HSG Hurts

No matter what they say, the HSG is uncomfortable. I think it is even more so for those who have not had children. It involves inserting a catheter into the cervix and using that catheter to instill dye into the uterus to visualize all of the reproductive structures. HSG stands for hysterosalphigography for anyone who is interested. As mush as I appreciate the down to earth nature of my doctor, I wish he had better prepared me for the test. My husband did not even come because he made it sound like such a quick and simple procedure - so I told him not to bother coming. That is not the case.

I highly recommend premedicating with something like Advil or Aleeve prior to the procedure that may help make your experience more comfortable. The insertion of the catheter feels like a deep internal pinch, once the catheter is in a balloon is inflated to hold it in place. The next painful piece is the injection of the dye. This feels like a constant cramping, similar to menstrual cramps. What made this worse for me was the fact that my tubes are completely blocked. This being the case, the doc actually tried to force them open with the dye and had me tilt onto both of my sides (none of which worked) in an effort to open them. I was in so much pain that water was coming to my eyes and I wanted to jump off the table. I so wished my husband was there.

In the middle of everything, the catheter slipped out, so I had to endure the pain of reinserting the catheter again. As I stated the end result is that both of my tubes are completely blocked. The next step is laparoscopic surgery to see what exactly is blocking the tubes and to what extent they are blocked. First the doc wants my husband to have a semen analysis incase we need to start looking at IVF options as well. This will also give me time to recover from the HSG and the emotions involved with that.

The journey begins.

The Journey Begins

I guess we are officially suffering from infertility. Had suspected it for years, but due to overseas deployments and such we are only now getting the official work-up from a Reproductive Endocrinologist. First visit was not too bad, really just explained all the options, plan is to have HSG first then begin Clomid with possible insemination if needed. Left the office feeling very positive and looking forward to the HSG.