Ovarian cysts - Dangerous?

[Antheia]

Ok, i told myself i wouldn't post in here while i'm on my ttc/pregnancy 'leave' as such lol but i really need to ask this question.


I have been having a pain on my left side near where i get O pains but its been continuting on now for about 6 weeks. Last monday i had severe abdo pain that went from the bottom left side up to the top and across the top. So i went to the ER. Had blood taken, x-ray to rule out appendicitis and other things, all clear so i was booked into an ultrasound the next day and they sent me home. By now the pain was just back to the lower left side.

So i had the u/s last tuesday. I couldnt wait around for the results as i had to be somewhere else so i gave them my GP's name and where to send it. they said they would but never actually wrote it down while i was there

I rang up GP last friday, results hadn't arrived so i rang up 2 days ago, still no results. i rang again today and nope still not there. I'm thinking bloody hell i bet they didnt even write down to send it to my GP even though thats what it said on the referal!

So i asked if they could ring the hospital where i got the u/s done at. She said she would and then she'll ring me back. that was about an hour ago. Hopfully it won't be too long.

Anyway i'm really worried about it. The pain is still there and is a bit worse today. So i'm thinking its an ovarian cyst. Are they dangerous at all? If i do have one do i have to get it surgically removed? What happens if it bursts, is that dangerous? The pain today is also going through to my back which im not sure means anything either?

[Deltadawn]

Hi Antheia. I'm not too sure about removal of cysts or medication etc as I never got that far however, I had 4 ovarian cysts rupture simultaneously when I was 17 as I was too embarrassed at that age to have the pains checked out. I had no idea that I even had ovarian cysts until one night I felt the most incredible pain in my life! Mum thought I was having a miscarriage. She called a family friend who is our doctor and he came around and gave me some morphine shots and diagnosed the pain as ruptured ovarian cysts which was confirmed the next day via u/s. Short story is that I remember asking him if I will have any problems TTC because of this and he said no. True to his word, we had no problems conceiving and were lucky on the fourth try.

Upon re-reading your post and saying that the pain is going through to your back, I had these same pains on and off when I was 15-18 weeks pregnant. I mentioned it to my Ob and nothing at all showed up on the u/s. When I mentioned that I had a history of ovarian cysts, they looked for them but nothing unusual showed up and the pain disappeared after a few weeks.

If they are ovarian cysts, I hope you dont go through what I went through and that there is a simple way of removing them. Good luck!

[Antheia]

Thanks for that info tonydayl. i rang the GP again and they have the results but my doctor wasnt in today so she wont be ringing me until monday. too bad if it was serious

[Deltadawn]

No worries Antheia. It is a pain in the bum that you have to wait another three days to hear the results but I'm guessing if it was bad news, they wouldnt have kept you hanging for so long for the results.

I dont think ovarian cysts are dangerous except they can rupture and release toxins into your bloodstream. Dealing with the pain on a day to day basis is the worst thing. I rememebr being at school and geting the pains and lying to my friends when they ask me what is wrong and just telling them it was a stitch or something.

I hope you get some good news on Monday - I'll log back on on Monday night to see how you get along.

[saslia]

I have had 2 lots of cysts that I know of when I was 15 and 16. The first time to dr thought my appendix was going to burst so had emergency surgery that that only to find out that I had an ovarian cyst that had burst.

Second time I had a lot of the same pain and had a u/s one day and surgery to remove it the next. They also had to take a small part of my ovary.

Both times i had strong painkillers beforehand and used wheat heat packs.

I think if it was serious the US place would have got back to your dr asap. I think cysts are fairly common and not always a problem.

Hope you get good news on Monday.

[Antheia]

Well the pain is alot worse tonight im unsure of whatto do. The reason my doctor didnt know is because they never wrote down to send it tothem even after i asked for it. So no matter how serious it was my GP would never have known and the receptionist at GP cannot tell me over the phone what the result is and because my doctor was not in she could not tell me. Ususally if it's nothing they will tell me that its clear and i dont need an appointment so them saying my GP will ring me on monday tells me that there was something found on the u/s. Come to think of it the u/s tech was having a real good look on that side at my back..

Anyway i was thing of maybe going to the GP after hours because its at the same hospital and maybe they can access my file and let me know what the results were and it is clear then to see what the pain is because its getting hard to walk again....

[Willow]

If you are in pain I would definitely see someone tonight, it can get excruciating without pain relief.

I had a huge cyst on my left ovary last year. Unfortunately things did not end as well for me, I did eventually have to have surgery to remove it and as a result my fertility was seriously affected, to the point that we had to do IVF to conceive our son after two previous pregnancies, both of which were conceived on our first attempt (so we had no fertility issues prior to the cyst).

I don't tell people this to freak them out, but I was told time and time again that it wasn't a big deal, people get them all the the time, it might just rectify itself (ie rupture), it won't affect your fertility. So I just like to let people know that this is not always the case. I was one of the unlucky ones and had I known the damage it would cause, I would have insisted it was removed as soon as it was found. But just remember, mine was worst case scenario and as some of the other girls have posted, most people have no further problems.

Good luck - I'll be checking back in to see how you are going.

[pollyanna]

Hi Antheia,
I'm afraid my story is also similar to willows. I have had severe trouble with ovarian cysts. I have had four surgeries to remove them. I have been fortunate to not have severe ovarian damage,only scarring but it does affect your future ovualtion and cycles9well it has done in my case). The removal process for me isnt as bad as the pain itself. Just needed panadeine after they were removed surically(laparascope) and a couple of days off work.I really hope that youarent in too much discompfort. I hope that you have taken some analgesia or seen someone or both. you are in my thoughts. i totally empathise. Fingers crossed its nothing serious. Just take it easy.

Pauline