Finally, an honest doctor. I'm so sick of doctors saying this isn't very painful.

This procedure must be illegal to perform without sedation or anestetics! End. Nobody tries to do other operations or procedures without pain management telling you we do not know how much pain you will have - we will see ... it is ridiculous. Or do doctors perform prostate procedures without sedation and it is probably even not as enerved as the cervix and uterus.

Ladies, this procedure is excruciating! I was sixty when i had mine, and my doctor did numb me ,and that itself was painful. I can tolerate alot of pain, but this procedure was terrible. Let's not sugarcoat  it. I didn't realize that my insurance would have paid for general anaesthesia. I almost passed out and I felt so violated. Cancer was found,  which I  was grateful that it was found early, but something needs to change. It would if men had to have this procedure.

For me, the excruciating part was the distention with water. My uterus contracted VIOLENTLY! Worst pain EVER! and I have had appendicitis, have been alert for colonoscopies, and have been in labor. If men had to do this, twiglight sedation in a surgical center would be routine for it

Brilliant, thank you. This should be essential viewing for all gynaecologists, especially those who say that EB is “well-tolerated”. It’s not. It can be excruciating

Lets start with option #9. For every woman. And work backwards from there. And offering propofol typically does not require mechanical ventilation. We HAVE to change this standard of "care" its barbaric.

I had this done today. I wish I knew it was going to happen beforehand. I certainly would have educated myself on what to expect. This was the most painful thing! So painful that I will absolutely have an anxiety issue if I ever have to do this again. All of the things you mentioned I would absolutely have to have in place before going through this.

Okay, so after watching this video and reading most of the comments, I think my OBGYN very intuitively saved me from a procedure I would not have been able to tolerate under my specific circumstances.  I’m very grateful she actively listened and “read the room”, so to speak.

About 4 years ago I made an appointment with an OBGYN to discuss abnormally long periods and getting an IUD.  Additional context, I was 34 years old, had never been to a gynecologist, had never had a pelvic exam, was not sexually active, and had obviously never had a baby or been pregnant.  The concern on this doctor’s face when she realized that I’d never had a Pap smear… I’m pretty sure I gave her heart palpitations.  I got the impression that she wanted to do everything possible to make sure that I continued coming in for care.

At that initial visit, I had my first pelvic exam and Pap smear.  All of that went fine.  This OBGYN happened to have a very nice resident with her who performed my exam.  My results later came back negative.

Then, they decided to get me scheduled for a pelvic ultrasound as the first diagnostic assessment for my abnormally long (12-15 days) periods.  Although invasive, I didn’t find the ultrasound painful.  In fact, I found the first half where the tech is scanning your body externally over where your bladder is located the most uncomfortable part.  My bladder was extra full so having someone pressing down on it was not fun!  But, the tech said she had a great view so I guess that was a positive.

The results from the ultrasound were not conclusive, so then the OBGYN suggested that I have a hysteroscopy with a D&C as our next step.  She said that she would also insert an IUD at the end, assuming that no counter indications popped up during the procedure.  Since this was done under general anesthesia and I wanted to see if we could resolve the issue, I was definitely amenable to this plan.  Since the doctor who made this video said that she would do a hysteroscopy with D&C if a patient just couldn’t tolerate an in-office biopsy, and considering that I’d only just gotten up the nerve to have my first gyn appointment, my doctor probably didn’t want to put me off from getting care.  I definitely would have been traumatized if I’d had a truly painful procedure at that time point!  Also, having the hysteroscopy certainly allowed her to have a more thorough look at exactly was going on in my uterus.

My hysteroscopy/D&C went really well.  The doctor only found a small polyp that she removed, and she said that everything else looked good.  She inserted an IUD, so that took care of that as well!  Recovery was easy.  I had some cramping that I’d describe as comparable to the worst menstrual cramps I’ve ever had.  Ibuprofen knocked that out though.  The cramps went away after a few days.  Additionally, I did have a couple of weeks of spotting. However since that, it’s been great because I didn’t have any periods for the first two years of having an IUD.  And, then over the two most recent years I’ve only had very, very light periods if I bleed at all.

