Help

I am a 41 yease old in great physical shape no family history of any cancer one daughter and was told that I have a cyst on my right ovary during a routine exam.  My GYN did not appear to be overly concerned.  I am not experiencing any pain or discumfort.... I am concerned because I have been taking birth control med for several years (low dose).  How can a cyst form if I am not ovulating?  Dose this make me a higher risk of cancer....I was told that the majority of cyst complex or solid are rarely cancer.  I have an ultrsound scheduled for Thursday, however,my husband is going crazy and has not slept for thee days.  His mother recently died from lung cancer and he thinks the worse.  

Di  

[jms_9967]

I know it's easier said than done, but try not to panic.  Cysts are very common and the fact that your gyn wasn't overly concerned, along with the fact you have no history of cancer in your family is great.  You've received the correct info---only a small percentage of cysts are cancerous.  Your doctor is doing the right thing by having you go for an ultrasound to take a closer look just to be on the safe side.  Regarding your question about the birth control making you at a higher risk---I haven't heard that to be the case, but there are other women on this forum who have much more experience and knowledge about this topic who may respond on this.

I am 40 and recently had a 12 cm complex cyst removed along with my right ovary.  Like you, I had no pain from it.  I agree that the waiting and wondering part is awful---for about 2 months all I did was stress about whether or not it was cancer.  Many of the women on this forum shared their own stories with me and thankfully I was in the vast majority---my cyst turned out to be completely benign.  Wait until Thursday and see what the ultrasound shows.  Depending on the size of your cyst, you doctor may wait and check it again in another two months or so--many times smaller cysts (especially if they are fluid filled) go away on their own.  Please let us know what you find out.

[nyc lady]

Most doctors do not perform surgery to remove ovarian cysts until they are between 5 and 6 cms as at that point they can begin to twist and create problems....let's see what happens when the results of the ultrasound come back.  Most Ovarian Cysts are benign.  Ovarian Cancer is considered a rare disease.

Birth control pills are said to reduce the risk of being diagnosised with Ovarian Cancer as they prevent ovulation....breast feeding, age at which children were born, number of children are all said to reduce the risk.

Remember the pill is 100 percent effective, women have gotten pregnant while on the pill, so, there is still a chance that you might have ovulated...try not to panic unless you know that something is wrong.

Good luck and let us know how the sono goes.

[Anna-maria74]

Which pill were you taking. You still ovulate with the progesterone only pill (mini pill) which is what I was on when developing mine. In fact unlike the combination pill you have a slightly 'increased' risk whilst on the mini pill.

Anna X

[Di144]

I am currently taking ortho triyclen low.. low dose combination.  I posted the following information early this morning... I can only pray that my ultrsound is fine today.

I could not sleep again last evening and was doing some research on ovarian cyst and low dose birth control.  Several interesting abstracts have been written lately.   This information may help others in similar situation.... I am feeling more optimistic!

Di

(Abstract Information)
First, I found some numbers regarding the incidence of functional cysts on low-dose contraceptives. There's only a 28% reduction in functional cysts compared to women on no hormonal contraception.

Second, it appears that low dose contraceptives do however reduce the probability of OC