Hello Seasnake

I'm sorry to hear that you've recently had some symptoms that have resulted in you being referred for further testing. It's understandable that you're feeling anxious. 

We have some information about endometrial biopsies on our website and hopefully some of the ladies in this community who have personal experience will pop along to share their advice and tips with you. In the meantime if you'd like to talk things through with one of our nurses you're welcome to call them on 0808 800 4040, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. I know they will be happy to listen and offer any advice, information and support they can. 

I hope that you don't have to wait too long for your appointment Seasnake. Do let us know how you get on. 

Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator 

Thanks so much Jenn, trait appreciate the reply. 

I'd already read the website article, as well as whatever I could find on the main and local NHS websites. There's seems to be quite a discrepancy between the 'official' line and people's personal experiences, hence my fear. 

I got a call today and have been booked in for a face to face consultation and biopsy for Wednesday. I asked about pain management and the lady on the phone seemed surprised at the question. She said they didn't offer pain relief for biopsies and to take some paracetamol beforehand if I was worried.

I'm hoping when I get in front of whoever won be doing the procedure they might be more open to providing pain relief. It seems mad to me that they expect to perform a procedure like this with just paracetamol! 

I'm genuinely frightened about this appointment now, I'll be honest

Hello Seasnake

I'm glad to hear that you already have your appointment date to speak with the specialists. It's not too long to wait. 

We know that a lot of people share negative experiences online and not so much when people have procedures that go smoothly. Try to avoid searching Google for more information over the next few days as this will only increase your anxiety. I'd suggest giving our nurses a call to chat things through with them on Monday and you might also consider giving your GP surgery a call to discuss your concerns with them before Wednesday. 

Do be honest with the specialists about your concern when you see them. It may be that whilst they don't routinely offer pain relief, there may be occasions when they are able to offer alternative options. However, just bear in mind that it may mean the team isn't necessarily able to do the biopsy on Wednesday, and you may have to return at another time. 

I don't know if you have a friend or family member that you can confide in for support and who may be able to accompany you to the appointment. Sometimes it can be a real advantage to have that support with you. 

In the meantime, try to keep yourself distracted if you can. Dwelling on the appointment won't change things but it will certainly leave you feeling worse over the next few days. 

Let us know how you get on. 

Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator 

Thanks so much Jenn, I really do appreciate the advice. I'll give the nurses a call on Monday, thank you

Hi. I had an endometrial biopsy a few years ago. It was at an initial gynaecologist appointment and whilst I was prepared for an intimate examination I had not expected a biopsy/was not pre-warned. As I had to travel to the hospital my husband had taken the day off too and we had planned some shopping and a lunch together in a nice restaurant whilst kids were in school, as we don’t get the option to go out very often. Not knowing was probably a good thing as I would have been googling and been anxious, like you are now. The procedure itself didn’t really feel much different to a smear to be honest. Slightly more pinchy but very quick and not traumatic. I had a little spotting afterwards. We still went shopping and out for lunch. I felt a little crampy leaving the hospital so took paracetamol that I had in my bag. Stomach ache got a bit worse when walking around the shops so I bought some ibuprofen and took that and was fine then. My results were all clear. 

Really appreciate the reply, Lorena, thank you so much! 

I was getting so worried from seeing people's accounts of how excruciating they found it that it's a real relief to hear that wasn't your experience. 

Glad it wasn't too awful for you and that your results were clear, that's great news ️

Just wanted to update this thread in case anyone comes across it in the future with similar questions to the ones I had. 

I had the endometrial biopsy today. I took paracetamol and ibuprofen an hour beforehand (no way of knowing how much they helped but they couldn't hurt!).

TLDR: it was unpleasant and very uncomfortable at times, but not horrifically painful like I was imagining. 

She couldn't find my cervix at first, so she had to use a larger speculum than I'm used to and spent ages poking about which was uncomfortable. 

Whatever she did to 'open' my cervix was uncomfortable. I can't remember the exact nature of the pain now (my brain is apparently good at protecting me ) but I had to breathe through it and it brought me to tears. That lasted probably 30-60 seconds. 

The actual biopsy wasn't as bad. It felt like what it was: someone poking about inside me with a stick. Crampy, unpleasant, poky.

She did that 2 or 3 times (again probably 30-60 seconds at a time) but couldn't get what she needed to do she had to open my cervix up further. It wasn't as painful as the initial opening but was still very uncomfortable. 

One more biopsy (again, the poky, pointy, crampy feeling) and it was over. My husband's hand was flattened by my squeezing  bless him.

Afterwards I felt a bit shaky, but not the 'shock' symptoms others described (flushed, faint, nauseous etc). Lots of  cramps which isn't nice but nothing worse than a normal period. A small amount of bleeding. Rather stupidly, this didn't occur to me so I didn't take anything with me but they had sanitary towels there ready for me bless them.

She said I had a particularly difficult cervix (she could get in but struggled to get past the 'valve' at the top of it, into my uterus), so my experience likely lasted a fair bit longer than is typical.

She said afterwards that she wasn't confident at all that she'd got enough, so I'm booked in for a hysteroscopy in 4-6w which she'll cancel if they did end up getting enough today. Though she showed me the jar afterwards and there was only the tiniest bit in there so I'm 99% sure I'm going back.

Thanks again for the replies, it genuinely did help put my mind at ease.