How fast can a cyst grow?

[krchelle]

After having my 14 cm cyst removed from my left ovary in May, I had a 2 cm one diagnosed on the right ovary in October.  Since then, I am having the same symptoms I had with the larger cyst, only worse this time.  How fast can one of these things grow?  Any of you had one being monitored that grew fast?  I feel like it's pretty big, but can't believe it would grow that much in two months.

I'm just so frustrated.  I have been dealing non-stop with these problems since April.  I've had the big cyst, abdominal wall pain from nerve damage from the surgery and now this new cyst.  I'm also worried about losing my other ovary or that it's damaged from this new cyst and will no longer work.

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow.  Just wondering about your thoughts?

[old_before_my_time]

I am sorry another cyst has formed. Although the rate of growth can vary a lot, they can grow pretty fast. I had an annual gyn exam in January and nothing unusual was felt during the pelvic exam. I did not have an ultrasound because I was not having any problems. Then in mid-March, I had a day of unrelenting pain and went to see my gyn. An ultrasound revealed a grapefruit sized cyst. Since it was complex, I was rushed into surgery. Unfortunately, my gyn removed all my sex organs (uterus, ovaries, tubes) when he should have removed just the cyst (cystectomy) since the frozen section was benign.

The ovary is fairly resilient so if any healthy ovarian tissue is preserved, the ovary will regenerate. Unfortunately, too many gyns remove whole ovary(ies) when all they should remove is the cyst(s). They even remove ovaries when there aren't any cysts, at least during hysterectomy...pretty appalling to say the least.

[bluejoanna]

I would like an update as i am also wondering how fast cysts grow. I wish you the best.

[krchelle]

I saw my doctor,  but don't really have much info yet, I am scheduled for an ultrasound on Jan 7th to check the cyst. I'll keep you posted.

[laurabri]

What type of cyst did you initially  have removed?

The end of november i had a bilateral laparotomy to remove multiple dermoid cysts. My gyno had always told me that they are slow growing, but when i went in for my ultrasound and mri the right cyst was 15cm and the left was 2-5 cm. It was about a month later that  i had them removed and the pathology  came back to say that the right cyst was in fact 25cm! And the left was 5-8cm.( 3 small cysts)

I noticed a big difference  in that one month and turns out they must have grown pretty quickly, so i guess its possible!

Hope this can give you a bit more insight :) best of luck!

[JessicaGBaby]

My cyst grew 3cm in 4 months

[bluejoanna]

Is your u/s for today? I hope you ll have good news! Please inform us!

[krchelle]

Thanks for all the responses!  

My cyst was complex, not dermoid, but I'm not sure which type.

I rescheduled the ultrasound for next week.  Hopefully I'll have some answers to share then!

[krchelle]

I had my ultrasound today.  The cyst has not grown much.  The ultrasound tech saw a 2.3 cm cyst, which is pretty small, considering my symptoms.  I have not talked to the doctor yet, my follow up to get the official results is next Friday.  SO, I have no idea what type of cyst, if it's even the same one, etc.  The doctor did mention the possibility of endometriosis back in October and I'm thinking that may be what is causing all the pain and symptoms.  At the time, he wasn't ready to do another surgery on me, as it's only diagnosed through exploratory surgery.  He wanted to try to get my abdominal wall pain under control first, but my symptoms are much worse than they were then.  So, I am honestly hoping that he'll just do the surgery so we can find out what's going on and hopefully get it under control.

[bluejoanna]

I m sorry you still have pain. Since the cyst is too small why dont you try birth control pills first?

[krchelle]

I'm already on birth control. I'm really thinking the cause of my pain may be endometriosis or adhesions which he mentioned awhile back. I'm doubting its the cyst since it is so small, but I guess that's dependent on the type which I won't know until next week.

[krchelle]

I'm already on birth control. I'm really thinking the cause of my pain may be endometriosis or adhesions which he mentioned awhile back. I'm doubting its the cyst since it is so small, but I guess that's dependent on the type which I won't know until next week.

[braijackava]

I know this post is from a while ago, but thought people might still want to know the answer to this. I have had a lot of ovarian cysts. My most recent was in November. I had an ultrasound and it was the size of a grape, when I had surgery 10 days later it was the size of a large Orange! So they can grow very fast.

[krchelle]

Thanks for the response! It wasn't a cyst causing my pain this time. I had an exploratory surgery yesterday and I have a pretty serious case of endometriosis.

Thanks for sharing.  That is good information to have. Seems like they can grow pretty fast. I know my first one went from 11 to 14 cm from March to May.  But yours had some huge growth! Hope you're feeling well now.  

[madcha]

This is an older thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows if benign cysts grow faster than malignant ones. I had a plevic ultrasound back in beginning of August where there were baby cysts. THere was no concern as the assumption was they would resolve. I had a ct scan last week showing a possible 4.7x2. cm moulitloculated cyst on my right ovary. My gyn believes it is the same baby cyst which had some dry blood. We are going to wait until 5 weeks for ultrasound. Any one know if there is a difference between which ones  grown faster. Nothing else shows any indication of anything having spread if it is malignant. Just get nervous.

[old_before_my_time]

Welcome to the community. I can only say that benign cysts can grow quite fast although they can grow quite slowly too. I don't know about the rate of growth of malignant cysts.

Most cysts (even complex ones) are benign and most resolve on their own in 2 to 3 cycles. If they get too large and need to be surgically removed, it is best to have just the cyst removed (cystectomy) since the ovaries are needed our whole lives for the hormones they produce to keep us healthy.

If you do not have a family history of ovarian cancer, then your lifetime risk would be less than 2% per SEER cancer statistics - http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html. This site is helpful - http://ovaryresearch.com/ovarian_cysts.htm.

Let us know your repeat u/s results...hoping it shrinks.