In the future, if for some reason I was told that I needed an endometrial biopsy, I think that I’d only agree to either doing one under a twilight sedation or going the route of another hysteroscopy with D&C.

I had the unfortunate experience of having this done 3 times across the years, for bleeding after menopause. First time the doctor told me to take ibuprofen 1h before the procedure. She told me it might be painful, but because I generally have high pain tolerance I didn't pay attention. It was horrible.
The second time a couple of years later it was another doctor and I had no idea she was going to do the procedure, I thought it would be a pap smear (silly me). It was absolutely horrible and I was traumatized.
The 3rd time I said I'd not do it without pain medication and she gave me oxycodone. It sedated me, but the pain was just as horrible. Afterwards I was cramping for a few hours.
If I ever find myself if a situation where I need this procedure again, I'll insist on general anesthesia. It is barbaric.

I’ve just had this done today and I didn’t feel a thing. I was in for what I thought was just the result of my transvaginal ultrasound which showed thickening of my womb. My doctor then said she wanted to do a endometrial biopsy right there. I got into the bed and all comfy and while it was a little uncomfortable having the speculum shoved inside, the actual procedure was painless and I actually lay there waiting for her to begin and trying to brace myself for the pain after reading so much negative experiences and the next thing I knew she was like that’s you. I asked if she couldn’t do it but she said she’d already done it. I was shocked. Not a single part of it was felt! Ladies, just because some people experience terrible pain doesn’t mean we all will. I know I’m probably rare and must have a very high pain threshold but I honestly didn’t even feel the biopsy part, so there was no tolerating the pain. The painful part is waiting for the results and hoping it’s not cancer 🤞🏻

Thank you for sharing. Blessings to you.

I had mine today. No one warned me about how bad endometrial biopsy hurts!!!! 😢😢😢

Finally, an honest take.

I am having this done tomorrow.
I am so scared! I want to back out!

I am furious that my doctor didn't offer me any of these options.

I agree, it was horrible.  It was very painful.  It felt like needles were attached  to the instruments.  I would insist on medicine if I had to have another.

I just had my endometrial biopsy done about 2.5 hours ago. It was very painful. It also felt violating to me as well (the doctor was great, so it wasn't his fault, just the nature of the procedure). Very sharp pain when grabbing the cervix. Strong cramps that shot down into the nerves at the crease between my groin and the top of my leg. The pipelle got clogged the first time, so my doctor had to collect the sample twice. I now have cramps and light bleeding (was already on day  11 of my period when I went in today) and I'm on my couch with a heating pad. I'm sure I'll feel much better in about 2 days. I can feel the spots where the samples were taken from inside my uterus. It burns.
I took 3 Ibuprofen about 50 minutes before the biopsy, and I would venture to say that it did nothing for me.

My doctor also told me that this could be done in hospital with anesthesia, but I do not believe this warrants that level of risk and medication. I think an in-between option like conscious sedation (which I have done for procedures at the dentist) would absolutely be the way to go. Minimal risk and side-effects, maximum comfort during the procedure.

It WAS painful. I've given birth to 5 babies with zero drugs. I have tons of tattoos. Just to compare painful experiences. This hurt! And I was lightheaded after also! Why is that??

I’ve had three of these. All excruciating. Ibuprofen did nothing.I declined the last one because no adequate anesthesia was ever provided to make this horrible procedure less painful.

I had one a few years ago when I was going through IVF. I took a valium and ibuprofen beforehand and honestly don't remember it being that bad at all. I have to get one done again at the end of this month, and I'm doing the same thing. Hopefully I will still be able to tolerate it ok with the valium and ibuprofen. My doctor did offer the OR, but I know there are risks that come with that and I didn't want to worry about those too.

I had this procedure done today and it was very painful! I’ve had my IUD removed and placed so many times and I will say in my experience the pain feels very similar. I was told to take 600mg ibuprofen an hour beforehand which I did. My doctor used a numbing gel inside my cervix but did nothing and I felt everything. I feel like there should be more pain options should be offered