[SMHS]

In November 2010 and April 2011, I had LEEP procedures done. Since then I have not been able to orgasm and it hurts to be aroused. When the LEEP procedures happened they didn't phase me-- it was like going in to get my wisdom teeth out. It was months and months before my fiancé (who used to get the job done no problem) and I realized it was most likely a symptom of my LEEP procedures. My doctor didn't believe me. She started making it sound like it was my fault for not doing it right or not being relaxed enough. She then started questioning my relationship and implying there was a problem there. I am somebody that almost never cries but this problem is so intimate and the lady was so rude to me that I broke down in that office. Since then I've read tons of stories of women who lost their abilities to orgasm after having a LEEP procedure. So why is it still so difficult for doctors to believe people like me? I wonder how many people there are like me who are hesitant to come forward about their negative experiences with this procedure because of how intimate these problems are.

I know this procedure is necessary, but it would be nice for doctors to acknowledge that this is a common side effect. Nobody should have to breakdown crying in a doctor's office because they just confided a very intimate secrete just for the doctor to brush it aside as nonsense. Then if you look at women's magazines they make it look like it's the woman's fault for not being relaxed, for over thinking about it, and so forth. What about all those times before I realized what the LEEP procedure had done when I was relaxed and wasn't thinking about it?

Now my question is where to go from here. When women admit to loosing their abilities to orgasm from LEEP procedures, they don't mention how they gained those abilities back. They just say how long it took (6-12 months usually). So has anyone heard of how we get these abilities back? Acupuncture? Exercises? Just waiting? Let's stop denying that it happens, because it does, and start trying to help the women who are experiencing this problem.

[ItsASecret]

I know this procedure is necessary, but it would be nice for doctors to acknowledge that this is a common side effect.

It is not listed if it does not show up often as a type of side effect, if countless millions of women experience the same problems it will be listed but that is not what is currently reported with LEEP procedures right now. There is no physical portion of the body that exactly regulates orgasms, it has an undeniable large mental component and stress can play a major role in not having an orgasm. A LEEP procedure does not touch upon a mental aspect unless a patient is mentally traumatized by the procedure. It is unfortunate that you have had a bad experience and it is likely that your stress from the situation of the procedure is causing your physical inability, not being able to relax would be an immediate indicator of having a hard time achieving orgasm. However if you are experiencing severe pain then that can clearly cause a problem achieving orgasm, and pain a doctor will pay attention to the concerns of pain.

[SMHS]

As a medical anthropologist I am well aware that side effects to specific conditions can go unlisted. There are countless cases of medical conditions that were dismissed as simply being in someone's head at first and are only now just being taken seriously. The procedure was not traumatizing to me until after I realized there was a side effect. As long as doctors don't take people like me seriously this side effect will continue to be unlisted-- especially because it is so intimate most people wont admit to it and when they do people like you simply dismiss it. How can we ever come up with ways to help people like me recover if this side effect continues to be dismissed? This is real and there are scores of women who can back me up if you are still going to deny just because it is not on a list somewhere. It is real. So let's move on and do something about it.

[SMHS]

I went to edit this post, but I guess I can't. Here's what I wanted to say:


Let me get this straight. I confided something rather personal on an online forum because I was traumatized after my doctor did not believe me—the only traumatizing part of this entire experience by the way—and you just repeat what the doctor said. No, the surgery did not traumatize me until the doctor dismissed my valid side effect. I am not alone. Scores of women have been complaining about this side effect on similar forums. There would be even more women coming forward for the records if people like you didn’t dismiss them so easily.

In regards to “it’s not on a list so it must not exist” argument, if everything on our medical lists were the “be all end all” of the human body we could just stop funding all medical research. There wouldn’t be drugs being recalled today because biomedicine foresaw all side effects and everything was accounted for. As a medical anthropologist, I know that there are conditions out there that biomedicine once dismissed as “being in someone’s head” that are now being taken seriously. Just to let you know, I went to another doctor who did believe me and said that he has other patients who have reported the same thing. He is now trying to work on ways to help these women.

This condition is real. This is not in my head or the heads of the scores of women who report it. As long as people dismiss it, we won’t be able to find ways of helping these women. So let’s move on to a more fruitful and less naïve topic: what can we do to get over this side effect?

[ItsASecret]

As a medical anthropologist I am well aware that side effects to specific conditions can go unlisted.

As a science student who has worked towards being in medicine and being a doctor, taken several medically related courses over the years and understanding the medical, cellular, and physiological side of things I also understand things can undoubtedly go unlisted. I have no reason to believe that what is listed on a box for example is the only possible side effects of drug or a pamphlet that explains a procedure, I am just saying the things listed are there because a larger number of patients have reported it rather than some postings on forums. That is why I said the things that are not listed are not there because they do not appear in patients as often, that does not mean they do not exist it simply means not enough people are reporting the conditions or symptoms to warrant a printed label. If countless numbers of reports come in an investigation is done and if there is a physiological reason for something to occur then it will be there as a possible side effect, if investigations do not have a physiological reason for something happening then it will remain unlisted. There can certainly be numbers of women who have bad experiences but if it is not popping up at an alarming rate it will be considered to a lesser degree. Doctors work in a flow chart method of diagnosis and handing out prescriptions. If the patient presents with pain a pain killer will be explored, if a patient experiences abdominal pain an ultrasound may be scheduled. Doctors can only do what they are taught to do, and they are taught to inform patients of the possible side effects of a LEEP procedure and to have patients ask questions which they will answer again on a flow chart basis. If something does not fit, because of anatomical or physiological reasons, they will not explore it to much degree because it does not coincide with medical procedure. However that said each doctor will be trained differently, one doctor may have never had a patient mention anything such as this while another may be exploring specializing in the matter because more than a handful of patients have come to them with the issues. Each med school will develop a new type of doctor, they all have the same basic knowledge but finding a different doctor may be all you need to do, they may have more experience with dealing with certain combinations of symptoms and prescriptions based on that.

I went to another doctor who did believe me and said that he has other patients who have reported the same thing. He is now trying to work on ways to help these women.

That is exactly what anyone including myself would agree that you do. There could be a single or combination of prescriptions or a new procedure that this particular doctor has done before that seems to help other patients. That doctor may come up with a certain condition that could pinpoint more closely what the main issue is, maybe there is a cyst or certain elevation of hormone that is causing the problem that other doctors would not consider. Again, I am not saying a symptom is not possible I am simply saying that whatever is listed is because it has been mentioned enough times to warrant that listing. I fully agree that not all symptoms are listed however because I have a bias towards the physiological side of things I can often agree with a doctor when a symptoms of stress for example pops up that could cause the patient's presenting symptom of difficulty achieving orgasm, and when it is something like stress a doctor cannot exactly do much other than to say to relax (which is not helpful advice either) hence them sounding like the patient is doing something wrong or not enough of something else.

As for what can be done, it would really be up to your new doctor. They may want to do an ultrasound to rule out any problematic cysts. They will likely order a lengthy blood test just to get a sense for what is going on with hormones and general chemistry. You could be prescribed a medication for any pain you have. It will take baby steps because the doctor and yourself are essentially working blind into the matter. No one knows exactly what could be causing any particular symptom just yet and that will take some exploring. That could mean more procedures as well. Personally the only thing that comes to mind in reference to your pain during arousal is possible scarring of the cervix. If that scar opens for example, through the dilation of your cervical muscles during arousal, that could cause pain. Another reason for pain could be an infection of the scar tissue. In addition, CIN could have redeveloped thus producing symptoms.