ovarian cysts?

[stardogs]

Anyone with experience with these?  Tentative diagnosis from my doctor, and I'm going in for a pelvic ultrasound on Friday, but I'd love to hear others' experiences.  My dr. doesn't think it's anything abnormal, but the twinges I have are certainly annoying.

Also, they said I need a full bladder for the ultrasound and that I'm to drink 32 oz of water over the hour prior to the appointment and not go to the bathroom - I have to pee a lot in the morning, even after only 6oz of juice, so this sounds just miserable.  I never drink 32 oz at one sitting - would it totally screw things up if I drank less? I'm tempted to drink half over the hour prior, bring the rest to sip, and just say I wasn't able to finish all of it...but I don't want to be a bad patient either.

[maddymama]

A few years ago I had some ovarian cysts develop after being on the mini-pill for 18 months (later found out that was common for long-term mini-pill use).  The OC themselves were uncomfortable, but I had one burst one night and it was painful.  I had DH google "when to go to the hospital" and decided to wait until our ultrasound the next am- where the tech said "Wow, that must have been painful, you've got a ton of blood in your abdomen."  Went off the mini-pill and haven't had any trouble since then.

I've gone in with a less than full bladder for an ultrasound and the tech made me go out, drink more, and return a half hour later to finish the ultrasound.  You might get away with drinking less than 32 oz, but drink enough that you think you can't walk with such a full bladder- that's how full they want it.

Good luck!

~maddymama

[carfreemama]

I had an ovarian cyst diagnosed in the summer, found incidentally on u/s after my miscarriage. It was 5 cm and I didn't know I had it. I am supposed to go for followup u/s December 22.

The finding was a 5 cm simple ovarian cyst. No concern for malignancy. I DID start to feel it a month or so later and my doc could feel it on pelvic exam, though the emerge doc where it was diagnosed couldn't feel anything. It was like you describe, twinges; though at one point, it was outright painful, almost like a pop. It probably did pop, because 2 months later I couldn't feel it anymore and neither could my doc. If I didn't know it was there, I would have assumed ovulation pain or "something weird" and probably not followed it up.

As for the u/s, the tech did an abdominal first and then a transvaginal. Apparently they can see the ovaries much better transvaginally. For the first procedure, I had to have a very full bladder. They would not start the procedure until they could see on film that I was ready to burst. For the transvaginal, it was the opposite; bladder had to be completely empty. I did find the transvaginal a bit invasive, but that might have been the headspace I was in and the tech was really nasty. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not painful.

Don't worry,though; these things are SO common and they mostly go away on their own. Even the biggies like mine (and bigger) can disappear by themselves.

[tylerdylan]

I am an ultrasound tech.  I will tell you that MANY people are dehydrated and it requires the 32oz to fill them. But on the other hand there are people who drink lots during the day and their bodies don't need the water so get rid of all of it.  I am like that myself - when I was a student and we used to practise on each other I would drink one glass of water 30 minutes prior to the U/S and I would be full.  Everyone is different.  Where I work we do the transvaginal U/S on pretty much every female who consents to it.  If the bladder isn't full enough then it's not that big of a deal.   And I should mention too that we want you comfortably full only.  If you are in pain because you are so full or think you are going to pee your pants then you are too full!  Go to the bathroom and empty a little out (count to 5-10 quickly then stop - and YES you can stop and you will feel so much better for it).  There is such thing as being too full for the U/S.

And ovarian cysts are very common.  Every woman develops a cyst every month.  They should rupture around day 14 (ovulation), but this doesn't always happen.   They tend to resolve the next cycle (which is why we do a 6 week follow up U/S if we see one to make sure it's gone).  There are certain features a cyst can have that would be more worrisome and those they will keep a very close eye on.

[stardogs]

Thanks tylerdylan for the additional info!  I did a trial run yesterday and discovered that drinking 32oz of water in an hour is 1. really difficult when one isn't normally a water drinker, 2. results in painful discomfort at about the 1 hour mark, and 3. will mean I have to pee every 20-30 mins for the next 2 hours. LOL!  Looks like I can drink a smidge less than they usually suggest and still be ok and sans pain for my u/s!  And the "dry run" (pun intended lol) means I'm less stressed about the whole thing, which is also a very good thing!

Just curious, why don't they just suggest that someone drink a can of soda?  The caffeine always means that I have to go more frequently and it would be a lot more pleasant than drinking that much water!

[VisionaryMom]

I've always had tranvaginal ultrasounds for cysts. I have PCOS and have cysts rupture every 3-4 weeks. It's annoying, but so far there's apparently no real cause for worry.

[tylerdylan]

Originally Posted by stardogs 

Just curious, why don't they just suggest that someone drink a can of soda?  The caffeine always means that I have to go more frequently and it would be a lot more pleasant than drinking that much water!

Water doesn't have to be digested and is absorbed straight from the stomach or first part of the intestine and into the blood quickly.  Also, most doctors/hospitals aren't going to recommend soda since it's not healthy :)

[stardogs]

Appointment over, now to wait for results.  The tech I had was wonderful and drinking about 26oz vs the 32oz put me right where I needed to be for the appointment, so I was relatively comfortable.  They did both a pelvic and transvaginal u/s today.

The tech said that they may get results to my PCP same day since I had a 9:30a appointment, so fingers crossed I hear back today vs. Monday.  I hate waiting. :P

[stardogs]

So I finally got the results back today and apparently they found nothing abnormal - good and bad really.  Good that it's nothing crazy, bad that I have no obvious reason for the cramps I've had for about 2 weeks now...

I set up another appt with my PCP tomorrow to see if I can get a referral to a good gyn and make sure that all my bases are covered.  *sigh* so frustrating to still not know what's going on.

[tylerdylan]

Originally Posted by stardogs 

So I finally got the results back today and apparently they found nothing abnormal - good and bad really.  Good that it's nothing crazy, bad that I have no obvious reason for the cramps I've had for about 2 weeks now...

I

If the ultrasound was normal then it isn't ovarian related.  Next best bet is intestinal since it is the only other thing that lives in that area aside from muscles/fat.  Ultrasound is not the best test for bowel, so likely wouldn't have seen anything.  It is likely viral related....

[stardogs]

Yup the doc thinks that it's stress-related intestinal cramping, though they did run some bloodwork just to rule out some more stuff.  I didn't realize that I was under that much stress, but it should be a relatively easy solution, and for that I am very grateful.