Ovarian pain from CD11 to CD1

ABumpyGal · 03-18-2006, 02:58 AM

Hello Ladies

I'll be seeing my GYN next week if I have to sit in their office and scream (busy office; long story!), but I'd like some input before I go so I can be prepared. Not to mention I'd love some insight into what is going on!

I've been ovulating since December, thanks to the supplement N-Acetyl-Cysteine, or NAC. I was on BCP then and ovulation was just a bit uncomfy. I went off of BCP in February and since then I've been having a horrid time with ovarian pain. I've now pin-pointed it to precisely CD11 all the way until AF. In other words, just as my "fertile period" arrives three days before ovulation my lone functioning left ovary starts hurting. It gets worse and worse during those two weeks until finally my entire belly becomes hard, painful, and bloated. One month it was so bad I could see a lump in my lower left quadrant near my hipbone! I could also feel it "pressing" up against the inside of my back that month. The pain suddenly worsened just after AF and (TMI AHEAD!!) I had copious amounts of this bizarre discharge that looked to me like cheap, thin, white hair conditioner.

I went to my GP at that time, as my GYN is simply impossible. I was afraid I had an infection. Sadly only the physician's assistant was there and she isn't trained to do gynecological exams, but she said from my symptoms it didn't sound like any sort of infection and that I should see my GYN

All of this is new to me, as I've only ovulated once while not on BCP (which, oddly, often can allow me to ovulate). So I have no idea what is going on! I have the knowledge of the menstrual cycle of your average 10 year old boy. I just now learned how to properly chart my full cycles for crying out loud! None of that ever had any meaning to me personally, except AFs. So I'm totally ignorant here.

Has anyone ever had anything similar? I get nervous during doctors appointments, and having some ideas to throw at them would help tons!

Thanks so much!

Dana

Btrflybeetle · 03-19-2006, 07:10 AM

Dana,

I'm actually experienceing a lot of pain in my left ovary as well and I'm not sure what to do..it seems drs don't do anything these days...you'd think they would do a sonagram...something to look at the ovary! I got online here to see if anyone knew what to do about my situation as well. I'm debating on paging my Dr tonight (on a weekend) but fear that he'll just tell me to go to the ER and last time i went there..all they did was give me a pregnancy test..50 bicks for a test I could have done at home by myself!! I'll keep you posted because I don't know what you think, but I KNOW something is going on with my left ovary. My DRs have mentioned endometriosis and I'm suppossed to have some sort of minor surgery to determine if that is what it is. They said pelvic pain indicates endometriosis..but it doesn't so much feel like pelvic pain as it does just that one ovary!! U know?? Is it the same for u?

ABumpyGal · 03-20-2006, 01:34 AM

Hi Corey,
Sorry you hurt like this, too! Well, I do have Endometriosis. If they offer to do a Laparoscopic procedure on you to look for it and remove it, do it! It's really a minor procedure (and I'm surgery chicken!) and it's so worth it, as they get to peer around your insides really well. So even if you don't have Endo, they can look for other issues while they are in there with the scope.

I can't believe you went to the ER and all they did was give you a pregnancy test! Oh, I would have given them the chair!

You would think the least they would do is an ultrasound or something!

I'm so hoping my problem isn't the Endo again! I'm not ruling it out, obviously, but this is definitely a different pain than I had with the Endo. Plus I'm not having any of the other symptoms I had with my Endo the first time (horridly heavy periods, post-coital bleeding, loooong periods, etc.). My Endo would get worse with my period, and this actually eases with my period. It only started when I began ovulating. I'm fully prepared to drop that supplement and stop ovulating (believe me!), but as my last GYN undiagnosed my PCOS, without bloodwork or anything, just because my ovaries are "enlarged" and not "cystic" I feel this may be key to getting things figured out again. From all of the symptoms I'm having I really do think I'm having ovarian cysts of some form. Which, of course, wouldn't be surprising!

I hope you can get things figured out!

Wouldn't you know it's supposed to snow here this week! I don't care. I'll trudge to the GYN if I have to!!!
Dana

DiamondInTheRough · 03-20-2006, 02:13 AM

Wow Ladies, I've been experiencing this exact pain as well, and on my left side! Today was CD23 for me, and I've been having this pain for a good few weeks now as well. I'm going for an u/s on Tuesday.

ABumpyGal · 03-20-2006, 06:40 PM

Oh no! Not you too Diamond

I somehow feared I wouldn't be alone in this.

I did some reading about "luteal phase" cysts this morning. Lucky for us, unless our symptoms are severe (as in shock, fever, extreme pain) they usually shrink on their own in 1-3 months, or with BCP. Mine isn't as bad this month, so I do think it's on its way out. I still want my GYN to get a feel of this, so I can look Mr. "Oh you can't have PCOS without cystic ovaries" right in the face and smirk. But I'm vengeful like that! Oh, and I want those BCP so this doesn't happen anymore!

It's so important to get these checked out though! Do a little 'net searching on "ovarian cyst" and see why. They can be dangerous once they are hurting and bothering you. Plus it might not be a cyst at all, but many other things. I'm calling today to beg for an appointment later this week. I figure she'll be nice and ripe by then, as I was due to ovulate on Saturday, but believe I am trying to now.

Good luck on your ultrasound on Tuesday Diamond! I hope it goes well for you!

