ovarian pain

[Louise]

I am a 46 year old woman that has bcome peri-menopausal the last couple of years.  Was put on birth control pill for awhile to help with hot flashes but had abnormal mammograms, so decided to go off the pill after about six months.  About the same time as being put on the pill I started having left sided ovarian pain.  It is not all the time.  It can be bad at times and even wake me, or hurt to bend over or get out of bed even.  It seems to me that alot of times I will get my period a couple weeks after the ovarian pain starts, but not always.  I have had numerous exams while having the pain (all normal).  Also an ultrasound (two years ago) which turned up nothing unusual in the left ovary.  After the normal utltrasound my doctor had me go in for a CT scan of abdominal area (again normal). One year ago she had me go in for a colonoscopy (normal).  I have come to the conclusion that maybe I shouldn't worry about the ovarain pain since all tests come back normal.  I now notice that as I am getting older and less active that when I sit in the tub or on the toilet that the left lower part of stomach seems larger than right.  Could this be related to my ovarian problems or do we all have bodies that are "not even" everywhere?  If not for the ovarian pain I have had, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of my stomach appearing larger on left side.  Maybe it was always like this and I just never noticed because I used to be in better shape.  Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

[Forum-M.D.-DT]

Thank you for visiting the Family Practice Forum.

You mention you appear to have the pain in your Left side near where your ovary might be. This pain occurs somewhere "in between" your menses which would support the theory of an ovarian cyst. When an egg is realeased from the ovary each month a small amount of fluid may be released along with it. This is what causes the pain with ovarian cysts.

You certainly have had quite a few tests which all appear to be normal. This is very reassuring and you are correct in your assumption that our bodies are not "symmetric". You mention that an ultrasound was normal 2 years ago, has it been repeated?

Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD) is a disease of reproductive age women marked by irregular, infrequent menses (oligomenorrhea) and/or lack of menstruation (amenorrhea).  This condition may be also marked by infertility, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, abdominal pain, obesity, hirsuitism (excessive hairiness), enlarged ovaries, acne or deepening of the voice.  Laboratory diagnosis will reveal elevated LH (leutenizing hormone) and somewhat low FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) as well as increased testosterone, increased estrone, progesterone and dihydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Other blood tests including serum glucose (to rule out diabetes) or a "dexamethasone suppression test" (to rule out Cushing's disease) should be considered by the physician examining the patient with presumed PCOD.  Ovaries may be enlarged with a smooth glistening capsule and pelvic ultrasound will reveal enlarged ovaries with one or more associated cysts. Several treatments are availiable. If large cysts are present and are causing abdominal pain, laparascopic removal of these cyst(s) may be indicated. Provera (progesterone) may be prescribed to stimulate cyclic withdrawl bleeding or low dose oral contraceptive may be prescribed to help return menses to a "regular" pattern. Other treatments include the use of follicle stimulating hormone or human gonadotropins.
I am not sure what the "abnormality" was on your mammogram. Certainly one wouldn't advise taking estrogen/progesterone with a history of breast cancer, but from what you are telling me, the abnormality was not cancer but possibly a cyst or some calcium deposits. These conditions would not be cause to necessarily avoid the use of oral contraceptives/hormones. Speak with your doctor about possibly starting some time of hormone replacement to help control what appears to be pain coming from the ovary.

I hope this proves to be helpful
Dean M. Tomasello, M.D.

[Will Scarlet]

I also had mid month ovarian pain that was extremely painful and would wake me,  I would be doubled over in pain. Sharp shooting stabbing pain.  I had all kinds of tests, even laporoscopy.  Everything was normal.  My Dr. gave me injections to stop my periods and in that three months, I had NO PAIN.  So this proved it to be hormonal.  At any rate, after my periods stopped , so did the pain.  HOpe this helps you some.  :)

[Louise]

I still have the pain, with no sign of a period.  The pain has let up in the last few days though.  Went back to my doctor.  She did a physical and said everything felt fine.  I am having a pelvic ultrasound in a couple weeks.  If that is normal, is there anything else that I should have done, or chalk this up to chronic pelvic pain at that point?

[suz'anne]

HELP!!! all of you ladies sound similar, however, I am just lost as to why I have these terrible pain...
I am 36 yrs old, I have had for the past 3-4 months severe pain in what seems to be the "ovary" area.... it is usually on my right side, now my left... it starts in front and rotates to the center of my buttock.... I can't bend, stretch my leg, anything, without terrible pain... just had a testosterone level, and LH and FSH level drawn... all in NL range!
Does anyone have any words of wisdom...
thanks

[Tomasello_MD]

I can't tell you how commonly I hear women present with these symtpoms. Really, alot of what the last to poster are describing (Louise, Suz'Anne) makes me think of ovarian cysts. These are really common and can be quite painful. If you really want to find out for sure what is going on, a Pelvic Ultrasound is the test to get. Ovarian cysts can easily be missed even with a very thorough physical exam. You want your answer, get an ultrasound, if the ultrasound is "normal", let me know.

