Is it endometriosis? which doc should i beleive?

i saw a doctor last month because ive been trying to conceive for a yr. i also experience painfull menstral cycles and heavy heavy menstral flow...the doc asked if my fam has ver had endo. and yes my 2 cousins do! he said 90% i have it too and wants to wait 4 months before he performs a laparoscopy. I immediatly had a second opinion this doc wants me to have 3 tests done...blood work...internal sono and then an hsg...he was not concerned at all of my super heavy flow...im so comfused who do beleive? and hsg it sounds horrible! id rather have surgery then the hsg test....ive read ppls experiences with it. wht now? who do i trust? do i need a third opinion?

As the other helpful answers above indicated, diagnosis of Endometriosis cannot be obtained through any diagnostic tests. It requires a surgical diagnosis at which time the disease can a.) possibly even be visualized by the surgeon and b.) more importantly, be confirmed through pathology.

Infertility for 1 yr. is an obvious sign that something is wrong and intervention is warranted. Combined with your symptoms and family history, I believe your initial doctor is on the right course.

As for the wait and see approach that the second doctor is recommending, I really do not see the benefit in delaying what is likely inevitable and in all probability, going to be required anyway. HSG, u/s and certainly bloodwork are all relatively useless in Endo diagnosis. Checking for tubal occlusion is helpful and can lend ideas about how to next proceed, but what's the point if they are not going to be treated? Blood tests will only show whether or not the CA125 marker in your blood is elevated - which the high majority of most Endo patients will have. It doesn't mean you have Endo, nor does it mean you have ovarian cancer (which is what the CA125 measures...it is elevated frequently in women with Endo but is useless as a diagnostic). U/S is great to rule out other things, but even if it shows Endometriomas on the ovaries, what good is a diagnosis without treatment...? And PS, HSG can be performed at the same time as the lap to diagnose and treat the disease in other areas - while you are under anesthesia.

Get a 3rd and even 4th opinion if you wish, as is always prudent, but I am heartily inclined to go with the first doc - JUST be SURE he is going to EXCISE disease from all areas at the time of diagnosis if he finds it.

http://www.endometriosissurgeon.org
http://www.centerforendo.com
http://www.endoexcision.com

Good luck and best wishes to you..

When I was diagnosed with endometriosis back in February, the only bloodwork I had done was for a pre-op before the surgery. It was to make sure I wasn't pregnant. I have also had heavy flows, very painful periods, to the point where I needed Tylenol 3's with codeine to control the pain. No one else in my family has ever had it, but all three of my husband's sisters have had hysterectomies because of it. Seems as if I not only gained him and a family, but the female reproductive issues as well.

Since it has been in your family, there is an increased risk of you developing it as well. Sadly, the wait times for the diagnostic laparoscopy are long. I miscarried last October and since then had been in severe constant pain. My doctor scheduled a laparoscopy for January 8, 2008. I became pregnant again in December (by surprise) and the pain went away. It came back in January when I miscarried again..the day before my surgery. It was postponed until February 11. That day, I was diagnosed with stage 3 endometriosis.

The only way to know for sure is to have the laparoscopy done.

Until you can have it done, there are ways to control it and to minimize the pain. A change in diet, such as eliminating dairy products and not eating microwaved foods can greatly decrease the pain and progression of it, should you have it. Google other endometriosis diets. They have helped me.

And don't lose hope for a baby. Even with stage 3 endometriosis, I have a beautiful 17 month old daughter, and I'm almost 27 weeks pregnant with a son. It's harder, but not impossible to become pregnant and carry to term with endometriosis.

Good luck!

When I was diagnosed with endometriosis the dr told me the only way to 100% confirm that you have it is surgery to see. It does not show up on any tests. They look at all your symptoms and then decide if that's what they think it is and then do the surgery. I have had it since I was 17 and i am now 30. It is very painful and gets worse over time. I don't understand why they want to wait 4 months. I had my surgeries within a 2 weeks of seeing the dr. During the surgery they can laser what endometriosis you unless they are afraid of damaging your reproductive organs. After the surgery is should be easier to get pregnant. I have had 6 of those over the years to ease the pain and now I'm pregnant with number 2. I would go with the surgery. Good luck and lots of baby dust to you.