Ovarian Cysts?

[mimommy]

Hello all. I was just wondering if anyone else has had ovarian cysts? I'm curious about the symptoms.

I went to my GYN in the Spring because I had been having so much pain on my ovaries (mostly the right, but occassionally the left, too). The exam showed nothing, but they were visible on the TVUltrasound. My doc said that they should NOT be causing me pain, but everything I've read says that they can be very painful. I left there feeling pretty well 'dismissed' as my doc never even came back in the room to discuss a treatment plan/options or educate me on the subject

Any advice on this from you ladies out there?

[jerseyangel]

Hi Minimom

I had ovarian cysts that also showed up on ultrasound. I had horrible pain on the same side, but was told that unless a cyst ruptured, it wouldn't cause the type of pain I was experiencing. At one point, the pain was so intense I came close to passing out. (scary)

I ended up choosing to have a hysterectomy, since I had other issues (fibroids) and was frankly tired of dealing with it all. It turns out that I also had endometriosis and adenomyosis (where the endo infiltrates the uterus). At my post operative appointment, the doctor told me that it was the endometriosis that was causing the pain. I never knew I had it, since I'd never had a laproscopy, and it doesn't show up on ultrasound.

If I had it to do over, I would have avoided years of pain by insisting on being tested for endometriosis. In my subsiquent research, I read about a possible autoimmune link which would make sense. At any rate, unfortunately sometimes you have to keep at them.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I had a terrible episode of ovarian pain a few months ago. I was told by the ER doctor that my experience was typical of a burst ovarian cyst, and that by the time they burst, they no longer show up on the ultrasound. I had been having ovulatin pain for several months before that, on the right side, but that seems to have calmed down. I am exercising much more now--I don't know if that is directly responsible for the improvement or not.

Also, I was taking prednisone at the time of the terrible episode. The doctors insist that that had nothing to do with the pain--but they don't really know for sure. Prednisone can have all kinds of crazy effects on your body.

[Rondar2001]

I had a couple burst when I was in college. After the first one I ended up in an ambulance because the pain was so sudden and severe. The pain passed in about 4 hours. I didn't have any pain or warning that I had any cysts before they burst.

If you have steady ongoing pain, I would have your doctor keep investigating.

[mindyandy420]

A few years back I had an ovarian cyst rupture. I remember waking up in the middle of the night with severe pain. I thought my appedix was rupturing. I got into my dr first thing in the morning and got sent to the hospital for CT. Thats when they told me I had an ovarian cyst rupture. They told me to take tylenol and wait for the pain to go away. It did. Oh boy it was painful tho.

[Mtndog]

I don't have cysts but I do have a fibroid and THAT causes pain so I would imagine (and have heard from friends with cysts) that they DO hurt quite a bit. I would either bug your OB/GYN or find a new one who will listen to you goshdarnitall!

[Angels~Exist]

I'm only 16 but I've had an ovarian cyst...more than one actually. Mine didn't show up on the ultrasound or CT. My gyn did laparoscopy and during the surgery found a cyst but he also found scar tissue that was binding my abdominal organs together so I really couldn't tell you which one was causing the pain or if it was a combination of the two. Either way if your doctor is ignoring your pain you need to find a better one that will take your concerns seriously.

[mimommy]

Thanks guys gals, for the responses.

My pain was growing slowly worse over a years time before it throbbed so bad I couldn't stand it anymore (we need throbbing ovaries like we need a hole in the head, right?). My GYN is a decent professional and knew enough to do the T V U, and that's when they saw the cysts. Although the doctor just wasn't concerned or convinced that they should be hurting, she also never mentioned a lapro and didn't seem too keen on the idea when I asked her if I could have scar tissue (had a verryyy bad c-section 9 years ago).

What they found on my labs was that I was vit-D deficient and prescribed D-3 and for me to come back for another T V U and re-test on vit in 5 weeks. Bad me, I haven't gone back. The D didn't make a bit of difference in how I feel, and in fact bothered my stomach. The cyst pain almost disappeared for a little while, but is back now, so I guess I need to call.