Dana

DiamondInTheRough · 03-20-2006, 09:43 PM

Thanks Dana - I do hope it's something that'll go away on its own. The last thing I want is to go back on BCP right now, heh. I've been on Met since January.

Take care, and I'll keep you posted, for sure!

ABumpyGal · 03-21-2006, 12:13 AM

Have I told you lately how much I hate my GYN?!

It's a very busy practice, as they are great at some things. Just not PCOS. I've been calling for, get this, three months trying to get into these people. Busy signal. The luck of the Gods was with me today and after sitting on hold for 15 minutes I actually spoke to a receptionist! Hooray!! I told her my problem, she agreed it was an "emergency" and told me to call "the other office tomorrow after 12:30, as her schedule is tighter here. She might be able to see you next week"

I swear if I didn't hurt so badly I'd go up there and give them the chair just for that!

If she hadn't admitted that it was an "emergency", I wouldn't be so angry. I mean, is that any way to treat an admitted "emergency"???! I told her I've been trying to get in touch with them for three months! Geeze. This is the same practice that always berates me for not coming in when I have 3 month long periods, etc. "As we always keep emergency appointments open. Please call next time!". Shyeah right! They have 5 doctors there and I even said I'd see any available. "Oh, they're even more busy with OB cases right now. Sorry." Feh!

So now I'm debating on the ER. Our ER isn't the best, especially my gynecological emergency experiences there. I guess I'll wait and see what they tell me tomorrow before I take that step. I've survived this long, I suppose another week or two won't kill me. I hope!! I'm pretty sure it's just a benign cyst, however.

I hope everyone's luck is going better than mine! At least my pain isn't as bad this month. I'm thankful for that!
Dana

ABumpyGal · 03-21-2006, 08:08 PM

Aha! I finally caught the wiley receptionist at the right office!

Sadly the soonest I could been seen is Monday at 2:45, but hey, it's something. Of course I was saving my "under the chin hairs" to show her as proof of my hirsutism, and partner and I were hoping to hobble our way out this weekend. I wonder if chin hairs can be seen in a dark night club?

I'll be sure to let you fellow hurting ovary ladies know what she says. I have a feeling it will be just, "Here, take these", as she shoves more BCP my way. But I'll take them at this point! I just want Demulen or something similar, as I've done well on that in the past. The Levulen and Seasonale (repackaged Levulen, really) made my PCOS symptoms much worse! No more!!

I'm still bringing my chair, just in case!

No more levonorgestrel!
Dana

DiamondInTheRough · 03-22-2006, 02:38 AM

Well, I had my u/s, and of course the technician can't say anything during. But at one point, I was asked how my bowel movements have been! Ugh!! Now of course that has me thinking a million and one things, and the fact that I had a problem with my bowels over the weekend does not help!! I'll know more by Friday hopefully.

ABumpyGal · 03-29-2006, 03:50 PM

Before I update... sorry they didn't find anything Diamond

I'd be worried to death if the tech asked me that question as well, but chances are s/he maybe saw something, er, "backed up" in there? If it were the other side of the equation I'd probably be calling them demanding answers!! I hope everything is ok!

I finally managed to see my wiley doctor, but it was actually worth it! I told her all about my symptoms, showed her my saved beard under my chin, told her I had been diagnosed with PCOS by at least three different doctors that I could remember and that the head doctor at the practice had "un-diagnosed" me during my Endometriosis Lap. She quickly flips through my chart and says, "Well of course you didn't have cysts! You had been on BCP for over six months by the time he saw your ovaries!" Which is one thing I'd been thinking for a while. She seemed pretty agitated about this!

She does a very brief exam, as let's face it, she knew what was going on by this point. She tells me there is still some of that annoying discharge going on

It could be either my PMS "mini-yeast infection" I tend to get, as I haven't been experiencing that horrid, never-ending flow of basically nothing discharge. I think I'd notice that! She took a sample to send to the lab, which I won't know the results for until Thursday. At least I'm not worried, as my relationship has gone from "monogamous" to "celibate" thanks to all of the pain I've been in!

So she palpates my right ovary; just tickles like normal. Uterus; oh dear, I have to pee, but normal. Left ovary? I hit the ceiling!! Yow, that hurt! It was down to just a mild ache when I walked in there. I can't imagine if she had tried that at the height of my pain! She said she felt "pea-sized cysts" along the edge. "Very typical for a PCOS woman, if not a bit large in size". Her best guess is that one or more (most likely the group) of those cysts was once huge and they are now shrinking back to what passes for normal.

She's very upset about the state of my skin disease, Hidradenitis Suppurativa, and was going on about how do I even sit with "all of that down there". When I sat up, I gave her a printed out copy of a study linking HS to androgens. I tell her the high-androgen BCP I've been on for the past six years have made the HS, and all of the PCOS symptoms, much, much worse. She was downright steamed!!! She said I was a "classic case of PCOS" and would like to run more bloodwork at my next visit, but is downright angry that my case was treated so poorly. She gave me Yasmin, the BCP I was hoping for, and I'll see her in a month.

So no definitive cause for the cysts, but I did get my proper diagnosis back, a more fitting BCP (I hope!), and my faith in at least one GYN has been restored! I hope the Yasmin sets me straight

I hope everything is going ok Corey! Keep pushing your doctors!!!
Dana