Symptom details

Catlady68
Catlady68 Member Posts: 4
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well today. I have been looking all over the web for answers to my question and haven't been able to find anything. I finally ran across this site and hope that someone who has experienced this horrible disease may be able to help me. I have trouble getting my GP or ob/gyn to listen to me so I don't feel comfortable asking them some questions. Anyway, my question is, if you had abdominal/lower back pain as a symptom, was the pain constant or did it get worse around ovulation time? I have abdominal/lower back pain almost every day during my cycle, but it seems to be worse around the time I should ovulate. The pain is always there, but is more noticable and uncomfortable during mid-cycle. Sometimes ibuprofin will take care of the pain, but I have noticed lately that it isn't doing a very good job anymore. I'm not really sure that I ovulate as I have fertility problems so I don't think the pain is specifically from ovulation. I also have bouts with diarrhea/constipation, slight nausea, gas and bloating, and I feel extremely full after only eating a small amount. There hasn't been ovarian cancer in my family (that we know of), but my family has had cancer of almost every other organ so I am fearful of it. It is very upsetting when you can't get your doctor to listen to you so I was hoping that someone here could help me. Thank you.

Comments

  • maryfrank
    maryfrank Member Posts: 2
    #2
    I didn't have back pain, I had some pain almost like a pinching or stabbing pain but it was intermittent, sometimes if I was lying down and turned on my side, I felt like somehting was pulling on my abdomen. I was really bloated, which made me suspicious because I had had ovarian cysts before, so I went to the Dr, a CT scan showed a "suspicious mass" Have you had a CT scan?
  • bebo
    bebo Member Posts: 9
    #3
    All of these symptoms can be symptoms on ovarian cancer, but also other things. That is the problem with ovca. Find a dr. that will do a vaginal ultrasound and ca-125. It takes women years to get dx sometimes because drs. are looking for other things. You have to be your own advocate. I didn't have chronic pain, just severe pain that lasted several hours and went away. I didn't have any other symptoms of ovca. I did have a sore place on my left side. I have 4 children and I breast fed them all. I have no cancer in my family on either side, not even a cousin. I have been eating the anti-cancer diet for 30 years. I am normal weight. All of these things make me the lowest of low risk, but I was dx with stage 3c a year ago. If you are having chronic pain that needs to be addressed anyway. So my advice is to find a dr. that will do the above mentioned test and others to find out why you are in pain. Good luck and keep us posted.

    Debbie
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #4
    I thoroughly agree with Debbie. Get another doctor, and I would add to get a color doppler vaginal ultrasound. A seminar that I went to said that is the best for detection. I had a regular black & white vaginal ultrasound that showed nothing but fibroids, and I had both ovarian and uterine cancers when diagnosed. Color doppler can show "hot" spots, and only takes the flip of a switch to get. I also had a CAT scan that showed nothing.

    Start by getting a new doctor. Fran Drescher (the Nanny) went to more than 10 before getting to the bottom of her troubles - uterine cancer - because doctors told her she was "too young" for it. If you have ovaries, you can have ovarian cancer, regardless of what age you are.
  • pshnyc
    pshnyc Member Posts: 45
    #5
    I agree that the most important thing is to find a doctor who will listen to you. If you don't know one, call your insurance company and ask for a referral to a gynecologic oncologist if possible; if not, a gynecologist. Don't wait and don't try to diagnose yourself. It's probably not ovarian cancer, but you know your body and if you are having symptoms that are not usual, something is going on.

    Good luck,
    Pamela
    New York City
    Dx 4-6-01
    NED!
  • Cindy54
    Cindy54 Member Posts: 452
    #6
    Hello. My Mom had many of the same symptoms that you have. And for many years her doctors did every kind of stomach test there was. Finally when they did the vaginal ultrasound that is when they found the cancer. The CT scan did not show it for some reason. But an MRI did. Get a second opinion, a third opinion. Keep asking questions until you get the answers you are looking for. If you feel something is not right with your body keep looking until you find someone who will help you. Cindy
  • Catlady68
    Catlady68 Member Posts: 4
    #7
    Thank you all for your input. It is nice to hear from those that have gone through this. I finally got to see my GP today and was able to talk him into a CT scan of my whole abdomen. I have what he says is a hernia just under my ribs that has gotten bigger and I really want to make sure that it is nothing. I had a cyst in May 2005 when I had a transvaginal ultrasound done before a D&C to stop mid-cycle bleeding. No one seemed to be worried about it and he said it is nothing to worry about, that they form quite often after ovulation. However, this ovary was deemed non-functioning by a reproductive specialist who did a laparoscopy on me for infertility so, if it doesn't work, why is it forming follicles/cysts? I have read many stories of women who are still ovulating and have cysts. Most of their doctors were concerned with the cysts and did follow up tests to determine if it was just a cyst. I just wonder why every doctor isn't concerned when cysts form in women who are still ovulating because many of these cysts turned out to be cancer. Does anyone have any ideas as to why this is? My mom told me that she had a cyst several years ago and no one has looked at it since. She went through menopause around 15 years ago. She shouldn't have any cysts formed after ovulation. Am I correct or just crazy (like my doctor thinks I am)? I am 38 and he feels that I am too young to have these problems. I am also overweight and he likes to blame things on that. He even blamed the mid-cycle bleeding on obesity even though my uterus had been thick at my pre-laparoscopy ultrasound. It turned out to be filled with polyps. He also said I may have IBD, which was ruled out with a colonoscopy 2 years ago. I quickly changed his direction as many of you were told that this is what you had. I just can't understand why they don't want to look into things more. Granted, most of the time it is nothing, but you never know.

    Also, I read several stories that stated that the CT scans didn't show anything. Has anyone been diagnosed by a CT scan? I chose it so that my whole abdomen could be done, but am concerned that it still may not give me a definite answer after reading some of your stories. What are your opinions?



    Thanks again for your insights!

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