I just can't be impressed by doctors--no matter how nice, intelligent, or caring or educated they are--who don't take my symptoms seriously enough to discuss things with me even when they have definite lab results in their hands. I had to research cysts online and found out that there are many different types, most disappear on their own (but do come back) and that even if they burst internally there is really no treatment. I find this heinously hard to believe.

I guess I'm just looking for real life experience from other women, since my medical pro hasn't been very forthcoming. Thank you for your input and advice

[mimommy]

I'm only 16 but I've had an ovarian cyst...more than one actually. Mine didn't show up on the ultrasound or CT. My gyn did laparoscopy and during the surgery found a cyst but he also found scar tissue that was binding my abdominal organs together so I really couldn't tell you which one was causing the pain or if it was a combination of the two. Either way if your doctor is ignoring your pain you need to find a better one that will take your concerns seriously.

I'm curious--did you have diarhea or other abdominal issues as a result?

[Angels~Exist]

Actually that's another thing the scar tissue affected. It glued my colon to both my sides. Before and even for a while after my surgery I had to have a bunch of fiber.

[Angels~Exist]

I did have pain on my right side though. (the side the cyst was on) The inside of my hip also felt kind of hollow if that makes any sense. lol

[debmidge]

I had such bad left side pain with my ovarian cysts (3 of them on one ovary) that I needed prescripton pain meds and it was not in any danger of rupturing. The pain came on suddenly and I thought I had diverticulitis - GP ran a CT Scan - saw something on ovary and told me to see my ob/gyn. Ob/gyn did ultrasound and there is was - 3 medium cysts all ganging up on my left ovary. The pain went away as the cysts went down, but they never really went away. A few years later ('08) I had to have surgery to remove my ovaries and I am glad I did - no more cysts and pain!

[LeAnne8790]

First, if you feel your doctor is being dismissive of your symptoms, you need to find another doctor. No matter how good a doctor is, if I'm told I could not be feeling something I'm clearly feeling, I would not trust the doctor after that.

I've had good doctors and I've bad doctors, and you owe it to yourself to find one who will listen to you. When I've had a doctor who was attentive to what I was telling him/her and was not afraid to consider my own "self diagnosis" it has made all the difference. When I went to my GI doc with suspicion of celiac, I was scared he would tell me that it wasn't because I'm overweight. Instead, he said "I think you are on the right track" and ordered the tests among other tests as well - some not GI related.

Have you ever considered that you might have PCOS? Do you have issues with weight, facial hair, thinning hair, infertility or acne? I ask because, I had ovarian cysts and endometriosis discovered in my early 20's and it took me 20 years to find out the true cause, which had nothing to do with ovaries, but my endocrine system. The cysts are just a symptom of the disorder, not the condition itself.

Something to think about.

[NicoleAJ]

Every time I have ever had an ultrasound for any reason, the doctor has found one or more very large cysts on an ovary. Women frequently get cysts when the ovary releases the egg--it's just that some get bigger than others, and they generally dissolve on their own, unless there's some sort of underlying problem like PCOS. I have never had any symptoms from these cysts except for when they've ruptured. I had a period after a very serious car accident when I was having cysts burst frequently. My doctor gave me vicodin to take when it happened because it really was the most gut wrenching pain, and when I couldn't stand it anymore he put me on birth control to prevent me from ovulating. I stopped getting ruptured cysts when this happened. I've been off bc for 9 months now and have not had any cyst symptoms or burst cysts, but I am also not ovulating regularly for some reason. My 20 year old cousin had an 8 pound ovarian cyst that had wrapped itself up in her fallopian tube--she had some pain and incontinence, so this is when they discovered it. They thought it might be a tumor, but when they removed it, they realized that it was just a cyst. Months after the surgery she still had a giant indentation in her gut from where they'd removed the cyst--but that's the only time I've heard of someone having any symptoms of an ovarian cyst (unless it has burst).