Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the female upper reproductive organs that occurs when bacteria or organisms travels through the cervix to the uterus and then on to the fallopian tubes and ovaries. PID can cause many problems, including chronic pelvic pain, infertility, ovarian or tubal abscesses, ectopic pregnancy, peritonitis, and adhesions. In rare, severe cases, untreated PID has been known to lead to death. Pelvic inflammatory disease can be acute with sudden and often severe symptoms, can be chronic with long term, but less intense symptoms, or even silent with no apparent symptoms… (Continued from Part 1)
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is definitely an issue to rule out if you have been unsuccessful in your attempts to get pregnant. Infertility can certainly be related to PID, and you will want to have the appropriate treatment as soon as it is diagnosed.
The symptoms of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) vary from case to case. In fact, the symptoms of PID are often confused with other diseases, such as appendicitis or endometriosis. In the case of acute PID, the symptoms may be excruciating, possibly leading to an emergency room visit, with a subsequent stay in the hospital. With chronic PID, the symptoms may be just annoying, but all-in-all they are bearable. In many cases, chronic PID symptoms are vague, making diagnosis difficult. Typically, with silent PID, you may not experience any signs or symptoms. Often, women discover they have PID only after trying to conceive unsuccessfully.
Pelvic pain is the most common symptom of PID. The pain can feel like a dull pressure or it can be a more intense cramping pain. With chronic PID, the pain is often milder, but it is bothersome because it is present all the time. The cramping during your menstrual cycle may be more intense, enough that it interferes with your everyday life. With acute PID, the pain may be so powerful that you cannot stand up.
There are many other possible symptoms however, and they include the following: irregular menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain during intercourse, lower back pain, unusual vaginal discharge, problems with urination, or flu-like symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, chills, lack of appetite, overall weakness, swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, and vomiting.
It is not usual for chronic PID to go undiagnosed for months or even years. If you’re experiencing regular pelvic pain or pain during intercourse, and your doctor or gynecologist has not been able to diagnose or treat the problem successfully, you may want to seek a second opinion with a reproductive specialist. Often the symptoms can be mistaken for other diseases, including endometriosis, urinary tract infection, or possibly even appendicitis. It will be up to you to keep pushing until you find appropriate treatment for your symptoms. Your future fertility and overall health depend on it.
Typically, your doctor or gynecologist will diagnose PID by determining your signs and symptoms, completing a pelvic examination, analyzing vaginal and cervical cultures, conducting urine and blood tests, and evaluating vaginal discharge. While vaginal cultures will usually detect an STD or other bacterial infection, they cannot always catch an infection that has moved to the uterus and fallopian tubes.
There are a several other tests that your doctor may use to help diagnose PID, including a pelvic ultrasound, laparoscopy, falloposcopy, or an endometrial biopsy. Because some tests can unintentionally push bacteria from the vaginal and cervical area to the uterus and fallopian tubes, it is important that basic STD cultures are taken before invasive testing is done, and any infection found should be treated before the additional testing.
Oral antibiotics are typically used to treat PID. Determining which organism is causing your PID may be difficult, and sometimes more than one kind of bacteria may be involved. For this reason, it may be necessary to prescribe two or more antibiotics to take at once.
Because PID presents the risk of serious complications and potential damage to your fertility, treatment is often started before all the results are back. If the actual results indicate that a different antibiotic is necessary for successful treatment, your doctor or gynecologist will change your treatment accordingly. Depending on the severity of your PID, it may be necessary to deliver the antibiotic via injection. Acute or difficult-to-treat cases may need to be treated intravenously and may even require hospitalization.
Your sexual partner or partners must also be treated as well, even if they have no symptoms. Otherwise, you may keep passing the bacteria responsible for the PID back and forth. It is important to note that you should always use a condom during intercourse during the treatment in order to avoid re-infection.
Although not very often, surgery may be required to treat abscesses or particularly painful adhesions. In extremely rare cases, an emergency hysterectomy may be performed.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is caused by a sexually transmitted disease, so it is absolutely preventable. Unprotected sex with multiple partners increases your risk of getting PID. If you are not in a committed relationship with a partner who has already been tested for STDs, practicing safe sex by using male latex condoms is essential.
IUD insertion can also lead to PID if you already have an STD. Testing and treatment for STDs prior to IUD insertion can greatly reduce your risk of further infection.
If you have an undiagnosed STD, invasive fertility testing, such as HSG and hysteroscopy, and fertility treatments that involve the cervix and uterus (including IVF or insemination), can lead to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. For that reason, most fertility clinics conduct STD testing and vaginal cultures before beginning any other fertility testing and treatment.
If you have not been successful in your attempts to conceive, especially if you have been experiencing any of the possible symptoms of PID, consider seeking more specialized assistance at an infertility clinic. The infertility specialists and staff at the Center of Reproductive Medicine, serving the greater Houston and surrounding areas of Beaumont and Webster, are well known for their high level of success in helping couples to conceive. At CORM, our professional staff is committed to providing the highest quality reproductive medicine and care for each patient.
For information regarding infertility treatment and support in the greater Houston area, be sure to contact the Center of Reproductive Medicine at (281) 332-0073. The knowledgeable and friendly staff will answer your questions and provide the guidance you need. Our goal is to provide a positive and nurturing experience for all patients.