I’m really worried I have Ovarian cancer. What were your symptoms?

[Thatsanicething]

I’ve been back and forth to the GP about 6 months for a couple of things. The first time I was told it sounds like IBS and was given medication which had zero affect. So after a few months I went back where the GP took blood tests to look fir inflammation markers, and a stool sample which came back clear. I have been on a course of antibiotics in case it’s PID although no swans taken so not confirmed. All these treatments have not worked at all.

The pelvic pain is so severe now it sometimes makes me vomit and i also have severe one sided pain but not all the time. I realised that for a few months now I have not been able to sleep through the night without having to get up for a wee usually 2/3 times a night (urine clear also) and heartburn that has started about a month ago. I can’t button up my work trousers because the bloat. The last few cycles have been very strange, and I even thought I was pregnant last month! I never would have thought about ovarian cancer in a million years until it came up on my Facebook feed the other day and I realised I had these symptoms. It has really been playing on my mind. I’ve tried phoning for an appointment the last few days but they release appointments on a daily basis and unless you are quick there are non left. I’m young (29) so I guess it’s not something the GP has considered.

Does this sound like it? Does anyone have any experiences they could reassure me?

I was on the pill for a couple years when I was 18 and haven’t been on it since.
I had the first appointment with the GP about 7 months ago with mainly bowel problems along with pelvic pain. Immediately given an IBS diagnosis. Since then the irregular bleeding bloating etc has been getting worse. And the pain is the thing that gets me now. It’s just so uncomfortable everyday. And DH just doesn’t understand and has very little sympathy. Which is just making me angry.

Ring your GP tomorrow and tell them it's urgent. All surgeries have to have a protocol for seeing patients the same day if they need it. Explain that you're in a lot of pain which is steadily increasing and you have other worrying symptoms and feel that you need to be seen urgently.

The receptionist today told me to ring within the first hour of opening to get an appointment for the following week. So between half 8 and half9. Not easy when I’m trying to get the kids out the door and get to work. But they do hold so many emergency appointments for the same day if your prepared to be grilled by the receptionist

@RandomMess

BRCA gene runs through the maternal line

Men can inherit it & pass it on too, unfortunately. Due to family history my brother & I were both tested; I have it, he doesn't. It stops there for his side, luckily. My side all need to be tested now.

OP, wishing you luck & hoping your symptoms are not cancer

OP you need to insist on an emergency appointment tomorrow. 7 months is far too long to be ignored with those symptoms, and sadly GPs can be wrong about this stuff.

We know 3 people who all had bowel cancer in their 30s - all of their GPs initially put it down to IBS and in one case pregnancy because bowel cancer generally affects older people.

We lost my mum to peritoneal cancer, which is basically the same cells as ovarian cancer (she had had breast cancer 20 years before so also poss BRCA gene). Again her GP put it down to IBS. He finally sent her to hospital after a couple of months, by which point she'd lost 2 stone and had 10 litres of fluid in her abdomen that needed draining.

Have you lost a lot of weight over a short period? If you have, you should def mention that to the GP when you see them. The person we know who had bowel cancer and got seen the quickest had lost a stone and a half over a very short period and that was apparently the thing that made the GP start testing for cancer.

I really hope it isn't what you think it is - but you do have to get seen as soon as you possibly can. Please don't be too polite and wait even longer.

@LapdanceShoeshine that's strange I was told men could inherit but not that they could pass it on! As I only have DDs I probably wasn't paying much attention tbh.

You don't have to give the receptionist any information if you don't want to.

I had similar symptoms starting last May.
I am post menopause and have always had funny bowels.
I had severe pain in left side of pelvis, saw GP and was given buscopan and mutterings about IBS.
I was in process of renovating house, packing up old house, organising move and looking after adult disabled son...so I stupidly endured pain for 7 weeks.
Finally went back to GP, she gave rectal exam and with a very worried face arranged for me to go straight to hospital.
She was worried about ovarian cancer and could feel a large mass.
I had internal and external ultra sounds and then a CT scan.
Diverticulitis.

The 'mass' was a 6"X4" abcess on my bowel. I had a drain inserted and was put on IV antibiotics.
Just had a colonoscopy (had to wait until bowel was less inflamed) I have diverticulitis in sigmoid colon.

It was a relief to me as I was very worried that ovarian cancer can be silent until it's too late.
I understand your fear OP.
Ask our GP about diverticular disease and ask for a referral to a Colo-rectal Consultant.
Best wishes.

@RandomMess

Going by this, you may well have been told that.

Still, a study suggests that women are much more likely to be referred for genetic counseling if the family history of breast or ovarian cancer is on their mother's side rather than their father's.
This could mean that doctors aren't recognizing that paternal (father's) family history of breast and ovarian cancer is equally important as maternal (mother's) family history when considering abnormal breast cancer gene risk.

www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20101024

I had an ovarian cyst (dermoid, size of a lemon) that sounded like this: ask for an ultrasound.

As it twisted, the pain came in waves. On and off for weeks. Prior to that, bloat so that I looked about 4months pregnant, indigestion, and migraines. In and out of the doctors with the pain.

Eventually it completely twisted and had to be removed via keyhole surgery (pain was worse than labour when it twisted all that way, causing nausea and vomiting). It took a while to be diagnosed, even in hospital, but the minute they did an ultrasound they saw it.