Question:
I think that the group dynamics have temporarily changed and support for women other than those who experience common peri/menopause symptoms is being offered here at asm. But to throw a monkey-wrench or a non-funny monkey (myself) into this idyllic period I am very wary of this temporary lull. Not too long ago a woman came here for support. She was in extreme pain and had endometriosis. Unfortunately she got caught in an argument between a regular poster and myself. She was told by this other poster: “Pelvic pain was the disease du jour; and ... pain is an important symptom of hypochondriasis. The patient who has a new pain for every day of the week needs psychotherapy to find out exactly why he/she *needs* to have this problem.” These are terrible statements to make to peson in pain.

Answer: -I reposted my last statement because that is what my post was about. Recently, quite a few people to this website have been willing to listen to, offer support, and good medical information to someone who is not just bothered with annoying menopause symptoms. Women with medical concerns face different and very important decisions at the time of menopause. I think they should be able to come here for support, and to share information. There are support groups for arthritis, fibromyalgia etc and no one has suggested that the posters there go to a "real" medical group. Your assumption that "real" medical groups where doctors provide free medical information is far fetched. But I do see that you are incapable of offering support beyond the" me too and everyone experiences it" level. As for proving that this unkindness to a woman in pain actually took place, you ignored when it happened. I won't play your game of proving it. But don't think I will drop the matter simply because of your vituperations. The intolerance or indifference of posters here allowed it to happen once. You can face the facts. -Occasionally chronic pelvic pain is found to be associated with congestion of the pelvic veins (pelvic varicose veins). The diagnosis of pelvic varicocities requires special imaging studies, such as pelvic venography or ultrasound." "Hysterectomy is rarely justified. Limited studies suggest that on rare occasions pelvic venous congestion does not respond to conservative measures. In these cases limited surgery such as ligation or embolization of the pelvic veins has been effective to relieve this pain. Hysterectomy, with or without resection of the ovaries, is reserved for the relatively rare cases that do not respond to conservative or limited surgical approaches. Hysterectomy is by no means foolproof and fails to relieve chronic pelvic pain in about 25% of cases."