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Original poster

Ovary pain?!

39 replies

PeachF · 10/08/2023 18:51

Hi!
I'm hoping someone can put me at ease a little or share some experiences? I've been struggling with pain in my lower right pelvic area, like where my ovary would be for some time now. The pain always gets worse around ovulation and becomes a really painful stitch like pain and makes an awful sound when pressed?! but I've been feeling it pretty much all the time at a more mild level for the past couple of months. I've also had some random spotting throughout the month.

I saw the GP and I'm having a pelvic ultrasound tomorrow but I'm worrying myself silly with worst case scenarios like cancer. I've got a complicated health history and had a rough year with both open heart surgery and gallbladder surgery and I just don't think I could cope with anything else! I'm only in my early thirties 😞 I'm obviously not looking for a diagnosis and I've been incredibly lucky that the nhs has been so quick and brilliant but a hand hold would be lovely right about now.

Thanks for reading!

OP posts:
spiritowl · 10/08/2023 18:58

Sorry to hear you are having these pains, especially as you have already been through so much. From the sounds of it, it might be similar to something I experienced years ago. I had a pelvic ultrasound and it turned out to be endometriosis with endometriomas (cysts) on both ovaries. My pain was also worse during ovulation, but got progressively got more painful across the whole month as the cysts got bigger. Eventually had laparoscopy to remove them, and the other patches of endo that they found. I had to be on quite strong painkillers while I waited for the op, but they took the edge off as sleeping was difficult, so worth speaking to your GP about. Hope you get some answers soon.

Original poster
PeachF · 10/08/2023 19:25

@spiritowl thanks for sharing! Can endometriosis just come on then? I always thought it was something discovered when younger? I've never had anything like this before and had 3 healthy babies.

OP posts:
MintJulia · 10/08/2023 19:36

I had about 6 months of that sort of pain It turned out to be an ovarian dermoid that had to be removed surgically.

The pain started as a sort of general vague bloated feeling and built up over the months until it has painful all the time, and eventually I was in A&E at 3am begging for help.

Your gp sounds much better than mine was, and they'll track down the cause and deal with it.

Once removed, there was no recurrence and I subsequently went on to have ds.

spiritowl · 10/08/2023 19:48

@PeachF I think it depends as experiences vary, but I was early 30s, and suddenly had symptoms as the cysts got to a size where they started to cause pain. For lots of women it can take a while to diagnose correctly but they may have had ongoing issues for a while. With endo it never really goes though and the cysts can return. I hadn't had children and it had damaged a fallopian tube and ovaries so had to have IVF to have DS - which thankfully worked. I also know of friends who had similar pains, who also had had children and they were diagnosed with fibroids.

Original poster
PeachF · 10/08/2023 20:22

Ok so I can take from this that there are other things besides C that it could be which does help ease my mind a little! Thank you!

I just hope the ultrasound results don't take too long - the not knowing is awful.

OP posts:
Meg87 · 10/08/2023 20:38

@PeachPeachF I'm in a similarish situation, I've had a niggling pain where I imagine my right ovary is for a few months now and I have a pelvic ultrasound a week tomorrow. I too can't help but think the worst, though obviously there's a far greater chance it's something else (such as a cyst, as others have suggested).
Good luck tomorrow, please let us know how you get on!

Original poster
PeachF · 10/08/2023 20:48

@Meg87 horrible isn't it! Google has proved both helpful and put the fear of god in me!

Thank you, I will do. Best of luck to you too, hope everything is ok ☺️

OP posts:
Gaby5 · 10/08/2023 20:51

10% of women have endometriosis and pain that worsens at ovulation and/or TOTM is a key symptom.

Original poster
PeachF · 10/08/2023 21:31

@Gaby5 wow I didn't know that, thanks!

OP posts:
trevthecat · 10/08/2023 21:51

I gets cysts often. The one doing the ultrasound will tell you if they see anything, at least they always have with me

painochocolate · 10/08/2023 21:55

I get this and it's a cyst. Every time. I used to get it regularly but then since I had my child I can now take the pill and that helps me.

The cysts I get are harmless enough just painful, they develop over a blood supply or something. Anyway I have had frequent scans and everytime it's one of these

Edwardandtubbs · 10/08/2023 22:00

Same as PP - I had pain every cycle that got worse and worse until one day it got so bad I was just crying with it - this took about 6 months. It was a cyst.

