Potential endometriosis . Am I getting brushed off?

Question

19F. I don't know how to tell this, so I am going to start from the beginning. I live in Canada for context, and had my first period at the age of 14. My family background is that my Nana on my dad's side has had cervical cancer, breast cancer, and endometriosis. My mother passed when I was 2, and I know nothing about her medical history. I have always had, to some degree, painful periods which fluctuated month to month. Some months, I have had fairly severe pain, but nothing like what has been happening the last few months. In July of this year I had my first of several severely painful periods. The pain only lasts the first day; however, it is very bad. I feel pain all over my stomach, lower back, and rectum. The pain is debilitating. I can't do anything that day other than lie in bed. I am at a point where I schedule work off in advance for my period because there is no way I could go to work throwing up and rolling around on the ground. My family doctor, after not really listening to my complaints the first few times, recently referred me to a GYNO after hearing that I was throwing up from the pain. She also mentioned on several visits that she thinks I might have endometriosis based on my level of pain. In the meantime, she did prescribe me Mefenamic acid and Tylenol 3, which have little to no effect on managing pain. Today I saw the GYNO, which is why I am posting. I told her about all my symptoms, and she had some interesting responses. Told me at one point, "Not that I am brushing off your pain, but a lot of people have painful periods". I asked her about getting a laparoscopy (the screening procedure where they check for endometriosis) since my doctor thinks I have a fairly high likelihood of having endo, and she essentially told me in a nicer way that I need to try progesterone-only birth control pills before getting the screening for endo and that we could discuss the procedure again in March. I honestly don't know that I can keep going that long with the level of pain I currently experience, even though it is only once a month. Her reasoning for doing the pills first was that it would be the next step if I have endo anyway. I am honestly very frustrated with this, as I don't know what the point of taking birth control pills is if my periods are extremely regular, and I have no other hormone issues, like I can't really wait 5 months. I want to know what is wrong with me now. Any suggestions would be well appreciated, lols. If not, just know that if you are in my situation, you are not alone.

Posted Dec 4, 2025, 9:47 PM UTC

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