pain when ovulating, is this normal?

[peacelily]

Since having dd when ovulating I get a sort of twinging dragging pain either one side or the other, it's v uncomfortable.

I also get a very swollen stomach for a few days and some cramps. This goes once ovulation's over, then I've just got raging PMT

I know it's fairly common to have twinges when ovulating but is pain and swelling normal? My Mum thinks it's a sign of ovarian cysts. Does anyone on here have any info?

peacelilly, i'm interested to hear that this started after having dd.

i was never aware of ovulating before i had dd, now i do usually get some kind of cramps. first time i was really surprised, thought my period had come early but then worked out what it was.

i'm not sure if i get a swollen stomach though, it always looks too bloody big to me these days.

if it's really painful though, i would go to gp.

When the ovary releases the egg the ovary basically bursts through the lining of the ovary(and releases a bit of blood) to get it out, hence the pain. I had it for years. An ovarian cyst would cause pain all the time and would get worse as the cyst grows. Egg pain should only last a few days.

I may be wrong so feel free to correct

Thankyou avenap that's v useful, and I had noticed a trace of blood so that's quite reassuring. No probs the rest of the time, just for a few days mid month

Message withdrawn

The reason I post on here a lot with health queries is because of my illness obsessed Mother!! Nothing can just be a minor ailment it's always got to be a symptom of something more sinister (according to her). She's abosolutely pre-occupied with Drs, Hospitals and the like and everythings always doom and gloom. E.g, my Dad had an eye op and Mother can't resist going on and on about how he nearly lost his sight, he didn't! The surgean said it was straight forward.

Because of her nagging me I've been brushed off so many times by the GP I feel like an idiot going there, and taking dd ALL the time. I know the GP's thinking "kids do GET colds/stomach bugs/otherwierd viruses you know"

Sorry rant over thanks for your posts.

It' useful if you are trying to have a baby . Mums are fab. They make us feel like shit and then make us worry. With friends like this who needs enemies?

And same for me Dior after 15 years on the pill I didn't know how my natural cycle worked anymore or how awful I would feel with natural PMT!

Oh PL, I am so glad you have brought this up, as this is exactly what I am suffering with at the moment. I have had real excruciating pain today and at times not known what to do with myself! Again this will only last approx 2 - 3 days! not long but when its happening - ouch!

It's even got a name - Mittelschmerz.

Thankyou Jackieo that's brilliant! Totally explains everything, it's v localised pain ( right side this month in fact!). The other info at the end of the explanation clears another few things up.

I'm embarrassed that a health professional such as myself knows so little about the female body

lol at your mum peacelilly.

mine is the same. we all tease here about it but actually all the horrible things that you think are people being paranoid about and overprotective actually happened to her and her family when she was a child.

when i remember that i just reassure her that i'm all right, tell her i will take her advice seriously and give here a big hug.

It would have been diagnosed by a bloke called Mittelschmerz then! Remember though, you have 2 ovaries and they may not release eggs on the same day so there may be pain for more than 3 days. Go and see the GP if the pain is abnormal or there is abnormal bleeding or you are worried.

Are you a nurse peacelily?

Yes albeit a mental health nurse not a "proper" one.

avena - you usually only get one egg per month BTW. i.e. only one ovary will go pop.

And interestingly, the location of the pain doesn't necessarily coincide with the side that's ovulated. Weird!

FWIW my ovulation pain has become MUCH more noticeable since have DCs, despite the fact that I spent a year TTC DD and was obsessed with every niggle and twinge.

? I was a student paeds nurse until some lovely person shared a virus with me. I should have gone back to my course this month. I do't suppose you know whether they let doctors who have ME practice????

I really don't know, I think fitness to practice is judged on each individual case. I do know that nurses seem to be dealt with far more punitively than Drs. There seems to be a code of silence despite some really bad practice amongst a lot of psychiatrists. BUT I add the vast majority or Psychs I've worked with are excellent. Just one bad apple.

Bed now night night everyone x

I want to apply for the GEM course, I have contacted a Uni yesterday, they said I would be able to train if I was fit to practice. I have told them that I have ME. I don't know any doctors at all that are disabled though. I know that there's alot of mental illness, hence the silence. It's hard to know what to do.

WBDLS: that's a fantastic name. On rare occasions can't you get 2 ovulating? Hence non-identical twins? I'm not gyne.

avena - yeah....I'm not sure about that. You can get multiple ovulations, but I don;t know if they come from the same ovary or not.

I heard about one woman that had triplets, two were identical, one not. This could be attributed to both ovaries releasing eggs. Then there was the woman that had twins but one was gestationally older then the other. Odd! Anyway, I'm not an ovary expert. I may be wrong.

I started having quite painful stomach cramps for a few days, every now and then. I thought it was too much alcohol, too much coffee too spicey food.

It was, for the first time in years my body ovulating correctly! Unfortunately it happened to coincide with having the contraception implant, and my Dr said it was likely the two were clashing a little, would settle (on checking it worked out to be when I would be ovulating)

He told me ovarian discomfort for a few days each cycle was normal/common.