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How fast does a dermoid cyst grow?

I was recently told by my gyn that I have a 5cm dermoid cyst on my left ovary.  I had an ultrasound in Nov. 05 because of pain on my left side.  I was told that I just had some small cysts.  I also was told I had a fatty liver.  My doctor said we will just watch the fatty liver but in June she sent me for another ultrasound.  Then I get a call from there office saying I still have this fatty liver but also have a cyst and they refered me to my gyn.  I finally see him almost a month later and he says I have this dermiod cyst and it has to come out.  I will have the full surgery on August 15th to remove my left ovary along with the cyst.  I have had 4 c-sections and he said it will be much like that as far as recovery.  

I am having more pain then I have had before.  Not doulbed over pain but more constant ache.  Could this thing be growing still more if it grew that fast in Six months?  My doctor told me that the chance of cancer is pretty low.  I am glad of that.  I am almost 41 and done having children.  My mother had breast cancer and eventually died of liver and colon cancer at age 57.  I want to be a healthy grandmother someday.  

Anyway, thanks for listening.  I have been reading others post for  awhile.  You all are so supportive to one other.
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Avatar universal
Yes I experienced all of those things!!! I too have a 5.5cm dear kid cyst and thought I was going crazy with feeling bloated ALL the time...
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Avatar universal
I will say eat healthy, stop eating meets and dairy, also search for Coffee Enema in youtube they have cure cancer, this is good because it cleans our liver. Good luck.

Eat only fruits & Veggies try to eat only raw I know is hard but the benefits are AMAZING.
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Avatar universal
Any update with your Dermoid Mass? They found one on me last year, first thing Dr. will suggest is Surgery, but guess what I start doing my own research and change my habits of eating, drinking pure water, I got whole system tank for the entire house, because i heard water has a lot to do in your body, what i can said is I have no experience any Pain at all and I'm really happy, So they found this dermoid mass on my right ovary on September, since then i change my habits of eating, i got another check out on December and my gyn says I still have to go trough surgery because the mass is the same size as it was back in September, I told her i was eating right, but she says doesn't matter. But let me tell you something if I have no pain, I feel great I'M NOT GETTING SURGERY. I'm pretty much Raw Vegan person. I will tell you people if you want to change and get better, do this. First Change you need to add only fruit, Veggies, raw seeds, raw nuts, raw cashews. One important thing go to youtube and typr Coffe Enema this enema of coffee has cure people with Cancer. and STOP EATING BREAD, DAIRY AND MEETS. I'm like a lot of you people who dose not like fruits and Veggies. But if you juice them, smoothies and try little by little salads, I will tell you in 2 or 3 months you will love fruits & Veggies, but if you feel you can't do this Then get ready for surgery no for one tiome surgery, I hear some people get surgery every six months, and this is why I have decide no to get surgery, because my Dr. told me this Dermoid mass it may growth again, even know is not Cancer, but lately it will turn into a cancer those are the first symptoms. Very important the Coffe Enema. I also follow fullyrawkristina youtube.
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Avatar universal
I had an ovary and fallopian tube removed to due benign cyst in July 2014. All went well, I recovered quickly as all was done by laproscopy. However, my stomach is still quite distended on the side of the surgery. I am not I pain, but it is annoying not to have my stomach return to the way it was before surgery. Has anyone had this experience? I m planning on going for a second opinion. I went to my doctor 2 and three months afterwards, and she did not seem concerned at all.
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Avatar universal
It's been interesting to read all the comments after the fact. I too had symptoms for almost a year.  The seemed random and unconnected to each other. I had a regular OB/GYN appt in February, and regular Doctor's check up in July, at which I discussed my symptoms with both physicians. neither connected all the symptoms of bloating, constipation, twinges in my side, back aches, thinning hair, fatigue as well as dry skin. They both just chalked it up to my age.. the big 50, and being peri-menopausal. Yeah!
I was not happy, as I thought this is what 50 looks like, pregnant?
