Ovarian Cysts

[ninahbear]

Has anyone had an ovarian cyst? What were your symptoms? How did your doctor determine you had one?

 

[OKWMom]

I had one a little over a year ago. It was diagnosed by ultrasound, but I was prompted to go to the doctor by pain so severe, I was lying on the floor in my office. DH thought it was my appendix, but I knew the pain was in the wrong location. The doctor asked where I was in my cycle and sent me for the ultrasound. There wasn’t anything he could do for the first cyst except prescribe a pain killer, but he prescribed birth control pills and had me take them for more days per month than I would if using them for their intended purpose. I haven’t had another cyst. The only drawback other than the usual pill side effects is that DH had been “cured” a year prior and hates that he had what is now an unnecessary surgery.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

I've had two and all I can say is they HURT. Both of my ruptured and I was in so much pain for about 12 hours before is began to ease up. Neither were big enough to require surgery after they ruptured so I was lucky. With both I had some mild pain on and off in that area for a couple of weeks before hand.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I have a long history of ovarian cysts. Nasty little buggers, they are! I always get them on my right ovary. Only once did one land me in the hospital for a couple of days, and that's because it ruptured and caused some internal bleeding. That one was more painful than child birth. I can usually tell when I get one, because it hurts when I have a BM, or get intimate with my dh, and the timing of my periods is off. I'll get a little bloated and gassy sometimes too. They're diagnosed by ultrasound, but sometimes the doctor can tell by feeling the ovary. They're for the most part harmless, just more painful and annoying then anything. Birth control pills do help, especially if you take them in a way so that you don't have a period at all. I have had a laparoscopy once to remove one that wouldn't go away.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

Pain. Serious, make you roll into a ball, wanna die, pain.

 

[wnissen]

The worst part is that when you go to the emergency room (which you should do, if it's a burst appendix you could be in big trouble, don't wait), they don't give you anything! My wife was in agony for hours before they saw her, immediately diagnosed the cyst, and gave her OxyContin. Unless they rupture, leak, or get too big, they're completely benign, and actually every time you ovulate a cyst is created. However, out-of-balance hormornes can cause them to grow.

Walt

 

[lindakmonty]

I found out I have them right before we left for our disney trip in April. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I was just in PAIN!!! My Dr. has hours you can walk in and dh made me go get it checked before we left. She said I'd be ok that it was an ovarian cyst. It gives me fevers a lot.Pain that I hardly want to sit up... don't want to wear jeans or put pressure against it... just a major pain!!! The pressure is so bothersome. Like ChrisnSteph said...it can become painful during intimate times and everything!! No fun! My Dr. said we'll look more into it on my next visit. See what options we have if it persists. Good luck, I know they can be very painful! I have a cyst on my thyroid as well ... I take synthroid for that.

 

[TeresaMc]

I had one and it had gotten really big. Pain is definately the right word for it!!!! It was horrible. I had to have surgery to remove the ovary, I chose to have a hysterectomy at that time since I didn't plan to have any children and actually the doctor said he was unsure if I actually would have even been able to concieve if I had wanted to.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I had a very large one and two smaller ones surgically removed 6 years ago. The large one was so big (about the size of a small melon) that it was pushing all of my organs out of the way. I had 7 ultrasounds and the techs could never find anything - not realizing that they WERE seeing the cyst, it was that large. I've always had very painful and heavy periods, but the pain seemed to start easing up around the age of 18 or 19. Right after surgery - bam, the pain returned within months. I was also diagnosed with endometriosis at that time. I just had to go through another round of tests and ultrasounds because I had cysts on each ovary again, but they're small (so far) and I have a new doctor who doesn't want to do anything about them just yet. Hopefully they'll resolve themselves - uh, yeah, that's what the 7 doctors that I had before surgery said, too.

So now I've got an 8-inch scar across my gut and it's all saggy and stretch-marked...oh, well.

 

[twojo21]

i had a cyst on my ovary 4 years ago & it was so painful. it was putting pressue on my tract & causing infections. it was diagnosed by ultrasound i was too young to have it surgically removed per my gyno so i went on bc, hormones & steriods. which did shrink my cyst but also caused over health problems for me, weight gain & high blood pressure. so do consider you options & alternatives for treatment should you have a cyst.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I also had a cyst, along with uterine fibroids, so hard to tell which pain was which. But the cyst resolved itself after a few months, thank goodness. I also didn't wear jeans for the longest time due to pain. Hopefully your cyst will resolve itself, too. Hang in there!

 

[pearlieq]

I had a really big one on my left ovary, and had no idea! No pain, no nausea, nothing. They were doing an ultrasound for an unrelated reason and found it.

They decided to take it out as it was about softball sized. The surgery was OK as surgeries go.

I seriously would never have known I had it!

 

[disneymama73]

I have had 2 cysts, both on my right side, and the sharp pain really does make you want to roll over and die. Severe, excrutiating pain.

The last time I had one was about 11 years ago, and I went to the ER where they kept giving me shots of Demerol that didn't even put a dent in the pain. They kept me in the hospital to do a laparoscopy, removed a large amount of fluid and found out I also have endometriosis.

 

[Pollito916]

I had a couple 6 years ago, found out b/c of the pain which also led to nausea and vomitting and sent me to the emergency room late one night. But I also had endometriosis. It was misdiagnosed at the ER, then identified by ultrasound by my mom's ob-gyn. It was all removed by Laproscopy, then followed up with Lupron and bcp after, Seasonale once that came out to reduce the fequency w/o completely eliminating a period.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I had a huge ovarian cyst removed about 5 years ago. The only reason I knew I had it was because it hurt when I was intimate with my boyfriend. It took a few months for the docs to find it and then awhile before surgery. I was supposed to have it removed laparoscpically but when they got in there it was too big and it had actually moved my right ovary and fallopian tube so they had to cut me open. What was supposed to be a few hours in the hospital turned into a few days It was really no fun at all but I have had them come back since and they just went away. I also have endo and my doc but me on Depo Provera (which I love, I think I'm the only one) and all is great now

 

[ninahbear]

I know I have a high tolerance for pain because when I was having contractions with my DS it just felt like bad cramps. Last night I got my period and my left side was cramping almost as bad as when I gave birth. Does this sound like a cyst? I get the pain when I am ovulating (at least I think it is when I am) as well. I have read that they can cause infertility but we were planning on trying for #2 in about a month or so.

 

[singingpixie]

OK, this is probably a way TMI question, but some of you say they hurt when you're being intimate- is it a very localized pain then (in your side where the ovary is)? Or is it more general? Just wondering.

 

[Disneyrsh]

 

[3princesses4us]

Strangely the only symptom I had is that I couldn't get pregnant. I had zero pain mercifully but when I went to the doc to find out what was up, he felt it right away, removed a 5 pound water-filled cyst from my left ovary a month later and 3 weeks after that I got pregnant for the first time. Apparently it was blocking my left ovary and I read somewhere that a lot of women ovulate from primarily one side so after 3 quick pregnancies later, DH affectionately calls me "Lefty".

 

[scifihippie]

I've had an ovarian cyst, but it was nothing like the other ladies have described. My only symptom was not getting my period even after 10 days of provera to bring it on. My RE prescribed a round of BCPs to shrink it and I finally got my period after having a 90+ day cycle. I'm guessing the reason I didn't have the excruciating pain like the other posters is b/c I was being monitored for fertility treatments and it was caught early on before it got large.

There are also different kinds of cysts. I had a fluid filled cyst that could be shrunk by hormone therapy - BCPs. There are "chocolate" cysts that are full of endo and those don't respond to hormone therapy.