I wanted to post this so that people can see a first hand account of a HSG as i found reading these prior to the procedure both helpful and a little daunting.
I am currently undergoing investigations for secondary infertility in the UK and so far have found the whole process a lot quicker than i thought it would be.
So far we have completed semen analysis, i have had an ultrasound and also all of the blood tests at varying times of my cycle. This has taken around 3 months from the initial appointment and the follow up visit is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. The HSG was the final test to complete and if I'm honest, the one i was most worried about!
I had issues fitting the HSG test in as my periods don't tend to start until late afternoon / early evening and the nurses who were scheduling the treatment assumed i just hadn't called them as a priority so i ended up having to wait until the 3rd cycle before i was fit in - the anticipation made the whole thing 10 times worse!
I am terrible with pain; by terrible I think it is the anticipation of medical intervention that freaks me out a little - i always handle the actual things ok - just not the thought of them!
Upon the advice of many people on the forums i took 2 paracetamol along with 2 tramadol (left over from a back injury!) an hour before the procedure which i think may have helped me relax a little.
Upon going into the room (my hubby wasn't allowed to come in with me) the 2 nurses and the doctor (all female) were really pleasant and talked me through everything before getting down to the 'remove your bottoms and pop the gown on' time which really relaxed me.
The procedure went a little like this:
*Popped me onto the bed and inserted the speculum - this was a little uncomfortable as they looked for my cervix - this was no worse than a smear.
*They then passed a thin catheter into the neck of my womb - again, this caused a little cramping but was not painful - more slightly uncomfortable.
*She then told me i might feel cramps, i assumed this was down to the catheter being inserted, then i found she removed the speculum (which was a relief!) while she was doing this they were moving the bed and X-ray into position which distracted me a little - next thing i knew they were showing me the image from the x ray - I assumed this was a preliminary shot to make sure they were in the right place before they injected the dye and caused me the agony i was expecting.
You can imagine my shock when they then said i was done - i thought again, that they meant i was ready for the dye to be injected - you can imagine my shock when they told me that they had done the whole procedure literally without me noticing - me who is terrified of pain!!
Apparently, when she had told me to expect some cramping was when she was injecting the dye, i was that distracted by the machinery that i didn't feel it (at least not in the way that i was expecting!).
once they told me i was done they removed the catheter and allowed me to lie down for a couple of minutes while they went about their nursey duties. They were really nice afterwards and gave me some time to clear myself up - not a lot of the fluid came out which was a relief.
They showed me the image and explained that there were no blockages. They also told me that sometimes the HSG can clear your tubes out nicely and conception is more likely - her actual words were 'Give it a couple of days and then get cracking!'
I was all geared up for a horrendous experience and felt a little cheated in a strange way that i hadn't had the pain i was expecting lol!
I had planned to rest afterwards and after an hour or so of lying on the couch i started to feel some cramps like a bad period - so far this has gone on for about 5 hours and doesn't feel like its going away anywhere soon but its a small price to pay for a painless procedure and good news at the end of it.
In summary the good points:
(+) Didn't hurt as much as i thought.
(+) Was very quick - around 10 minutes from start to finish.
(+) Brilliant idea to take precautionary pain relief.
(+) Good plan not to have anything planned afterwards - rest is needed.
(+) Instant results - explained so well to me.
And the bad:
(-) Hubby not allowed to come in for essential hand holding.
(-) Very cramp afterwards - hurt to lie straight and really hurt to laugh (seriously, my hubby turned into some kinda comedian straight after and couldn't help but make me laugh - he really isn't that funny normally.....he told me just to wait until i was actually in labour - 'its going to be a hoot' were his exact words.....)
(-) The no sex before the HSG was a bit of a pain - but then again i suppose i wouldn't be human if i didn't want to do something i had been told i wasn't supposed to!
Now all we have to do is wait until Tuesday to find out what we can do to move this baby train to the next station so to speak - it was just a relief to find out that so far (with the exception of the blood tests) that all is ok with me - makes it so much easier to treat!