After an especially stressful week I experienced what I thought was a stomach virus, then the flu, only to finally at weeks end go to the emergency room for what I thought might be a bowel obstruction. Once there the nurses kept saying it was a kidney infection, despite the constant pain in what would be considered the appendix area, yet no symptoms indicated an issue with the appendix. After a urinalysis came back positive for a kidney infection they decided to do a scan to see how enlarged and inflamed the kidney was, only to discover a 6cm dermoid cyst on my right ovary.That lead to an external and internal unltasound, repeated just 4 days later at a followed up from the ER visit. I had the c-125 test which came up negative, and had the cyst removed just a week ago. The best explanation I was given was that they tend to be slow growers and I probably had this for the better part of the last year, but because they are not a hard solid mass they can often go undetected for quite some time until other symptoms force a closer look. One study that was cited to me put the average growth rate at 1.77cm a year. which mean I could have had this thing growing for the last 3+ years. They often want you to wait a couple months to see the growth rate or other symptoms. Some dermoids people can live with their whole life and have no ill effect. While the only way to deal with them is surgery, surgery  itself is not without risks of complications, infection or reaction to anesthesia. For my GYN doctor the biggest factor was the pain and risk of torsion, of the ovary and cyst twisting and cutting off the blood supply to the fallopian tube.The ER doctor said if I was younger they would have probably taken me right away to surgery in an effort to save my ovary for child bearing, but because I was perimenopausal they wouldn't rush to surgery.I am exactly 1 week from surgery and doing well. I had three small incisions for a laparoscopic removal, though for the life of me I can't figure out how they got the thing out of the biggest incision that was only 1 inch. I am happy to say some symptoms have already begun to diminish, and while dermoids can often be bilateral, the extra incisions revealed no growth as of now on the left ovary. The waiting can be tough more so psychologically, but monitor your symptoms, and be your own best advocate, no one knows your body and how you feel better than yourself.
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Avatar universal
Hi, I know this thread is old but I also have 17cm cyst and felt a change over past few days like it has grown! I am scheduled for my operation in 10 days. Would love to know how it all turned out for you,x
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5923717 tn?1378436859
I don't know why they grow so fast either. My Doctor had told me that it would be about 10-20 years before I could possibly get one and less than a year later I have another one and impending surgery.

I would certainly talk to you doctor gyn about getting pregnant with a dermoid cyst.  

I'm only 19 and my mom mentioned freezing eggs possibly to me depending on the outcome of this surgery now. With having only one ovary, I would suggest that you do some more research into freezing eggs and ask your doctor about it.  I hope that all goes well with your cyst and that nothing bad has to happen this time!
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Avatar universal
Hi everyone. I'm 20 years old. 2 years ago I operated surgery for my left ovary because of dermoid cyst. After that I have only right ovary now.
But recently I diagnosed ultrasound machine I also have dermoid cyst in right ovary for 18mm. Is it Okey to get pregnant or any other factors that influence my unborn child? Why dermoit cyst is growing so fast is there any effects?
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Avatar universal
I was diagnosed with a small dermoid cyst on my right ovary a couple of months ago.  They did not tell me the actual size.  I don't have insurance until January & can't afford to see a specialist or pay for anymore dr. visits out of pocket.  My question is about feeling sick....all the time.  Have any of you experienced that?  I feel like I am hung over all day long every day.  Nausea, no energy, hot & cold flashes, dizziness.   This has been going on for about 2 weeks and my stomach looks bloated (almost distended) even though I have been losing weight.  I discovered yesterday that if I lay on my stomach, my head gets fuzzy & my ears plug up & I get dizzy.  Not to mention the constant crampy feeling & shooting pains down my leg (these were the symptoms I had when they found it). Please let me know if you have had any similar symptoms.  Thank you :)
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Avatar universal
i have recently been diagnosed with a small dermoid Cyst on my right ovary. i am 23 years old and i had a dermoid cyst removed at the age of 16 from my left ovary and my ovary was also removed. i have been in alot of pain recently and it has took my doctors 5 months to find the cyst. my Gyn has told me it is not serious but being of this age and going through the same thing again it is heart breaking.1 year after my first op at the age of 16  i had a small cyst appear on my right ovary which they managed to "shrink" using the contraceptive pill. I am distraught at the thought of going through all of this again and i am wondering if anyone has been through this? perhaps not at my age but having the same type of cyst on the other ovary after having an ovary removed?
thanks
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Avatar universal
do not worry about the surgery or the scars, they are not bad at all. i don't even notice mine at all any more and I had 3 small incisions to remove a grapefrut sized dermoid about 5 years ago. since then I have had a beautiful baby boy ! to be honest, get it taken care of now.  I didn't have any pain until about 3 days before surgery and by then it had twisted my ovary.  again, with my remaining ovary still healthy i still had a baby a few years later! good luck and many prayers.  
