Ovarian Cyst - Austin,TX

Hi J.. I am 28 yrs old and have had ovarian cysts since I was 13. I know have an 8 month boy. The doctors said that they are more common than we think and contraceptives control the uncomfortable dull pain.

Hi J.,

Every single month cysts form on our ovaries. There is a cycle to them called the luteal cycle. As eggs mature a small cyst is formed around a maturing egg and it ruptures, releasing the egg in its wake. The cyst sticks around in case of fertilization. It can grow quite large and become painful. Unitl the placenta is formed, the cyst now called "corpus luteum" or "yellow body" produces the hormones, principly progesterone, to maintain (in a round about way) the uterine lining and provide sustinace for the baby.

There is nothing to worry about here. This is a normal part of our monthly cycles. Without it, we would not belong to this board. :)

I hope this helps.

i have had a lot of cysts that stuck around. it is normal to have cysts on your ovaries. they increase and decreaqse in size with your cycle. The problem you run into is when they do not decrease. Instead they will keep growing until they get so enlarged they burst, which can leave a nasty scar on your ovary and prevent you from dropping eggs out of that side. Since it is a hormonal issue, mostly teenagers have the problem. i forget what it is actually called. I had a cyst that was so large, it had to be removed by surgery. I was seventeen. i also have had several burst. That was more painful than my appendix bursting. But i have been pregnant four times, so dont worry you will have a hard time concieving if one bursts
S. lee

I had a cyst that eventually had to be removed through surgery (at age 35). My OB watched it for over 6 months. Actually I thought it was my appendix at first... It was about 2.7 cm when I first complained of the pain (a littler smaller than a quarter)... The pain would come and go. My doc put me on progesterone based BCP, on the idea that the cyst would shrink.. Nope, it got bigger. (I secretly think my body responds to progesterone BCPs with cysts... I was on that kind of birth control right after my daughter was born, so maybe that started it and it got bigger in the year after that... I never had any cyst problems when I was on estrogen PBCs before pregnancy) When they removed it, it had increased to 3.5cm (bigger than a quarter, smaller than a half dollar). The dull pain that you mentioned had started to be more sharp and constant. I primarily would feel it at night, when laying down and trying to go to sleep.

I was told cysts are fairly common. However, most are really small... That said, when the small ones rupture, several of my friends said the pain was so intense that they went to the ER because they weren't sure what happened. Needless to say, when I was on that 6 month wait with my cyst, I was terrifed how much it would hurt if it did pop... I carried around a couple left over pain pills from a wisdom tooth extraction, just in case.

Yes, mine stuck around and I've never heard of them going away on their own, but I'm not a doctor. I'm surprised your doctor didn't give you more information. I had to have mine removed because it grew to the size of a large chicken egg and have had to be on hormone control (birth control pills) to prevent them growing again. I think you need to go back to the doctor or go to a different one. And the sooner the better. If it's a small cyst it can be removed easily but the bigger they get the worse the surgery. However, it may be possible that you, with the hormone therapy, may be able to avoid surgery all together. Who knows? But waiting will only get you into more trouble.

Good luck

Hi:

I wouldn't ignore that it's come back (the pain). My cyst on my former right ovary ruptured and I ended up in the hospital and ended up having to have surgery to remove it and the ovary. It depends upon where the cyst is as to whether it will disapate after rupture. Mine was on the blood vessel leading into the ovary itself and so when it ruptured it wouldn't quit bleeding and the pain wouldn't go away.

Very common problem. I had a cyst which burst a blood vessel, causing internal bleeding. The pain was really excruitating. When I finally had surgery to remove it (a day later), they said it was the size of a grapefruit! Anyway, my doctor told me about the only thing you can do to keep them under control is to take birth control pills. I've been on the pill for about 20 years now (except for when I was pregnant, of course) and I haven't had any further problems. Sometimes I do feel slight pain when I'm ovulating, but it doesn't last long and it's not bad enough to require medication. I would talk to your doctor about it and see what he/she says.

cysts like yours are probably the kind that you can and will get every time you ovulate, and pass when your have your period. it is when the cysts start clustering and don't go away then you should worry. but since yours don't do that then I would say you might have to get used to them. good luck.

J.,

I know your pain - I actually get a cyst almost ever onth when I ovulate. The only two things that work for me are:
1. being pregnant
2. being on birth control pills

Wish I could tell you something better and I hope you don't experience the same monthly pain every timethat I do. I am not currently on birth control because a. I am too busy raising two kids to remember to take it every day (lol), b. am selfish and don't wantthe pill pouch that comes along with it.

Good luck - oh my OB did prescribe naproxin for the pain. It does help.

I had recurring ovarian cyst problems for years! I know your pain! Actually there is a chance of you getting one every month when you ovulate. Every woman gets a small follicle on the outside of her ovary monthly when she ovulates. Most of them just go away but sometimes they grow and become painful. There really isn't anything you can do about it unfortunately. My OB/GYN told me that we'd just watch it, which we did and most of them just went away. I did have 2 of them, however, that grew to be extremely large and burst (causing excruciating pain). Because I had so many problems with it my doctor finally put me on continuous birth control which prevents you from ovulating thus preventing any chance of cysts. If it becomes a recurring problem you might ask about that.

I had a cyst which had to be surgically removed. After my doctor discovered it, I had to have periodic ultrasounds to see if it was still there and/or shrinking/growing. Ultimately, it did not go away on its own, so I had laproscopic surgery. It was an outpatient procedure which solved the problem. My doctor was able to remove the cyst without any damage to my ovary and I had a healthy baby girl 15 months later (I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get pregnant; I'm 39). If it's just a cyst, try not to worry too much. They are fairly routine. Good luck!

If I was told I had a cyst on my ovary I'ed want to get it removed and biopsies ASAP. Don't mess around with your life, girl, you've got children to take care of. Get rid of this thing.

I have been dealing with ovarian cyst since I got pregnant with my daughter in 2001. The doctor told me that I would only have them thru my pregnancy. They were wrong. One year after having my daughter, my system went out of wack raising my blood sugars, hormone level change. In addition, to that I got my tubes tied and it made the problem worse. They put me on birth control, butit made the cysts bigger and more painful. Still to this day I have cyst pop up and I just deal with the pain.

I've had two that I know of--one at 17 and one at 20. They were diagnosed because of the pain. The first one burst before my appointment to go in and see what was going on. Since they were in there already, they went ahead and cauterized the area. The second time, they just went in through the same scars to get it. I don't know if it would have stayed around, but I was too uncomfortable to stick it out. I already had/have painful periods, and this was out of this world, and it made me vomit. Ugh!

The tool they used was a laparascope, and my scars were one across my navel (about 1-1.5 inches) and one at the top of my pubic hairline (maybe .5 inch). Pain was minimal. Ability to get pregnant not affected.