Are Doctors Underestimating the Pain of Endometrial Biopsy?

I would consider complaining, complaining and complaining to perhaps certain boards like American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to start. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and the more wheels the better. Thanks!

I had the procedure done about six hours ago and I am still fighting back tears. I had no idea how painful an experience this would be. Not to mention the fact that no one mentioned that I would possibly be passing blood clots of this size. I’m disappointed that my doctor or the office staff didn’t think that it was important that I needed to know what to expect.

I had a biopsy on yesterday. My Dr prescribed the cytotec to be taken 6 pm the night before and 6 am the morning of the procedure. She also prescribed 850 mg of Ibuprofen to be taken at those times as well. She knew I was very anxious due to all of the horror stories that I had heard, so she also prescribed vallium to be taken an hour before the procedure. I must admit that I did feel some painful cramping and pressure but I don’t think it was anywhere near what’s described in other comments. My Dr was really patient and we kinda went at my pace. Right before the biopsy, she did some sort of ultrasound that involved water. It was uncomfortable as well so I asked for a five minute break before we started the biopsy. She agreed and talked me through what was going to happen. I had light spotting yesterday but nothing today. I really do think it depends on the Dr.

I had an endometrial biopsy done a few hours ago. I thought it was a simple regular biopsy which I’ve had before and experienced no ill effects from, it wasn’t until I was asked to sign the consent for that I was informed it was in fact an endometrial. I was not given any advoce on iburofin or anything, I was told I was gonna feel a “pinch” before each sample was taken and all I can say is a “pinch” doesn’t make me grab the table. I thought I was being overly dramatic about the pain I’m now feeling until I found this page. Thank you to you and everyone else who has shared here. I like my Dr. and his staff but I do feel the procedure was very downplayed. Thank you for giving me back my peace of mind.

I just want to thank you for posting this! I’m crying right now from the trauma and now knowing I’m not crazy or a baby. I thought there was something wrong with me, cause it didn’t feel like she said it would. I haven’t had a period for 2-3 yrs. I’m 54. I started bleeding and having menstrual like pain. I went to dr and she asked me about doing an endometrial biopsy right then while I was there. I asked her how painful it was. She told me, I would feel a little cramping but it wouldn’t be bad. A little ibuprofen would be fine for it. Oh my gosh!! It was so AWFUL!! I’ve had 7 children, 4 of them without any anesthesia. I’d say it rated right up there with transition during labor, which is a 10 for sure!! She kept asking me to slow down my breathing, I was in so much pain! She asked me if I wanted to stop, I thought, well we’re this far, let’s just get it over with, it can’t get worse! It got way worse! I told her to stop, she was only able to get a little sample. She doesn’t know if it’s enough. She tried to go back in without the one tool, it still hurt, but she couldn’t get back in. She even said something afterwards like yes, it’s “uncomfortable”, what! I told her it is way way way past uncomfortable! That it’s extremely painful. She said she was sorry, but more as a pat on the head, like I was exaggerating. I’m so upset! I’ve been reading that there is pain control they can give. They can freeze the cervix and spray lidocaine and other stuff and even give an injection of pain medicine. Why do they continue to do this to us!!! I feel so violated, betrayed, lied to! I feel like I was tortured! I’m not sure what I’m going to do,but I’m not going back to her. I’m so sad for all you other ladies that have experienced this horrendous procedure in the barbaric way we have had it done. I’m so sorry! Thank you again that I know I’m not alone & not crazy!

I agree! It’s barbaric and traumatic. I have 3 friends who went through it too. They all feel the same. No one is ever doing this to me again unless I’m sedated.

I just had the procedure done this morning. I went to by gyn. to have a routine check up and she suggested I get this test done in the office because I am going through menopause and my periods are irregular. She did tell me it would be painful and I can come back another time but I thought, since I’m here, might as well get it done. I have never had children and pap smears are quite painful for me. I was not given any pain meds before starting. The pain was almost unbearable! I was panting and covering my mouth so I would not scream out loud. I kept apologizing for groaning in pain. The doctor was very sympathetic and at one time suggested that we could stop and I could make an appointment at the hospital and get it done under sedation. I thought since I had already started, I might as well finish it up. It wasn’t very long but seemed to take forever. Afterwards, the doctor told me to take as much time as I needed before getting up and leaving. It was such a traumatic experience and I started to cry. It was difficult to get up and get dressed. I had a hard time walking and at one time, felt like I was going faint. I would recommend taking someone with you to drive you back home after the procedure. I do have spotting and took Advil which has helped with the pain. I came home to research the procedure and stumbled over your blog. Thank you so much for posting on this topic! After reading about your experience and the responses of other women who have undergone this procedure, I don’t feel like such a wimp for feeling traumatized and emotional. They definitely need to find a more humane way of carrying out this test!