If anyone wants anymore info i am more than happy to help!
I am currently undergoing investigations for secondary infertility in the UK and so far have found the whole process a lot quicker than i thought it would be.
So far we have completed semen analysis, i have had an ultrasound and also all of the blood tests at varying times of my cycle. This has taken around 3 months from the initial appointment and the follow up visit is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. The HSG was the final test to complete and if I'm honest, the one i was most worried about!
I had issues fitting the HSG test in as my periods don't tend to start until late afternoon / early evening and the nurses who were scheduling the treatment assumed i just hadn't called them as a priority so i ended up having to wait until the 3rd cycle before i was fit in - the anticipation made the whole thing 10 times worse!
I am terrible with pain; by terrible I think it is the anticipation of medical intervention that freaks me out a little - i always handle the actual things ok - just not the thought of them!
Upon the advice of many people on the forums i took 2 paracetamol along with 2 tramadol (left over from a back injury!) an hour before the procedure which i think may have helped me relax a little.
Upon going into the room (my hubby wasn't allowed to come in with me) the 2 nurses and the doctor (all female) were really pleasant and talked me through everything before getting down to the 'remove your bottoms and pop the gown on' time which really relaxed me.
The procedure went a little like this:
*Popped me onto the bed and inserted the speculum - this was a little uncomfortable as they looked for my cervix - this was no worse than a smear.
*They then passed a thin catheter into the neck of my womb - again, this caused a little cramping but was not painful - more slightly uncomfortable.
*She then told me i might feel cramps, i assumed this was down to the catheter being inserted, then i found she removed the speculum (which was a relief!) while she was doing this they were moving the bed and X-ray into position which distracted me a little - next thing i knew they were showing me the image from the x ray - I assumed this was a preliminary shot to make sure they were in the right place before they injected the dye and caused me the agony i was expecting.
You can imagine my shock when they then said i was done - i thought again, that they meant i was ready for the dye to be injected - you can imagine my shock when they told me that they had done the whole procedure literally without me noticing - me who is terrified of pain!!
Apparently, when she had told me to expect some cramping was when she was injecting the dye, i was that distracted by the machinery that i didn't feel it (at least not in the way that i was expecting!).
once they told me i was done they removed the catheter and allowed me to lie down for a couple of minutes while they went about their nursey duties. They were really nice afterwards and gave me some time to clear myself up - not a lot of the fluid came out which was a relief.
They showed me the image and explained that there were no blockages. They also told me that sometimes the HSG can clear your tubes out nicely and conception is more likely - her actual words were 'Give it a couple of days and then get cracking!'
I was all geared up for a horrendous experience and felt a little cheated in a strange way that i hadn't had the pain i was expecting lol!
I had planned to rest afterwards and after an hour or so of lying on the couch i started to feel some cramps like a bad period - so far this has gone on for about 5 hours and doesn't feel like its going away anywhere soon but its a small price to pay for a painless procedure and good news at the end of it.
In summary the good points:
(+) Didn't hurt as much as i thought.
(+) Was very quick - around 10 minutes from start to finish.
(+) Brilliant idea to take precautionary pain relief.
(+) Good plan not to have anything planned afterwards - rest is needed.
(+) Instant results - explained so well to me.
And the bad:
(-) Hubby not allowed to come in for essential hand holding.
(-) Very cramp afterwards - hurt to lie straight and really hurt to laugh (seriously, my hubby turned into some kinda comedian straight after and couldn't help but make me laugh - he really isn't that funny normally.....he told me just to wait until i was actually in labour - 'its going to be a hoot' were his exact words.....)
(-) The no sex before the HSG was a bit of a pain - but then again i suppose i wouldn't be human if i didn't want to do something i had been told i wasn't supposed to!
Now all we have to do is wait until Tuesday to find out what we can do to move this baby train to the next station so to speak - it was just a relief to find out that so far (with the exception of the blood tests) that all is ok with me - makes it so much easier to treat!
If anyone wants anymore info i am more than happy to help!
