suspect endo but doctors are no help

i’ve never posted on here before but i’m not sure where else to turn. i’m 23 and have a history of chronic abdominal pain, but in the last month i’ve had such severe pain that i ended up at the er in mid july, about a week before my period. the pain had intensified significantly to the point where i was vomiting near constantly, trembling, fainting, and rapidly losing weight. i was misdiagnosed with ovarian vein thrombosis and then went back the following day to another location of the same er system because i had a horrible feeling about my care at the er. at my second er visit they finally did an ultrasound and diagnosed me with a small complex ovarian cyst consistent with a corpus luteum. the problem is, i’m in severe pain. hydrocodone prescribed by the er only brought my pain down from a 7 or 8 to about a 3 or 4. corpus luteum cysts are not typically that painful as i understand it.

my periods are usually regular in terms of timing but they’re either very heavy with a regular amount of pain, or a tiny (dime sized) amount of pale pink blood with the most excruciating pain. this month, i’ve bled like three different times.

it took ages to get in with the obgyn the er referred me to, so i found a different one and that appointment was this afternoon. i felt as though the doctor didn’t really take my pain seriously and really doubled down on it being just a corpus luteum. she then repeated all the things you always hear like “90% of women have painful periods, there’s not much we can do.” basically the implication was i was to either just continue to suffer and do nothing waiting for it to clear on its own, or if i really thought it was endometriosis, she offered lupron or mirena.

i’m not too keen on any of these options. i’m in too much pain to continue suffering like this, but i’ve heard and read horror stories about these birth control options and i really don’t feel comfortable with it. i’m trying to understand why she insisted on lupron before surgery to diagnose endometriosis. i understand it can give you a good indication that you have endo if it works, but i would hate to end up even more miserable if it’s wrong for me. i also don’t want to take birth control in general if at all possible because i’m vegan so i try to not take a lot of pharmaceuticals since they’re tested on animals.

do i keep searching for doctors until i find one who is willing to open me up before trying any birth control ? do i have any other options ? i’m about ready to fly abroad and beg for the saliva test. i would love some relief from my pain, but more than anything i just want answers and for things to not get any worse. i’m really scared and feeling all alone in trying to advocate for myself.

i have another obgyn appt with a different doctor in mid-august and i’m hoping and praying that one goes a little better. i started crying during my appointment today and i feel like as a result i didn’t really speak up for myself as well as i should have.