I had one of these done on Friday, and I feel traumatized. I am a 42 year old woman who hasn’t ever had children. They told me I might experience “some cramping” and had me use the Cytotec and 800 mg of ibuprofen. They had a student doctor try to insert the tube and she couldn’t get it, so my regular doctor tried and she couldn’t get it, so they went and got another doctor who tried a few times and finally got the tube through my cervix. This was 100%, ABSOLUTE TORTURE! My wife was with me in the room and she started crying. they kept telling me to expect some cramping, but that was not the problem! The jabbing and then scraping were among the most painful experiences of my life. I left the appointment with chills, feeling lightheaded, and the overwhelming feeling of having just been tortured. This is plain wrong. There has to be a better way! I would be all in favor of a lobby against this cruel procedure.

I had an endometrial biopsy yesterday, which was my second one. My gynecologist thinks the biopsies are necessary because I am almost 57 and have not gone through menopause yet, although I’m starting to miss periods about half the time and feel 95% sure that the bleeding is simply the period itself, not an indication of cancer. Still, due to my family history of breast cancer, the doctor said it was really important for me to do the biopsies.

The first biopsy 2 years ago hurt badly but was very quick (the bad pain only lasted 20-30 seconds). The second biopsy yesterday was worse because the doctor took much longer to do it. She first had to dilate my cervix, then insert the lidocaine, then she did at least 3 oe 4 scrapings to get enough material for the biopsy. Despite the lidocaine, the procedure was very painful! I’ve never given birth, which might be why it hurt so bad.

Just as others here have reported, my doctor downplayed how painful it would be both times I had the biopsy done. She claimed that with the lidocaine, I probably “wouldn’t feel much of anything.” WRONG!!! To try to distract myself from the pain, I started telling the doctor about the fiasco my sister has had with a house she bought recently, but I kept having to repeatedly stop and say “Ow! Ow! Ow! Oh, that really hurts!!!” The doctor had to keep reminding me to relax because my whole body was tensed up from the pain. About 3 or 4 minutes into it, I asked her if she was almost done. She wanted to go in one more time and scrape, but I told her “I can’t stand it anymore! I can’t stand it anymore!” Thankfully, she decided she had retrieved enough to send for testing.

Afterwards, she gave me a panty liner for the blood spotting and left the room. After I sat up, I felt dizzy, like I might pass out, so I put my head in my hands for a few seconds until the feeling passed. I got dressed while fighting back tears, but couldn’t hold them back, so I sat down at the table and cried for a couple of minutes until I could compose myself to leave. the office. When I got to the car, I called my husband and told him how much the biopsy had hurt. I was planning to go to the grocery store, but he told me I didn’t sound very good (he could tell I’d been crying), and to just come home, so I did. Once I got home, the pain had mostly subsided, although my pelvic area felt sore, and I felt an occasional sharp pain. This morning, I actually feel a little more sore than I did last night, so I’ve taken some Aleve.

My doctor said if I continue to bleed for another few months, she will have to do a more aggressive biopsy or an ultrasound, and I AM NOT looking forward to having to do this again. At least for now, the worst of it is over!

I am so glad I found your blog post! I had my endometrial biopsy last week and I am still in pain. During the procedure, the GYN took six samples and every single time it felt like someone was jamming a knife in there. It was excruciatingly painful and I wasn’t prepared for that at all. I screamed and cried each time and the GYN kept going. I felt like I was a victim of torture. Had she gone for one more sample I would have cried “STOP!” (How she had no empathy is beyond me.) I felt like I was going to pass out from the pain. I laid there on the table after she left the room in complete shock. It took me awhile to get up and get dressed. I cried more when I got home. It was a really traumatizing experience. And one I haven’t recovered from physically or psychologically. I wonder if it’s because of the size of my fibroids (thank you, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and the fact I’ve never given birth, but that’s all besides the point. The point is doctors, even female doctors, dismiss us and it infuriates me. These are the intimate (and very sensitive) parts of our bodies! Treat them–and us as whole human beings–with dignity, respect, and true care!

That aside, has anyone found a good way to help all of your lady bits heal and feel better post-procedure or does one just have to wait it out?

