Lower left abdominal pain and I hate doctors!

[StaceyYount]

Hey,

2 things-1 a question- 1 a rant -forgive the rant. Does anyone have chronic pain on their lower left side of the abdomen? I have had this for months and at first it was thought to be a bowel problem but nothing was done and then a ultra sound was ordered which found a small cyst on my ovary. I have had cysts and this is not the same pain. In fact I have had that pain down there and knew it was a cyst. Anyway the doctor said it is a small cyst and should resolve itself. It hasn't in about 6 months so why should it now. Basically I have to go home and deal with it and I am quite tired of that. I guess I still hope for a test to show-- oh you have this -it is easy to fix- just take this very gentle pill and that problem will be gone. Or something- not well wait for it to go away. I swear if I hear that one more time I may scream. Though I think I am screaming now huh ? LOL To top it off I broke another tooth today so that is 2 that I have to get fixed but that is another rant. Sorry, does anyone else get this pain. Sometimes at night it gets so bad it wakes me and I have to turn over but that seems to help. I don?t know if it is just the ovary rubbing on the intestine and that is what hurts or if it is intestine or what. But it still hurts and I think it is more than ovary. Not that I want it to be but I want it to be something they can fix. This always happens I go to them because there is something I just can?t deal with anymore and they send me home to deal with it. Arghhhhhh! Anyway any ideas or help would be appreciated. I have had the small bowel dysmotility (though that seems better) and have diarrhea/constipation and it all may be due to that but some help would be nicer. Thanks in advance for the help and letting me rant.

Stacey :-)

[briarrose]

Stacey I feel for you

Doctor's hate working up abdominal pain, especially for a woman. It can be so many different things. Some women get repeat ovarian cysts, they can grow and be painful or burst.

I can't think of as many left sided ailments as right.

I know that with POTS your adrenals could be bothering you possibly (that is reaching by the way) but something you could ask about.

My mom has diverticulitis and diverticulosis - 2 different things. They usually send you for a Computed tomography (CT) to rule that out.

I have had my own bouts of abdominal pain, no answers though. When this all started nearly 3 years ago, it felt like someone took a baseball bat to my left side.

(This next thing is just something off the tip of my mind, not trying to direct you anywhere but feel like I need to say it, sure it's not even related) One has to wonder if the vascular system is expanding and contracting at times to allow more blood flow and causes pain. I know that some people have posted about having a pressure feeling. Do you have Ehlers-Danlos? Some of the different vascular ED's could be painful.

Have they sent you to a GI doctor to be worked up? If your primary is blowing you off, seek another opinion.

[anecius]

I would see a gastroenterologist. Diverticulitis would likely present pain so bad that you would need to visit the er, as it is an inflammation/infection of diverticula. Diverticulosis may cause some pain, bloating, etc. and would be more chronic (although a lot of times people don't have any symptoms unless there is a flare up of diverticulitis). Another thing that comes to mind is colitis. I would also want a second opinion about the ovary cyst explanation, if it were me.

Hope you get some answers and feel better soon!

[Merrill]

Stacey, have you been in chronic pain on lower left side for 6 months? Is the pain always the same? Or does it change--maybe get better some weeks before getting worse again the next month?

In my younger years, I had TERRIBLE pain when I ovulated (more typically on the left than on the right). In my older years, I've had bad pain from cysts that burst inside the ovary. Pain from both of these situations does resolve itself with time--and ibuprofen!

I strongly recommend seeing your gynocologist; I think it would help to have another ultrasound taken... it's important to know whether the cyst is the same or whether it has grown and what shape it is. If it's causing you a lot of pain, surgery may be recommended. (This sounds more like ovary pain that intestinal pain...but hey, I'm no doctor! A gynie is your best bet!!!)

Good luck; hope you feel better soon!

[pamyla]

Hi Stacey, sorry to hear about the pains you are having Weirdly enough, when I was first having problems with the pots stuff what led me to the doctor was pains on the left side of my abdomen. I wonder if it's the same?? I had a ton of tests.... I specifically remember having a liver/spleen scan (which was normal).

During that time I was also found to have a cyst on my ovary, but the cyst finally went away (I felt it do this) and it was definitely not the same pain. This I'd describe more as a dull ache that came and went, kind of felt sore in that area? And the area that was sore was right below my ribcage.

While I never did figure out exactly what was causing the pain, it eventually subsided on its own. Although I know I had the soreness for many months. Sorry I don't have any solutions but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone.

Pam

[StaceyYount]

Thanks you guys. I did have a laproscopy done in 1991 for cysts and I really don't feel the chronic pain is that. I do get the cyst pain as it is very Noticiable ( sorry that is not the right word but my brain fog is at a high level today.) Anyway I think I will go and make an appointment with the doc that ordered the test maybe if he looks back at my chart and sees this has been going on for awhile he will look into other avenues. Though right now i am trying to resingn myself that maybe eventually they will just say it is part of your POTS. Gotta investigate though right. Thanks for your replies it means a lot to me. I had the whole GI work up in 1997 and they found the samll bowel dysmotility of course not until I was down to 82 lbs. That has seemed a bit better I can atleast eat some now and to be honest I ma scared that this is a signal that that is going to start again. Dr.Grubb told my GP taht that could happen but thinking positive hopefully not. My Gp did orgiannly mention colitis but then he got off the track. I guess I better go see him. Arghhh! Why can't we be SIMPLE?????????

Stacey :-)

[briarrose]

Well stay on top of it this time. Don't let them put you off for weeks, months and years at a time. It's not their pain, it's yours. If your GP isn't doing anything about it, move on to someone who will listen to you.

Take care