But I also had endometriosis (diagnosed at 36) which in hindsight I'd always had but hadn't realised until the cyst.

Ultrasound will help. Be aware they might need to do an internal one but all my sonographers have been brilliant and made it ok - nowhere near as bad as a smear. Good luck 🤞

Original poster
PeachF · 10/08/2023 22:14

@trevthecat @painochocolate @Edwardandtubbs do they treat the cysts or just leave them then? Surely they don't expect you to just live with the pain?
I can't take hormonal contraception unfortunately.

OP posts:
Jingers5 · 10/08/2023 22:16

It may be pelvic congestion syndrome which can be very painful.

painochocolate · 10/08/2023 22:18

PeachF · 10/08/2023 22:14

@trevthecat @painochocolate @Edwardandtubbs do they treat the cysts or just leave them then? Surely they don't expect you to just live with the pain?
I can't take hormonal contraception unfortunately.

Mine resolve themselves. They monitor it and unless it's above a certain size they won't do anything. It will depend on what your cyst is if you have one though.

Pinkitydrinkity · 10/08/2023 22:18

Did you get your blood tested for your CA125 levels too?

It could be a lot of things - not automatically cancer ☺️

Edwardandtubbs · 11/08/2023 06:50

Mine was treated because it was a large chocolate cyst (sounds nice, isn't!) and they weren't 100% sure it wasn't cancer. My pain was severe and they knew by then I had endo. It does depend as pp have said.

trevthecat · 11/08/2023 06:52

Mine tend to resolve too but I get more. This has been ongoing for about 9 years, they say it's not pcos. It is worse with a coil in.

Original poster
PeachF · 11/08/2023 14:15

Little update, I went for the ultrasound today. The internal was a little uncomfortable but ok. My right ovary REALLY hurt when she was putting pressure on to look at it and I feel achy there now. She didn't tell me anything other than I should hear working the next 7-10 days. Pleased it's done and the wait shouldn't be too long. Thanks for all your comments, they were really reassuring ☺️ will update with results when I have them.

OP posts:
Meg87 · 11/08/2023 21:47

Hi @PeachF, thank you for updating us ☺️ glad it's done and out the way now. Hopefully you'll hear back soon. I was hoping the sonographer would be able to tell us what they see (if anything), rather than having to wait 7-10 days 😬

Original poster
PeachF · 12/08/2023 00:55

@Meg87 so did I! I was a bit disappointed but she did say they need to be looked at by a specialist so I guess that's why. Hopefully the results won't be too long though.

OP posts:
Meg87 · 15/08/2023 19:45

I had my scan today - it was meant to be Friday but they brought it forward to today, which I was pleased about! The sonographer also told me if they could see anything wrong while they were scanning me, and they said everything looked fine except that I have varicose veins, in my pelvis..! I've Googled it and it sounds like that could be causing the pain, as varicose veins can cause something called pelvic congestion syndrome which causes chronic pain. It doesn't sound like there's really any treatment for it (at least not on the NHS), and it's not serious so I suppose I'll just hope it goes away eventually!

Original poster
PeachF · 15/08/2023 20:10

@Meg87 wow I've never heard of that before! I'm glad you got to know what it was at the time though. Hopefully you can relax a little now and I hope the pain eases for you.

Now I'm a bit worried they didn't tell me anything, maybe it's not good news?? Blush

OP posts:
Moredarkchocolateplease · 15/08/2023 20:24

For those of you with persistent cysts, is there any way of preventing them?

I know I have them, had an ultrasound in December I had a 3.5cm cyst which had gone on follow up as expected.

But I seem to have them on both sides at the moment (I feel especially sore when I've emptied my bladder or if I've been sitting down for a while and then stand up, there's a sharp pulling and swollen sensation just inside my hip bones).

I don't want to go to GP, I am not worried about cancer or anything, but I would like to know if I can prevent them!

Moredarkchocolateplease · 15/08/2023 20:25

@PeachF my sonographer showed me the screen when she scanned me, however she was a doctor and I had the scan privately, so perhaps that made a difference.

As she pushed the scanning wand in one direction she wanted to know if it hurt as that's where the cyst was!