I got halfway through reading this and will continue later so I can focus without interruptions. Thanks so much for this page, I finished asking(e-mail) my Province Physician & Surgeons what the gynecologist meant by giving me a needle to numb me down there. There offices re-open after the New Year and I doubt they comment on their own. To keep this brief; I have always had problems with pap-smears and after reading your letters, now realize this new gynecologist working in my newly acquired family doctor’s office, must’ve been doing just that–a scraping for a biopsy. No wonder I sensed a sharp pain, how could it be sharp if the tool was plastic as compared to metal, years ago, to keep the area open.Thanks for this page, now I know what is happening. I am age 62 and have had bleeding at the end of October & November and the clots I was told years ago is because the fibroids hold the blood back, and it forms into clots. When I was in my 20’s a gynecologist told me, I never complained about heavy periods and had polyps removed, that were keeping my vagina open and at times, I’d be gushing. I told him I thought it was normal, I don’t have anyone to compare my experience with and then I’d have cycles twice a month. Some time after that, I had a D & C but was put out for that one. Flash-forward, I believe the covid-vaccines affected me, after reading online because you never get an answer from the medics, they only treat not relate. I also had a uterine fibroid embolization once, after age 45 and I thought the fibroids not having blood to feed off of, would shrink in time. One fibroid is still about 07-whatever in size, for the last 17 years. I asked the gynecologist, this new gynecologist, how is it still large, there was no blood for years and she said, must be getting blood from other arteries. Like what others, I wonder. So, bottom-line is, I am age 62, had 02 covid-vaccines in; April & July 2021….the uteris wall they say is; thick, I heard the Gynecologist say something about; calcium. She got me so upset because she was upset and now I have to go to another Gynecologist and I asked, what will they do that you couldn’t and was told; inject a needle in my bottom area to numb me. If not for your page here, I had no idea what that sharp pain was, I thought it was only a pap-smear, as usual. I now believe she must’ve scraped me. I have bad knees and it really hurts when they say; slide down, more, more and those stirrups bother me, I keep thinking I will fall off that tiny bed against the wall with gadgets still inside of me. My other family doctor was great at getting pap-smears and finally suggested when I go for ultra-sound tests, get one done there, so it would be only one time for me. I asked this new gynecologist, why can’t the lab do the pap-smear, always did for the last decade and was told they are only technicians not doctors. I was in tears when I got off the bed on Dec. 21st. because the gynecologist’s behaviour makes me nervous, and she can’t recall doing a pap-smear for me, last year. I told her, remember you told me, at my age, you can only perform a pap-smear every 03 years. I told the newest male family doctor who assured me, I am not the only one that reacts, I said; Dr. it’s like this; when they’re nervous, I am nervous. I did not tell the family doctor, all the comments she made to make me uneasy; Oh no, what do you want me to do about this, what are we going to do about this, etc. Jokingly smacks my stomach to say, you are fat, eh. What about her, last year, she was bigger than me, can’t leave the office without her shoving her chair in her desk. She got me upset this time because she stormed out to say she cannot do her job properly and left the door open for me to dress. As the last time on that bed, I saw a smear on the paper and cut it off and trashed it for her. How many times I gotta tell her my knees are sore when she says, put your knees higher, etc. Okay, wish me luck, at least I know now what that scrape was, I had no idea she was doing a biopsy but she did ask my permission prior….thanks to this page, I had no idea she was doing that at that time. To others who suggest you allow horror stories, if not for them, I would think I am the only one going through this….this page should be up for all to see, we are not alone & there is hope.

I went in for an endometrial biopsy on March 11th it was Friday. I was told mild cramping and some pressure. I have had 4 children, 2 with no blocks, back surgery four years ago, nerve tests and all kinds of pain measuring procedures. I can do pain. I took some OTC ibuprofen two hours before the procedure and CBD/THC edibles to calm my nerves, was hopeful of finding some answers. My quality of life is suffering due do my monthly nonsense. I am a very high anxiety person to begin with and Bipolar One. It was a nightmare. I was in pain started to shake uncontrollably just with her trying to get my cervix stable and open. That’s as far as we got before I said you have to stop I’m gonna throw up, started hyperventilating and crying uncontrollably. I started thinking something was wrong with me, why couldn’t I get thru a basic somewhat common procedure. I was sore for three days and they did not even do anything. I suffer from severe period cramps and Long 9 to 11 day periods. I have cried off and on since the procedure and have had nightmares. I feel violated, lied to and angry that this is common practice. I have 4 daughters and I want them to know to ask for pain management, do not suffer it’s not right. This blog makes me a little bit better and to know I am not alone or weak.

I just had an EMB done today and was given cytotec 2 hrs before. I did experience cramping and some pain but it was pretty quick and I was able to grit thru it. Had some hot flashes by the time I got to my vehicle and just resting about 30 minutes in the car. Then just mild/moderate cramps bleeding and headache. It wasn’t fun but I wouldn’t say it was earth shattering for me.