Has anyone had an HSG test?

[Marnica]

I'm interested to know how yucky this test is? It sounds fairly hideous, although I had the SHG and it wasn't to bad.

anyone had an HSG and care to share your experience?

Thanks!

[GaleTX]

I had an HSG in August and it wasn't a big deal at all. I'm allergic to shellfish, so I had to take steriods for 24 hours prior to the test and take Benadryl an hour before the test. As for the test itself, to me it was no worse than a yearly exam. I laid on the table with my feet pulled up and knees open and the RE explained everything he was doing as he was doing it. There was a tv screen for him to see and one for me to see as well. When he inserted the catheter there was cramping, as well as each time he injected the dye. He would warn me before each one, so I knew it was coming. The cramping was really no worse than the Pap. I've had an IUD in the past and I thought the insertion of that was worse as far as cramping. It seriously took less than 10 minutes! They gave me a pad to wear because some of the dye can leak back out and there is a chance of spotting, but I didn't have an issue with either one. Hope this helps!

[CassnBeth]

I just had an HSG last Thursday. All in all, it wasn't that bad but I took, at my doctor's insistence, 6 advil and a percocet before the test. I don't know if she normally recommends so many drugs but I was having an endometrial biopsy too and that was quite painful.

The HSG was much like GaleTX said -- I laid down on a table like I was having a pelvic exam and my RE inserted a weird kind of speculum. Running the catheter in was weird and creepy but not too painful. The dye didn't hurt at all but was also...creepy? I could sort of feel the dye going in which wasn't fun. However, they let me watch the whole thing on the screen so I wasn't feeling too critical at that point; I LOVE watching stuff like that. Afterwards, I had quite a bit of dye leaking back out for the rest of the day.

[GaleTX]

I forgot that part! My RE told me to take four advil about an hour prior to my appointment time and the pain would be minimal.

[Lauren2010]

I just had one done about a month ago. I just took 2 advil about 30 min before the test. It was more freaky than anything, laying down on a big x-ray table. But it was just like a pap smear- put the speculum in and told me when he was injecting the dye. I had a little bit of cramping when the dye went in. It was over in just a few minutes. I had to rotate my hips per the doctor's instructions so they could get some better x-rays. I did have some leaking that day and a little the following day so I wore a pad. The doc told me not to use a tampon. All in all, not bad- and actually a little neat seeing everything up on the screen.

[miriam_bat_avraham]

I was so, so terrified for mine and just chalked it up to "I have to do this if I want to get pregnant, so I'll just have to suck it up." And I took 800mg Advil first, and went, and the doctor started chatting with me, and basically this happened:

Me: "Yeah, so I was doing this stuff, and then this other thing, and I w-- ow! Hey! Ow! Oh... wait, was that it?"
Doctor: "Yeah, we're in, you can put your legs down."
Me: "Wow... I'm almost disappointed. It doesn't hurt anymore! Oh hey, cool, is that my uterus!?"

So it was a really brief pinching feeling that went away once the catheter was through, which was a few seconds later, and then it was just cool to watch on the screen.

[Marnica]

Hmmmm,

doesn't sound too bad I guess. I have a while to think about it. any other stories....bring em on!

[collieflower]

I have had two (yes, lucky me) and both weren't bad at all. Some pinching with the speculum and catheter insertion, as others noted, and then I was happily distracted looking at my uterus on the big screen. One thing of note: for a few hours after both I was crampy and tired. The first time I stayed home and rested, the second time I had to work, so I took some ibuprofen and it did the trick!

[seren]

I wish someone had told me to take some medicine before mine! It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes, but as soon as it was over the pain was almost gone, just a bit of residual pain. I have several friends who had one and they didn't hurt like I did.

[turtlewomyn]

I had one in 09. It wasn't too bad. The doctor said he had a special technique for getting into the cervix (some people report that as the worst part). The dye felt really uncomfortable (I only have one tube left, we were checking to see if it was clear) until it ran out. I can't remember taking any pain meds, if I did it was pretty mild ones.

[babygrey]

I had an HSG in March. I also had a uterine venogram done at the same time, so part of my experience might have been r/t that part.
I took ibuprofen beforehand. I wish my doc had offered me something stronger bc OUCH. To not mince words, mine HURT.

I have a retroverted uterus, and my cervix sits kind of retrovert as well, and my doc had a really hard time securing the cervical clamps and threading the cath in (he does hundreds of these a year, so I'm pretty sure it was me and not him ).

I had a partial blockage in my right tube and it hurt something awful when he was trying to clear it. It was a burning type of pain. I was in tears.
All in all, it was over pretty fast, tho. I had pretty bad cramping for a day, then was okay. I spotted for a few days.

In reading lots of experiences, I think I'm an outlier, but I do wish I had heard from someone who's HSG was less than no-big-deal first, bc I felt like SUCH a wimp at the time.