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Avatar universal
Hi I have got s dermoid cyst the size of 12.8 cm I am waiting for surgery which was supposed to be on Monday and now they have put it back four weeks. I'm worried about having it there and Sbout surgery. Any comments gratefully received . Emms
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Avatar universal
hi about a month ago i was having pains on the left side of my back i did and ultrasound that said i have a 4.6cm /5.2cm cyst on my left kindey i'm 13weeks pregnant can this affect the baby ? my dr.apponitment is on monday i had 2 days of light bleeding should i be worried..
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Avatar universal
Hi, I felt I should write about my dermoid cyst because once I was diagnosed with one I read other people's comments and it helped me get through this.

I was experiencing pain on my left side for a very long time but kept ignoring it. It always bothered me but it was a pain you just got used to having and I kept thinking I had a cyst that was erupting during my montly period or it was ovalation. It bothered me at certain times more than others and then wouldn't hurt so it was easy to ignore. Our bodies can tell us a lot we just got to learn not to ignore these symptoms and I am a licensed practical nurse and I learned about dermoids years ago but never thought I had one. I ended up having 3 attacks. The first lasted only a second it just made me bend over and went completely away, the next lasted about half an hour of severe pain where i thought i would pass out I didnt' go to the doctor after this attack because after it went completely away just like that , the third attack i had to deal with. The last attack lasted 12 hours of constant pain i was working in emergency at the time and I just asked one of the doctors I worked with if he minded sending me for an ultrasound and explained what was taking place. I got him to write urgent on it as well for me so i could get in right away. Well after getting my ultrasound results back i was shocked by my report. I will advise you all if you read your ultrasound reports do not over react. I did!!!! My ultrasound report suggested cancer and I should get the cancer 125 test done and they suspected it was a teratoma which is the same as dermoid basically. It showed calicification resembling teeth, it was 5.5 x 7.2 cm but what scared them was it was encircled in a cyst 13cm. Kinda confusing but turned out not quite correct. The report scared me so bad thinking I had cancer. I was shocked. I was so upset. Do not take everything in. A lot of doctors do not know a lot about dermoids neither. They are bizzare. I went to out patients having panic attacks after being diagnosed as i wasn't dealing well at all. The doctor on call basically knew very little about dermoids and she only went by the information i provided which i found on the internet and when i went to see my surgeon he told me that most of the information i found was not true so do not believe everything you read about these things on the internet neither. It will just scare you.