Dr. Tomasello

[Louise]

My pelvic ultrsound was normal.  They said everything looked great.  I had the colonoscopy a year ago, so it can't be that either.  Can this type of pain start with perimenopause?  It seems like that is when all of this started for me.  Or is there something else I should have checked out?

[ellege]

I am a few days short of my 29th birthday. I have moved to San Francisco from Southern California, and have had a real tough time finding a doctor who will take me as new patient, being that i have an HMO. I have not found a doctor who I have feel comfortable with, knowing that he/she has done everything to releave my concerns and tackle any/all of the symptoms.
I have had a pain on what seems to be my left side just over my ovary.. i know this because in 93 I had an ovarian cyst removed, and the scars help in identifying. I had test done with my family doctor, he said he saw alot of white cells under the microscope. I had a normal pap smear. Syphilis, and HIV were both (-), and the Chlamydia test was (-) as well. In the culture, they found (genitaliac), which shows Gardnerella Vaginalis.
My question(s) are...
[] Can this be the cause of my pain?
[] Is it contagious?
[] Cause other future problems? HIV?
[] Can it be endometriosis? (2 sisters and my mother have all had surgery to remove some of it to conceive)
I now have that stabbing pain that doubles me over as i walk, then subsides to nothing. Now i have pain on the right side, and i can feel aching in my lower back. Is this a symptom?
[] What else could it be?

Thank you for your wisdom!
Liza

[lorenda]

I am 37 years old and I too have this pain. Mine began right after I had my tubal. I think my egg hits that dead end and sits there and thumps trying to get to the other side, haha. The  pain, if it starts at night, wakes me up. It hurts to stand up straight, walk or sit. It usually occurs on my right side, and it is always 2 weeks before my period, just like clock work. If I had this before my tubal I wouldn't have needed a tubal. I would have known when I was ovulating and when not to have sex.

[Mari S.]

I found this website/page while looking for answers for the
ovarian pain that I am having.  I have it bilateral, and as
mentioned, wakes you up at night and can double you over in
pain.
Unfortunately, I have an HMO for medical Ins.  and they
hardly take more than 5 mins asking questions and do very
little in finding out what is the problem.
I have had ultrasounds done and nothing was indicated.
What else should I ask the doctor to look for, I am already
on HRT and perimenopausal for several years now.  I do
still have a period every 30 or 35 days or so.  But I do
find that my pain lasts most of the month and is only
quiet about 1 week a month or so.  My Hmo has a way
of making you feel like an idiot when you question them.

please any and all help for direction is appreciated.
Mari

[Ketta]

Women, request a CA-125 test.

I had all of the symptoms listed here for over a year. I saw 10 different doc.s! One for the back aches, three OBGYNs for the "ovarian pain", and another for terrrible headaches. I had one OBGYN say, "some girls hurt more than others.." I was blown off a lot. Turns out, I had ovarian cancer that was overlooked. I had "normal" paps. and ultrasounds, and pelvic exams 4 days prior to getting my blood test results. I am 28 years old, no one suspected ovarian cancer. This can behave like IBS too, get a CA-125 test. Keep going to the doc.s until someone listens.

[smokeater]

What is this test?  Please tell me more!  I am 25 years old.  They have told me they suspect me of endometriosis, but I don't think so.  I had an untrasound about I think a year or so ago and it showed a mass on my right ovary.  They then sent me for a CT scan which it showed up there as well.  I have never had menstral cycles and I haven't had a period since december of of 2000 and I am not on any birth control or anything that would hinder me having one.  It just all of a sudden stopped.  I have had some unusual paps but not abnormal per say.  Should I be concerned of cancer?  Not one of my doctors have ever mentioned cancer before, and I have never considered the possibility.  Where would I go for such testing?  They never sent me for further testing, not even a biopsy, they just told me it was endometriosis, and I left it at that until here recently I discivered that you could only clinically diagnose that through laproscopic surgery.  Can you give me some more info?  Thanks!:-)

Smokeater!

[Ketta]

Smokeater, you can request this blood test from your family OBGYN. If they saw a "mass" on an ultrasound and were not concerned, sounds like it was not appearing to be cancer-like. My mass was considered "cancer-like" on an ultrasound, and the blood test was ordered right after that. Not having any cycle would not be indicative of cancer, I believe. I had the opposite, I had more cycle than was normal.
You might have PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome. I also have PCOS and prior to my cancer I would not have periods, then when I was having many, I got worried. But still, doc.s ignored me for over a year. Keep asking questions.

