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Original poster

Many breast cysts found - advice please

60 replies

whimsicalmoon · 07/12/2023 15:51

Hoping for some advice and opinions here!

I'm late thirties and recently noticed some pain in one breast a week or two ago and put it down to pre-period pain, which I've had before, but it didn't really go away once my period was finished. I checked my boob with my fingers, which I don't normally do, and thought I felt a lump. Of course, once I'd felt it, I knew I wouldn't be able to relax, and the earliest GP appointment I could get was 19th December. I knew Christmas would be ruined if I spent it worrying about having cancer, so I decided to go ahead and just booked a private ultrasound so I'd know either way. I had it a few days ago. The good news was I was told it definitely wasn't cancer, the bad news is that I had over 30 cysts in one breast and quite a few in the other. They told me that is a lot of cysts, and having searched around on here a bit, it seems like most women have maybe 10-12 at most, not 30.

The doctor was extremely unclear with me - he told me it was nothing to worry about but also told me to get a GP referral for the breast clinic. I asked why, as obviously I was concerned he thought there was something wrong. He told me it wouldn't be an urgent referral and that it would just be about possibly draining the cysts. I would really, really rather not be stuck on yet another NHS waiting list with my life on hold unless it's really necessary (I've just spent an entire year being investigated for everything under the sun - entire year has been a miserable write-off), and I couldn't really get a straight answer out of him. He was about to go to a meeting and was really rushing me to get out. So now I have no idea what to do. Has anyone else had as many cysts as this? Is 30 a cause for concern? I asked what would cause them, and he said it was hormonal. I asked why they might need to be drained/removed and he said they could cause damage to my breast tissue if something were to hit me in the chest or something like that.

Would what you do if you were me? If I were to get a 2WW referral from my GP, and I went for another scan, would they aspirate the cysts there and then if necessary, or would I be stuck waiting months? Is it common for them to be aspirated? Is it no big deal to have that done or are there side effects to consider? Has anyone had this many cysts and had them spontaneously resolve? Any advice would be great!

OP posts:
Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 10:02

Josette77 · 16/12/2023 21:50

I've never shared cysts with insurance. Why would you? If you had cystic acne would you report that? They are literally no big deal. You are being a bit dramatic at this point.

If you're on the waiting list for tests or investigations, you can invalidate your insurance if you don't inform them. Many insurers won't insure you at all in this situation. My last insurer cancelled my policy when I told them I was on a waiting list. If I'd travelled and needed to claim for any medical reason, and they went through my records and saw I was waiting for tests I hadn't told them about, they could have refused to pay out at all, for anything.

I also think it's ridiculous, but I don't think people realise what insurance companies are like.

OP posts:
MrsMorrisey · 17/12/2023 10:15

But if you're not making a claim. Why does it matter?
Just don't say anything and go 🤦‍♀️

Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 10:37

I feel like I'm going round and round in a terrible spiral. The reason I paid for the private appointment was so that I could be reassured that it wasn't cancer and could happily arrange my travels and my life as planned for the new year. The doctor wasn't particularly reassuring and kept saying I needed to go to the breast clinic to get the cysts aspirated. He panicked me by saying that if had any injury (like someone elbowing me) that it could cause damage if a cyst burst or something, or if the cyst hit tissue and damaged it. Is this something to worry about? He really made me feel like it was. So then because I'm anxious, I started worrying that something could happen when I was away, and I did not want to be dealing with a burst cyst or any issue in the US. I would have thought this was extremely unlikely, but once the idea is in your head, it worries you. I think the demeanour of that doctor is the main reason for my anxiety - he wasn't really reassuring and kept pointing out I had "so many" cysts, almost as if it were my fault? Or as if it was really abnormal. I felt like I was being scolded somehow, and it made me feel very anxious and worried, as did his insistence on me going to the breast clinic.

I also saw a few comments here that made me think I really needed a mammogram to be safe. I'd have very happily just gone on my trip and worried about the cysts later, but now I feel like it would be irresponsible not to be seen.

I'm sorry people think I'm being over the top but my mental health is in the toilet. I've had over a year of health issues, waiting lists, scans, lost relatives, friends...the only thing keeping me going was the thought of my sabbatical and getting away. I thought I was doing the right thing by getting a private scan asap so I could still go, and not have to worry, and it's somehow turned into more stress.

OP posts:
Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 10:43

MrsMorrisey · 17/12/2023 10:15

But if you're not making a claim. Why does it matter?
Just don't say anything and go 🤦‍♀️

I don't know if I might have to make a claim! What's the point of having insurance if it's not valid? I'm not following your train of thought.

BTW I also had no idea insurance was like this. I used to just write down my existing conditions and go merrily on my way. I had no idea that waiting for a diagnosis or for tests was any kind of problem, but it's in the customer's best interest to make sure they're covered.

OP posts:
YoullCatchYourDeathInTheFog · 17/12/2023 10:45

You won't invalidate your insurance if you don't tell them you're being investigated for cysts and then have a heart attack/fall down the stairs and need to claim. The ombudsman would crucify them, and they'd never find out anyway.

Honestly, relax. You have literally nothing to worry about: you have a trivial but uncomfortable hormonal condition, which can sometimes mimic the symptoms of a more serious condition, which you've had professionally ruled out.

IME my NHS breast clinic has always mamogrammed/ultrasounded and aspirated cysts in the course of a single visit, but the one time I went private (because my NHS appointment letter had got lost!) they didn't offer on the spot aspiration at all.

Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 10:55

I do feel a bit reassured by seeing comments here that the cysts are unlikely to burst and it's very unlikely I'll have an issue, and that it's unlikely it's anything more serious than what the doctor saw. I had thought that a mammogram was more sensitive than an ultrasound, so I thought I still had a risk of something being picked up, but now it seems like it's the other way around?

I've been trying not to google because of my anxiety, so that's why I'm not clued up on mammogram vs ultrasound.

OP posts:
Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 10:59

YoullCatchYourDeathInTheFog · 17/12/2023 10:45

You won't invalidate your insurance if you don't tell them you're being investigated for cysts and then have a heart attack/fall down the stairs and need to claim. The ombudsman would crucify them, and they'd never find out anyway.

Honestly, relax. You have literally nothing to worry about: you have a trivial but uncomfortable hormonal condition, which can sometimes mimic the symptoms of a more serious condition, which you've had professionally ruled out.

IME my NHS breast clinic has always mamogrammed/ultrasounded and aspirated cysts in the course of a single visit, but the one time I went private (because my NHS appointment letter had got lost!) they didn't offer on the spot aspiration at all.

Thank you! This is reassuring. Do they give you the option of whether you want the cysts aspirated? Is there any downside to aspirating them? The one I originally was worried about is fairly big (between 1 and 2 inches) and quite painful, so I'd quite like it gone if possible!

OP posts:
Cantbeardarknights · 17/12/2023 11:11

They’ll usually aspirate cysts if they’re particularly uncomfortable and it’s quick and painless. I find it rather fascinating watching them collapse. They won’t aspirate them all though. There is no need to. In your 30’s an ultrasound tends to be more accurate. The ultrasound would have picked up any abnormal lumps they could see and they only picked up cysts.

Mammograms are usually done first and pick up abnormalities which are then given an ultrasound to see if those abnormalities are cysts or not. You have had the main bit in that you know that any visible lumps are fine. A mammogram is often not even given in your 30’s it is often just an ultrasound. In your case the only thing a mammogram could potentially show, and is very unlikely to how given your age, is a very very early small cancer or pre cancer. If in the unlikely event this happens it will have been caught incredibly early and will be completely treatable and curable. There is absolutely nothing to impact on your holiday and travel plans

I have been going backwards and forwards with cysts since i was 32 and am now 50. In all that time the only thing seen on mammogram not on ultrasound was when i was 48 where a completely benign calcification which come with age was seen and in a follow up a year later it was entirely normal yet the cysts were still coming and going including one so huge it deformed the shape of my breast. The plus side was I had had so many of them I didn’t panic and I just went to get all 50ml if it aspirated.

Original poster
whimsicalmoon · 17/12/2023 17:28

Cantbeardarknights · 17/12/2023 11:11

They’ll usually aspirate cysts if they’re particularly uncomfortable and it’s quick and painless. I find it rather fascinating watching them collapse. They won’t aspirate them all though. There is no need to. In your 30’s an ultrasound tends to be more accurate. The ultrasound would have picked up any abnormal lumps they could see and they only picked up cysts.

Mammograms are usually done first and pick up abnormalities which are then given an ultrasound to see if those abnormalities are cysts or not. You have had the main bit in that you know that any visible lumps are fine. A mammogram is often not even given in your 30’s it is often just an ultrasound. In your case the only thing a mammogram could potentially show, and is very unlikely to how given your age, is a very very early small cancer or pre cancer. If in the unlikely event this happens it will have been caught incredibly early and will be completely treatable and curable. There is absolutely nothing to impact on your holiday and travel plans

I have been going backwards and forwards with cysts since i was 32 and am now 50. In all that time the only thing seen on mammogram not on ultrasound was when i was 48 where a completely benign calcification which come with age was seen and in a follow up a year later it was entirely normal yet the cysts were still coming and going including one so huge it deformed the shape of my breast. The plus side was I had had so many of them I didn’t panic and I just went to get all 50ml if it aspirated.

Edited

Thanks for the info! So I was right about there still being a tiny possibility of a mammogram finding something serious...that's what really made me spiral. I'm sure I sound totally crazy, but I've just had such a dreadful, exhausting, sad year that everything is setting me off right now. My godmother was diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year, having gone to the doctor expecting to be reassured, and she died a few months later, so I think that's having an impact on my mental health around this issue as well. I'm extremely isolated and have a lot of time to dwell on things, so that isn't helping either.

I think I come across as extremely relaxed and laid back in person, and that can cause doctors to think I'm not taking things seriously, when in fact I am absolutely panicking in my head. This isn't the first time I've had a doctor really scare me with a throwaway comment. Maybe I need to find some kind of solution to this, I don't know what though.

I'm trying to tell myself I've done the right thing by trying to get it sorted, I was right not to just ignore it, I'll do as advised and go to the clinic and maybe get the larger cysts aspirated, and hopefully it will be OK.

OP posts:
Josette77 · 18/12/2023 00:21

You'll be perfectly fine. 💝 I have health anxiety too but this is a non issue. I know breast things can be scary though.

Get the painful one aspirated when you can. It may just shrink on its own. I suggest ice packs and peppermint oil.

You'll be good. Your doctor was ridiculous. Enjoy your trip and I have never heard of a breast cyst bursting and as I said I have too many to count.

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