Ovarian Pain - Here we go again (hopefully not)

by Aja
(Iowa)

When I was 14 I started birth control, a few months later I started having crippling pain in my left ovary (didn't know it was my ovary at the time; that came later).

No doctor would do an ultrasound, they didn't believe me. One doctor actually told me it could be glandular pain from shaving (what?!).

Then when I was 17 I got married. It was a stupid choice at the time, but we started trying to get pregnant. I noticed that when we had sex I had severe pain, I thought I had an std, I did not have an std though. In my opinion, it was actually worse in my mind what I found out that I have PCOS.

I was heartbroken.

The doctor that did the scan popped a few cysts when she put the vaginal ultrasound tool in, I cried because the pain was so bad, and she continued the scan.

I had over 20 cysts on my left ovary and 8 on my right ovary.

She told me I would probably never have kids and to give up and get on birth control. So I went on bc for a few months, and it didn't help at all. It seemed to make it worse.

So I stopped the birth control and bled for 10 months straight, the bleeding was so bad that they had to give me vitamin replacement therapy every 2 months at least.

Finally, my period stopped at exactly 10 months, and I didn't have another one for 3 months.

Every period I had from then on was at least 6 weeks apart and completely unpredictable, I couldn't predict how heavy it would be, or when it would start, I tried a lot of things to figure out a pattern, but there was none.

I am now 20 years old (turned 20 April 16, 2011). April 28th I went into the hospital because I was vomiting every day at least 2 times a day. They gave me anti-vomit meds because they couldn't do any scans or ultrasounds until the next day because it was 11pm. They drugged me up, sent me home, and told me to come back if things get worse or I can't eat.

The next morning I woke up with the worst pain I had ever had in my life.

I went into the hospital again and they scanned my gallbladder because I had stones in my gb when I was 17. The stones were gone, so they did a hida scan on May 1st. My gallbladder was supposed to empty at least 50%, it didn't empty anything, so they took my gallbladder out on May 6th, and since they were already in there, they removed my ovarian cyst.

The day after my surgery I started my period (fun, so fun when you just had surgery on your abdomen).

I had my period every 28 days on the dot until this one. I don't know why it all of a sudden stopped, maybe my body is just re-regulating itself.

But I'm thinking the worst.

I have had pain in my left ovary (The one the cyst was on) for the last 2 weeks. My breasts are sore like they would be if I was about to start my period, but I'm just not starting.

I haven't had sex in 2 and a half months, and I've taken pregnancy tests just to make sure, all negative.

So I'm not pregnant, must be a cyst or hormone imbalance. But I'm trying to be hopeful.

I'm getting married for the second time in December (blah, I know, I'm young, but don't judge, you don't know me, this is just my story), and we would really like to be able to have our own kids, or at least just one.

Wish me luck!

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Editor's comments: Hi Aja.

Considering your relatively young age, I have to wonder what your personal health practices are.

Have you heard the old adage, "Your Food Is Your Medicine"?

According to extensive research we've done regarding PCOS and ovarian cysts, it's very clear that what you eat has a huge impact on your problems.

Huge.

Medical research has established that eating a lousy diet leads to multiple hormone imbalances and ultimately to a host of degenerative diseases. In contrast, a very healthy diet helps you get towards a more normal hormone pattern.

It's a pity you've had your gallbladder whacked out at such a young age. But that's water under the bridge. For the rest of your life, you will need to be very attentive to getting enough of the fat-soluble vitamins, since your ability to absorb and process fats is permanently diminished.

It may be time to think of other options to solve your problems besides drugs and surgeries.

A good place to start taking control over this situation and help to avoid a "here we go again" scenario is to switch to a healthier diet and start getting regular exercise.

An example of a diet for polycystic ovary syndrome and ovarian cysts is this diet. This diet is not easy. It will be quite unfamiliar to you. But if you can follow most of it for at least 3 months, you may experience things starting to shift in your body.

And…don't forget exercise and physical activity. If you're mostly sedentary now, start an exercise program on a regular basis. Combined with the healthy diet, you will be surprised at the good things that start to happen.