all treatments that are safe and would help you and your family.
I really feel for everyone, i was diagnosed with endo when i was 20 i'm now 36. The first course of treatment was a laparoscopy then danazol for 6 months and then i was put onto Noriday (mini pill) and thankfully that helped to control my periods and the pain, although i did have bouts of serve pain when going to the toilet but it would pass as quickly as it came once i'd finished. I was on Noriday for 12 years and my partner and i decided we would try for a baby so i came off the Noriday, within 6 months the pain was immense and had spread from all around my left side, down my left leg and then also up to just under my right rib. At first i thought i had gallstones but i've since been diagonosed with endo around my liver area as well as chronic endo around my bowel and left ovary and both tubes, therefore making it imposible for me to concive becuase of the blocked tubes. Last November i had IVF on the national health (i waited 2 years on the waiting list) we had really healthy egg's and sperm but it didn't work (the IVF is another story too and i'm running out of space). We were both upset and considering our options now. But i have to say i've not been on any medication since other than 2 paracetamol and 1 diclofenac 3x/day (sometimes more if the pain is really bad) for my period. i've been having a pretty regular cycle and the bleeding seems to be easing off a bit too (i had 12 days with no bleed last month). The only things i have changed over the last few years are that i jog 3 times a week (even when i feel like i want to curl up in a ball and die) and believe me it does help, i've given up coffee as much as i can, i might have 1 cup a week, i've replaced it with herbal tea Twinnings morning detox is good to start the day and so is the pineapple and grapefruit. I don't eat much chocolate and i've cut down on bread, i was having 7 slices/day some days. I try not to drink alcohol in the week, but i do have a glass or three at the weekend, so i can still enjoy going out with friends. Being that i've had endo for so long, i know that this might just be a blip and within a month i could be back to square one, but thankfully at the moment i'm coping and that's all you can do with this disease, cope as best you can. i strongly urge young people not to opt for the hysterectomy, your womb and ovaries are what make you a woman, they look after you by producing hormomes to keep your healthy, plus endo is a disease that will come back no matter how much they cut it out. Try to love your body and it will love you back.
hi niki i feel i might almost be on the same boat as u when i want to have a family but having said that i am taking homepathy and it is helping. and i believe it may work for u too, considering u can actually sick to coffee and chocolate no nos.. i feel for about wanting to have a family and trying. so though smtimes i feel sceptic, though taking homeopathy at the same time, there are improvement for sure for me and has been for my family tooo who take for different conditions. so maybe u should go see one. afterall we all want to be a mum one day. maybe it might for work for but u've tried alot of stuff maybe u'll be better at it than me. such a shame we cant talk would like to know more abt the ivf thing. maybe this website can pass on my email address to u if u wanted to contact me.
Wow, this programme really opened my eyes. Firstly I didn't even know there was surgery (laser and non laser) available for endo. Like my mother did, I have suffered with excruciatingly painful periods ever since my teens (now 29). I have been submitted to A&E more than once due to this pain. When I have seen the doctor in the past, they had told me it was suspected endo, but little they could do other than 'manage' it with the pill. Taking the pill has helped, but watching this programme give me a much bigger picture - thank you embarrasing bodies, keep up the fantastic work!
I am 19 and on the larger side, i have one lip longer than the other its not pain full but embarrasing and it makes it smell what can i do to sort this problem out.
i am 32 at the end of this mth and have had this condition since i started my period at age 11, and at that age not knowing what was going on i was kept off school when i couldnt get out of bed with the pain, at 13 i was put onto the pill and they would change it every 3 to mths to try diff ones to see if it would help with the bleeding and regulate them i was also given loads of diff pain killers i found that taking co proximal voltarol mefanamic acid and brufin in between dulled the pain but never took it away completely, at 20 the gave me my 1st laparoscopy and discovered i was covered in it and was told then to have the hystorectomy as my insides were totally recked but i refused and i got my 1st lot of injections which help a bit but the pain and the heavy bleeding was awful i was lucky enough to have 2 beautiful little boys although my gynacologist who was named the butcher even by other health workers toldme i was wasting mine and his time and money by trying,thankfully hehas retired and i now have a wonderful new gyn, i have since had another course of the prostrap injections and another laparoscopy a yr past in november which again helped but again am now waiting to go back in as the pain is back to hellish in the last opp i also had bad adhiesions where my bladder and bowel were attached by the endo so had to be split, but i'm now being refered so that should help so fingers crossed as i think i've suffered enough xx