I had my surgery two weeks ago and now I am doing well. My dermoid contained hair, teeth,bone and tissue and was the size of a cricket ball. I wasn't sure the size of a cricket ball until I looked it up :) my surgeon was from India so I'm guessing they play cricket there. I am from Canada, NS. no cricket here. By the way I am 38 years old and I have a 10 year old son and 5 year old daughter. My doctor doesn't feel I had this at the time of my childrens births or it would have shown up on my ultrasounds. If you do research on the internet it says you had these things since you were born but he says that is not true. I stayed in the hospital for one night. They do the incision horizontally same as a c-section. Staples stay in for one week then are removed and steri-strips applied. My incision looks well. You need to look for redness or signs of infection. I was really scared of surgery and never had surgery before. What to expect is they will do blood tests before surgery and they may do the cancer 125 but that test is not always accurate and you really can't go by that for a marker. It has to be compared with many other things. You will meet with a nurse for pre op and she will go over what to expect before and after surgery and you can ask whatever you want or cry like i did. The day of your surgery you sign a couple papers, register, get your vitals taken and dress in a hospital johnny shirt, hat,booties and i walked to the operating room for surgery. Everyone is really nice and I work with a bunch of nurses who aren't so nice so i wasn't expecting such great care. Then they will give you an IV and after that you are asleep. The site from my IV still hurts me a lot and that was two weeks ago. I told him when he was putting it in that hurts so much!!!!! Anyways after that you are out and when you wake up it's over. I was so scared to be put to sleep but it's nothing at all. I coudlnt' imagine laying there for surgery for very long but you dont' know a thing. I know that probably sounds foolish but when you are dealing with something bad you dont' always think normal :) I was a mess. When I woke up in recovery I do not remember any of it except for a nurse telling me i'm going to feel warm water and she was washing some of the stuff they use to wash your skin for sterilization purposes off. Other than I remember nothing. Then you will go to your room and I am not going to lie you will be in some discomfort but the dilaudid helps and take it on a regular basis or you will be in extreme pain. The pain usually only last 24 hours and then after you can use tylenol #1 which you need to ask the pharmacist for but becareful because the codeine can constipate you and you will need senokot for your bowels to start moving. Expect a lot of gas after surgery. This was extremely painful and happened about the third day.  You will wake up with a catheter as well. I had an older nurse who was great and then after her shift was finished I got a younger new grad nurse, I could tell she didnt' want me to have the dilaudid so I took tylenol #2's instead but it did not ease the pain and I went so long with regular doses of dilaudid i burst out crying and freaking out. Then an older nurse came in an explained to me that i needed to control my pain on a regular basis which of course i know but when you are in a situation like that you aren't thinking properly and this young nurse didnt' want me to have it so i tried not to take it as she made me feel like i was seeking drugs. Anyways point being take the dilaudid on regular basis or you will be like me and i knew better. You wont' be able to soak in a bath until completely healed but you can shower as long as you cover the incision and turn back to the shower head so the water doesn't hit your incision. I used these water proof mepore dressings which worked. They say to use wrap but the mepore worked great.
It's been two weeks now and I feel I want to do so much more but you aren't allowed to do anything for 6-8 weeks except take it easy and relax. You will be very tired. I think i do well all day but i'm falling asleep between 8-9 o'clock. For the first week or week in a half try not to do anything but stay in bed and rest except for walk to the bathroom or to the couch a bit around the house to help with the gas and your bowels. I hope this helps others to know what to expect. My surgion told me that most of these things are not cancerous and he is not worried about cancer at all. It says 98% are not so of course we will still worry. But he is so sure it's not that I haven't been worried at all. I'm glad it's over with. I felt terrible, I felt like this thing was a baby of some sort just not fertilized as it was in my ovary and it contained human things, hard not to feel that it was an egg that got stuck in my ovary getting all the hormones from my ovary and grow all the things it does and that it just didnt' get fertilized. One doctor agreed with me but my surgion said that there is no truth in that at all. Whatever this is it's hard to deal with. It's hard to wonder why i couldnt' have a normal cyst like everyone else. I felt like it was an alien and i was a freak. I hope no one else feels this way but it's hard not to. But as soon as it is gone you will feel so much better and it's all over with. I was having back pains, bowel movement changes and always tired before. I hope this helps someone like your stories helped me. Take care. M.
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Avatar universal
can dermoid cyst come again after removal???
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Avatar universal
I had an ultrasound scan on 19st July due to pain in pelvic area and doctor told me everything looked fine and just the usual cysts in ovaries as I have Polycystic ovarian syndrome. He did not say anything else but to come back in 6 months. 3 weeks later I was rushed to ER for an emergency surgery due to a raptured ovarian cyst and my left ovary was taken out. Apparently it was a huge cyst. My question is did my initial doctor miss the cyst and told me all was ok or can a cyst grow the huge that fast in 3 weeks? I thought it took months before ovarian cysts raptured? I am so mad because I feel it could have been prevented.
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Avatar universal
Hi, I am 27 years old and just found out that I have a dermoid cyst on my right ovary through an ultra sound. I am also pregnant as well, 10 1/2 weeks. Doctor wants me to go to a specialist in a week to make sure if it is a dermoid cyst. Said if it is, then hopefully it doesn't rupture or gets big because she doensn't want to do any surgery since I'm pregnant. I am so terrified that it will cause any harm to my baby if I do have to go through surgery while pregnant. Has anyone have to go through this while being pregnant? And if the baby is ok?