[smokeater]

Thanks so much.  I feel some what better now.  I will ask my doc tomorrow about it.  I know I could never carry kids well.  I took me a long time to get pregnant with all my kids and had alot of miscarriages.  I just have a whole lot of problems there so I think I will push harder to get them to try and find whats wrong.  I will post under this Q+A when I hear something on it ok?  Thanks again, you have been a real help to me.  Thanks for lifting my spirits some and steering me in some sort of a direction at;east.

Smokeater.

[louisa]

I am 19 years old and a bit worried. Recently I have come off the pill (microgynon 30) after 5 years and since then have been experiencing slight pain over my right ovary. It is not constant but usually happens if I try to reach something or bend down.
I have also had some slight pains in my ankles and been feeling a bit cloudy in my head with a slight feeling of pressure on top of my head. I have made an appointment with my doctor but it isn't for another two weeks. Please help!!!

[eurika]

I am almost 28 and went to the doctor for fatigue and pelvic pain.  I figured it was cysts on my remaining ovary (I had a hysterectomy last yr. and all thats left is cervix and left ovary).  They found last Aug.2001 that I had multipul cysts on this ovary and waited 3 mon. and did another sono, and still had small cysts.  So, 2 months ago I go into the doc, with the pain and fatigue, and sent for sono and they found 3 simple cysts and one complex cyst on the ovary.  Doc said to wait 6 weeks and now I had another sono and not only do I have even more multipul cysts on the ovary, but the complex cyst hasn't gone away like the doc said that it probably would.  It has gotten another half an inch bigger over 6 weeks and the sono lady told me that around the complex cyst there were multipul cysts clumped around it and she couldn't tell if the complex was still itself complex, or it was cysts on top of cysts, or a cyst inside of a cyst.  She said it was difficult to tell and the radiologist would look at it and determine the findings and then compare it with the sono from 6 weeks prior.  Is this something that I should be concerned about?  I have had chronic cysts for years now, and this is my first complex cyst.  My doc seems to think that because I so young that the chances of it being cancerous is not likely.  Now I am waiting on this last sono to go to my doc, and she get back to me on the final findings, and the next step.  It hasn't gone away and has gotten a little larger.  Any one else ever dealt with complex ovarian cysts?  Let me know.

[Denmark]

I too am having all the symptoms as noted.  My pap test came back normal but the doc did tell me that my uterus was very enlarged and took several biopsies he is also sending me for an ultrasound.  Anybody know anything about enlarged uterus what are the common causes, I am very worried.  Any information would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[eurika]

When my doctor felt that my uterus was somewhat enlarged, it ended up being that I had-Adenomyosis.  This is a condition where endometrial tissue that normally is found in the uterus, grows down into the uterine wall,and muscle.  There, it continues to multiply EVERY month(stimulated by hormones). Do you have heavy periods? Spotting? Painfull cramping during cycle, and after menses begins? If so, ask your doc about Adenomyosis.  Also, I am not a doc, but I think some other causes of enlarged uterus could be; Pregnancy, and fibroids.  Ask for a MRI, or a sono w/ saline enjected into uterus. This helps see inside the uterus better.  Hope this helps.  Let me know how it turns out.

[tilton]

I have expierenced ovarian pain mid cycle for many years (about 12 that I can remember). I have four children, four cesarians and on the last had a tubal, my youngest is almost 3.  I feel like after about 3 months after his birth on my right side things have not been right!!  First I thought I felt I might have a hernia ruled out. Then cysts, yes I had many cysts the Doctor called it poly cystic ovary.  Followed up with an ultrasound and they dissapeared.  When I expierence this my right hip hurts and I feel fullness in the rectum, He did say during the exam that he felt hemmroids but they only seem to bother me when I get the ovarian pain and my hip starts to hurt?  What do you suggest? could I keep getting cysts, is it scar tissue from all my surgeries causing pain pressing on organs?  What does it sound like?  It can be really bothersome at times and quite unnerving not knowing.

[tilton]

I have expierenced ovarian pain mid cycle for many years (about 12 that I can remember). I have four children, four cesarians and on the last had a tubal, my youngest is almost 3.  I feel like after about 3 months after his birth on my right side things have not been right!!  First I thought I felt I might have a hernia ruled out. Then cysts, yes I had many cysts the Doctor called it poly cystic ovary.  Followed up with an ultrasound and they dissapeared.  When I expierence this my right hip hurts and I feel fullness in the rectum, He did say during the exam that he felt hemmroids but they only seem to bother me when I get the ovarian pain and my hip starts to hurt?  What do you suggest? could I keep getting cysts, is it scar tissue from all my surgeries causing pain pressing on organs?  What does it sound like?  It can be really bothersome at times and quite unnerving not knowing.