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Author Topic: Persistent pelvic pain... please help  (Read 3160 times)

Estrago

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Persistent pelvic pain... please help
« on: March 04, 2024, 07:37:39 AM »

Hello, I'm new and I hope I'm posting in the right place  :)

I've been having pelvic pain on and off for a few weeks now, a little bit random, so between periods. It's mostly been on the lower left, like where my ovary is, though often it is just all across my pelvis and radiates to the outside of my hips and into my left thigh. I've also been having a sensation of needing the toilet, and sometimes I can go but sometimes there's nothing there. This has been happening at night, too, which is unusual for me. The symptoms are less bad during the day but they really ramp up in the early hours.

I have been googling a lot and had diagnosed it as an ovarian cyst, which seemed to fit everything, esp as I have a retroverted uterus.

It got pretty intense about a week ago, though not nearly as bad as when I had a cyst previously that ruptured (that was more like a 10 on the pain scale and this doesn't go above a 6). I had already spoken to my GP and been referred for an ultrasound, but I ended up in A&E, where another GP got me booked in the next day. Then my period started, which I thought probably explained it, though I don't normally get much pain with it. They did a transvaginal scan but all they found was one 1cm fibroid and some free fluid around my left ovary, so she said it might have been a cyst that had already ruptured.

Anyway, the pain didn't go away, and it was waking me up every night and I'd had no sleep for several days, so I went back to my GP who has referred me for a CT scan and is doing some stool tests (qFIT and calprotectin, which measures inflammation). But this could take weeks to come through. They are also doing bloods including CA125. I even went back to A&E on Friday night (embarrassingly) and they did bloods there and said inflammatory markers are normal (ESR/CRP).

The pain was a bit better on Saturday night and I finally had some sleep, so I started to hope it had gone and was just related to my period and then perhaps some pain from the scan. But last night it started again, and I've been awake since 2am again and it won't go away. It's not even severe pain as such, it's just like a band of pressure that goes across my pelvis and won't stop. Like early contractions I suppose.

I'm getting desperate as I've got no one around to help and I don't feel safe to drive but I have to take my son to school every day. I've also had to take time off work as it's impossible to focus. I keep almost wishing I would have a car accident so it would be over, or at least they might find out what's wrong.

I just wondered if anyone here might recognise these symptoms. I'm 50, have had three children, and my cycles are irregular and between about 18 and 33 days, which has been the case for years now.

Thanks so much if you got to the end of this ramble. <searches for flowers emoji but can't find one>

« Last Edit: March 04, 2024, 07:46:41 AM by Estrago »
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CLKD

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Re: Persistent pelvic pain... please help
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2024, 09:51:53 AM »

U ramble away it's usual here as is having a meander  ::)  :welcomemm:


:foryou: :tulips2: :tulips: for starters ;-)

It may be hormonal.  Prior to a bleed I would ache like my bottom would fall out and my thighs were really painful sometimes.  All stopped when the period began.

What R your periods doing exactly?  Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use.  Have U tried pain relief, mayB ask a pharmacist which would relieve muscle cramps . 

Could U make an appt to see a Nurse Practitioner if U as U sound really worried, it's often quicker than getting to a GP and they have extra time.  Being alone allows the brain to take off at a tangent!
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Dierdre

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Re: Persistent pelvic pain... please help
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2024, 10:22:16 AM »

Sounds like you've had an ovarian cyst again. These happen more in peri menopause, i had a few and they do cause a lot of pain and discomfort. My periods would stop until it burst which could be a few months but then I'd have a bad long period. After that things  did settle again. The fibroid could be causing discomfort too, I've read vit D can reduce them but they also cause pain when they die off. Perhaps worth taking anyway if you don't already.
Your scan was ok, and didnt show anything serious. The stomach cramp could be anxiety,. I was precribed Buscapan Cramps for this and it relaxes the stomach, bowel and bladder when they spasm and cramp from stress. They work pretty much straight away so you'll know if that's the cause and you can buy OTC.
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Estrago

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Re: Persistent pelvic pain... please help
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2024, 12:48:08 PM »

Oh you are both so lovely. Thank you so very much, you've made me feel better already.  :thankyou: And I will be using that emoji a lot I think!

CLKD I think you make a lot of sense. One of the numerous people I've seen in the past week suggested it was possibly hormonal and I've been reading about prostaglandins kicking off at this stage thanks to high estrogen? so that would account for the terrible period wouldn't it. Have got some naproxen now but I don't want to take it in case one of the other doctors was right when he started talking about diverticular disease  ??? which would not be a good idea. So good old paracetamol for the time being...

Good idea about nurse practitioner. I think GP is getting fed up with me tbh, so it's probably a good idea to annoy someone else instead  ;D I've also begun keeping a record of symptoms, that's a really good idea.

Dierdre I do hope you are right. I was really hoping they would see a cyst, I know that sounds weird but it would have explained everything. But then they can't see it if it's already gone pop, can they... she did say the fluid might suggest we just missed it. Sorry you have had the same, it's hellish isn't it. Though I've had at least one that appeared on a scan for something else and didn't seem to cause any issues at all, and others, well...

Thank you for the tips about Vit D and Buscopan. Definitely very good ideas, I will keep a note. I did wonder about anxiety, but somehow it's very hard to think you're not about to kick the bucket from some terrible disease isn't it. I'll have to try and talk myself out of panicking so much.

Really appreciate you both replying.  :)






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CLKD

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Re: Persistent pelvic pain... please help
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2024, 03:15:38 PM »

We have a thread somewhere about 'what we have diagnosed today' or similar  ::) so as we age I think that we do over-think the what ifs.  If my symptoms stay longer than a week then I make notes, however, by 7-10 days it's something else  ;D


I would take pain relief initially. 
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