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Avatar universal
I am 25 years old and was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy in my right ovary about two weeks ago. An ultrasound tech petty much told me to take action with my OB/GYN right away!Two days later I followed up with my dr. after blood work he had advised me to sit tight and wait. While I was having little to no pain I thought why not wait. Later the next day a nurse called me and said my Beta levels were almost tripled from two days prior. I had a dr appointment that next day and to my suprise there was a Baby in my Uterus but whatever was in my ovary was still there and growing from 4cm to almost 5cm. I have so many mixed emotions still not knowing what this is. My husband and I have been trying for baby number two for 10 months. My first beautiful son was concieved after extensive infertilty treatments so this was a suprise for us. Still having mixed emotions after reading these posts I feel a little better. Just hoping and praying for a healty baby and mommy.
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Avatar universal
I have been having horrible pain like everyone, except my pain also goes down my legs.  Got an MRI for my spine bc thought it was a nerve thing but found that there is a 5cm cyst on my right side, probably ovarian cyst.  Don't know if it is malignant / benign but hopefully and most likely it's benign.  Today I am scheduled for a pelvic MRI so I will know more.

The thing that scares me is that I had an ultra sound 5 days ago because of all this pain and there was NOTHING.  Now 5 days later i have a 5cm x 5cm cyst.... so maybe some cysts can grow very quickly.  I will write back here once I know more... good luck...
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1318561 tn?1274247114
I am 23 years old, i had a cyst (4.5x 4.6cm) removed from my right ovary on jan.20, 2010. though my cyst was not extremely large, i had ovarian torsion, so the pain was excruciating. i had laparoscopic surgery, and healed almost entirely within 2 weeks, and returned to work. it is now may 20, 2010, and i have exactly the same pain, naseaua, bloating, and discomfort that i had right before i had the other cyst removed..i need to know how fast a cyst (follicular cyst, i believe it was) can regrow...they only removed 90% of the cyst the first time, because my doc was trying o save my ovary, but is it possible that its regrown fast enough to be causing this much pain ALREADY???  please, please, someone give me some kind of answer...
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1304664 tn?1273142867
I am 31 and have 4 kids. For the past couple of months I have been having very bad pain on my left side during my period.   I just found out yesterday that I have a 2.4 cm complex cyst on my left ovary.  My dr is sending me to see a different dr because she does not deal with these kind of things. I have she did not say what type of complex cyst it is.  Should I be worried?  It kinda hard not to be.  
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Avatar universal
I can reassure you!  I have had 3 surgeries for dermoid cysts - one at 19, one at 26 right before I got married, and one at age 31.  I have had pieces of both ovaries removed, but I was able to get pregnant - NO PROBLEM - four times and now have four beautiful, healthy children.  If you keep yourself in good health and make sure to get these cysts removed before they get too big and choke off blood flow to your ovary, I hope you will have the same success I did.  My doctors kept warning me that I might have fertility problems, but that never happened.  My mother had the same experience - she had 1 ovary removed and half of the other - and then went on to have 3 kids with no problem getting pregnant.  Hope this helps your mental outlook!  
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Avatar universal
I just found out I have a dermoid cyst on my left ovary and I'm  20wks pregnant.  The cyst is 10cm (the size of a lemon) and needs to be removed but my dr said unless it gets bigger we'll wait until after I heal from childbirth.  I asked if it was a miracle I got pregnant with the cyst and he said no...pretty common.  I will need a sonogram every month to make sure it doesnt grow rapidly but otherwise he said pregnancy and baby should be unharmed by it.   It did take about a year for me to get pregnant but it finally happened without infertility treatments so it is possible for you! Best of luck.
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Avatar universal
I am 26 years old, and was just told i have 2 dermoid cycst, one on each ovary.  One is 3cm and one is 4cm.  I have had infertility issues,  and my fertility MD wants them removed.  Im concerned about being able to have baby's after surgery.  Has any had children after having theses removed.  Im scheduled for surgery in 3 weeks.  T
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