Prolonged mentrual bleeding, ultrasound found small cyst

[sal222]

I'm a 37 year old mother of three. I had a tubal ligation one year ago. I've been having irregular bleeding/cramping since last April. I had an ultrasound a few months ago and they detected a small cyst (3cm) on my right ovary. I was told that this type of cyst is fairly normal and there's nothing to worry about. I'm now on my 15th day of straight bleeding and for the past 4-5 months I've been bleeding off and on throughout my cycles. The doctor prescribed projesterone pills, but it didn't seem to help. I'm waiting to get in to see my doctor again, but my appointment isn't for a few more weeks. I've also recently gone through a divorce and have a fair amount of stress in my life. I've been taking 75mg each day of Effexor XR since February 2006. How worried about this cyst should I be and could the bleeding be a result of the cyst? Would the effexor xr cause the bleeding or the tubal ligation? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Hudson]

Hi there, I also had irregular bleeding that led to the diagnosis of my ovarian cyst. How long are they going to watch and wait on your cyst? Usually they give it 3 cycles to see if it will resolve on it's own. I agree with the other ladies, that you might want to take an iron supplement so you don't get anemic.

Hudson

[loralai]

I too had abnormal bleeding that led me to discovering my cyst. However, mine ended up being very large 12cm and surgery was done on 8/22. I am still a bit unclear on it but it was the cyst or because of the cyst I was bleeding...not a menstrual cycle. I bled for about a month. It stopped for about a week and then started up again the week before surgery. I needed a blood transfusion because my hemoglobin got so low. Keep on the doctor about. My sister in law is a nurse and she said if your gums and the inside of your eyelids is very pale then your iron is low. You can help this by eating iron rich food or talking to your doctor about iron pills. Just got to be careful with iron pills with constipation. My hemoglobin is still slowly working it's way back up.

[shazzybow]

sorry to hear that youre having so much sress, no doubt you could do without this added worry. many women do have cysts that resolve themselves, that is correct, if they keep growing (5cm +)then they dont always go on their own and surgery may be an option. its difficult to say whats causing the bleeding, but it can be a symptom of an ovarian cyst, it is why i went to my doctor in the first place. i was offered an ultra sound scan 4 months after the first but that is in britain, other women on this site in the u.s. appear to have monthly scans to watch for any changes.  dont be afraid to be proactive with your doctor and ask for a gyn/onc who specialises in this area.