Five gynaecological symptoms that warrant a GP visit

It’s important to discuss any new or persistent gynaecological changes with a doctor

Ovarian cancer is sometimes misdiagnosed as IBS. Picture: iStock

Although it may be tempting to turn to an AI chatbot for a quick diagnosis or health advice, these tools often deliver inaccurate or outdated information about gynaecological cancers.

The Eve Appeal, a British gynaecological cancer charity, tested 25 scenarios using ChatGPT and found it failed to identify ovarian cancer as a possible cause of persistent bloating lasting more than three weeks, despite this being a key symptom.

The charity also said that in some cases, the advice was outdated or inaccurate.

Here, women’s health experts outline five gynaecological signs that should prompt a visit to a doctor.

1. Abnormal vaginal bleeding

“One warning sign to look out for is abnormal vaginal bleeding, which could be bleeding after menopause, bleeding after intercourse or bleeding between menstrual periods,” says Dr Jane Benjamin, a GP who specialises in women’s health.

“It’s important not to ignore this because it could be a sign of an abnormality with the endometrium, such as an endometrial polyp, or an early sign of endometrial cancer.”

Consultant gynaecologist Dr Lucy Lord agrees and highlights the need to be aware of your normal pattern to make it easier to identify any noticeable changes. “If you get three months of a change in pattern, or one month with a serious change in pattern, I would recommend seeing a doctor about this,” she advises. “For example, if you experience just one episode of post-menopausal bleeding, you need to go straight to a doctor as this is a crucial change.”

2. Pelvic or abdominal pain

“The second thing to look out for is pain, and particularly pain that you’ve never experienced before,” says Lord.

The timing of the pain is critical.

“Different pains can help give you a clue to what might be happening,” says Lord. “When you have a period, you release chemical prostaglandins, which can make your uterus painful — this is not unusual, but if you have never had period pain before or the pain is new, that’s something quite important and may indicate things like endometriosis or adenomyosis.”

Pain - especially pain that is new - is important to monitor

Pain during sex might also be a red flag. “Pain during deep penetration tends to be much more related to problems within the pelvis,” explains Lord. “It could be to do with a sexually transmitted infection, endometriosis or adenomyosis. It might also be fibroids or caused by ovarian tumours.”

3. Changes in bowel habits

You should always talk to your doctor if you experience changes in your bowel habits, advises Lord. “In the advanced stages, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers can affect the bowel, but the most important reason to flag up changes in bowel habits is because of bowel cancer.”

4. Unusual vaginal discharge

“All women have a discharge, and it changes during the cycle. For example, mid-cycle it’s egg white, and towards the end of the cycle it becomes much more sticky and scant,” says Lord.

However, it’s important to notify a professional about any changes that are unusual to you, especially heavy discharge.

“Watery green discharge, for example, can be a sign of trichomonas vaginalis and a profuse yellow discharge can be a sign of gonorrhoea,” says Lord.

5. Persistent bloating

“If bloating is associated with other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as a runny tummy or cramping abdominal pain, it could be a sign of something like viral gastroenteritis, but we would expect these symptoms to pass quickly, within a few days to a week,” says Benjamin.

“If symptoms persist for longer than a week, I would advise people to follow this up with their GP, because bloating, feeling full after meals, or an increase in abdominal size can be potential signs of ovarian cancer, which is often picked up quite late because people are not aware of the symptoms.

“There is no screening process in place for ovarian cancer, so it is reliant on individuals reporting symptoms to get a scan in order to get a diagnosis.”

She highlights how ovarian cancer is sometimes misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) because they share symptoms.

“People often label bloating as IBS, but you need to make sure there isn’t anything else going on before you can call it IBS,” says Benjamin.

Before seeing your GP, Lord recommends keeping a detailed diary of any unusual changes to help doctors get as much information as possible during short appointments. “Go to your doctor with an A4 folder of everything that you know about your medical history,” she advises. “Explain your current problem and show them notes from your last period and the previous period, and highlight the dates where you had a bit of bleeding or pain, which hasn’t happened before, and that you weren’t expecting.

“Making a diagnosis is all about pattern recognition, and some patterns are benign, and some are very clearly cancer. So, it’s very useful if you can present a doctor with a pattern of the way your symptoms have changed.”