Unknown pelvic pain

[cabbage12]

I am 18 years old and a virgin and since September 2013 I have been having right sided pelvic pain. It started to be painful when i lay on my back and was quite a sharp pain. Following this, i began to experience a dull sort of pain which would come and go. Soon after I began getting a sudden sharp pain from time to time ( the pain is a cross between period cramps and the pain i experience when i had an appendicitis). Then i would the pain when lying on my stomach or my right side. I took a month to get the that stage and is still ongoing. Paracetamol and ibuprofen don't help with the pain. I have been to my doctors 5 times now and had many sort of diagnosis (IBS, PCOS, Cyst) but nothing has been discovered or found. I have had a pelvic ultrasound done ( Internal and abdo which didn't go over the area with the pain) which only found a follicle on my right ovary ( I started my period 2 days after the scan). All my blood tests and urine tests have come back normal. My doctor has put me on amitriptyine 10mg for the pain as it has been affecting my sleep as i can't get comfortable and was waking me up and is getting in contact with gynecology for advice.

In the past I have had heavy periods, very painful periods and pain up to two weeks before my period.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this or have an ideas of what is going on.

Its getting really annoying now. I am a student nurse and don't want it to effect me when on placement

[Impatient]

It does sound like a haemorrhaging ovarian cyst from your description.

That doesn't mean an endometrioma - there are different sorts of cysts, if it is an endometrioma then that does add to the likelyhood that you have got some degree of endometriosis too.

The endometriosis is active with your monthly cycle, but an endometrioma cyst can be slowly leaking all the time causing persistent pains as can other cysts.

i would ask for a follow up trans vaginal ultrasound. this is where a probe is inserted into the vagina and gets a much better view of what's happening behind the uterus which often where cysts can be hiding and not spotted on normal pelvic ultrasound.

The cysts hide in the pouch of douglas (as does pooled endo bleeding) and the trans vag US is the best sort for detecting hidden cysts.

Ask the sonographer to have a good rummage around, it might be a bit uncomfy but in my case I had several TVUS scans before a sonographer spotted an 8cm hidden cyst occupying the POD and also down there was a missing ovary. She was on the hunt for the missing ovary when she unearthed the cyst there too.

She had only been checking on the over ovary and its known about cyst, when i happened to mention that last time the right ovary was missing, so she made a special effort to try and find where it was and bingo the even bigger 2nd cyst was located. It hadn't given me any indication it was there at all. Quite benignly sitting there.

It's always recommended ladies with suspected endo or diagnosed with endo have the transvaginals because they do allow the sonographer to see more. Bonus is you do not have to have a full bladder - the opposite is true, an empty bladder (phew!!) is essential.

[cabbage12 in reply to Impatient]

Thanks for the advice , hopefully I will hear from gyni soon but i have hear I could be waiting up to 18 weeks to be seen. I had a transvaginal scan back in March which only showed a small follicle which was most likely due to starting my period 2 days after the scan. I did however have pain after the scan.