Could my involuntary incontinence be a sign that my endo cyst is more worrisome than the doctors think?

[starrynight5626]

I'm 53 and having my third follow up US in two weeks (having one every 3 months for a year) to monitor a 3.2 cm endo cyst that was found incidentally last March. It hasn't changed in size since then, but my last US showed another cyst that is slightly smaller and it says they "communicate" somehow.

For about the past year or two I've had this involuntary incontinence at times when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I wouldn't say the urge to pee is huge, but it's at the point where I know if I don't go, I'm going to have a problem getting back to sleep. As soon as I get up, and before I make it to the bathroom, I feel a trickle down my leg and see that I've left a small trail of urine to the toilet. The thing is, I don't even realize I'm doing it.

Is this just age or is it something more? I met with my GP last month for a physical and completely forgot to mention this to her, but messaged her about it yesterday. I asked her what I should do about the cyst and she said with having no other symptoms, she would just watch and wait and not have surgery. I don't know if she knows about this incontinence if it will change her mind.

[Doggies221]

with menopause, age, decrease in estrogen, the bladder and urethra tissues relax and tend to not function as they did with plenty of estrogen premenopause. Your urinary inconcontenance and frequency are classic symptoms of menopause (most likely having to do with reduced circulating estrogen). That’s why people use vaginal estrogen for genitourinary symptoms, or even other forms of HRT. Perhaps using that cream would help with this problem. I don’t think anyone can say anything regarding relation or not to the very small endo cyst you have. Hope this helps.

[LovemyJackRussell]

As you are having an US in 2 weeks your mind will hopefully be put at rest. You don't say whether you are having any problems other than during the night? If that is the only time I don't think it is too worrying.

My only symptom before being diagnosed with OC was frequency of weeing, which I put down to my age. It was only when I was needing to go as often as the dog when out walking that I thought something wasn't right.

I hope that your ultrasound puts your mind at rest.

Best wishes.

[starrynight5626 in reply to LovemyJackRussell]

No I don't have any other problems. No pain, no feeling of fullness. I mean I do go to the bathroom a lot but I also drink a lot of water, tea and coffee.

[SopSinger]

Please tell her. It's a significant symptom, it's causing you distress, it's a change from your normal, it's not something to be expected at your age, and it might or might not be related to the cyst - maybe just about the position - but let her know!

[SuffolkJen]

Personally I would let your team know this symptom. There’s no benefit keeping quiet about it. They’re the experts but they cannot do their job if they do not have all the information.

Good luck

[ChristineL]

I think it would be good to properly find out why this is happening- my sister was diagnosed with OC and her main symptom was losing a bit of urine when she turned over in bed, she didn't lose any at any other time. She did also have feelings of fulness when eating but she thought maybe her symptoms were due to menopause. Your incontinence could be caused by any number of things, it could be the cyst, could be menopause, everybody's different, but I think it's best to push to get answers if you're concerned, also to understand what is meant by the communicating cyst, and not accept reassurances from the doctors unless they've checked everything and explained everything. Good luck!

[starrynight5626 in reply to ChristineL]

Both my GP and the OBGYN I saw think that the watch and wait scenario is ok to do, even though the OBGYN said the chance of cancer is low but they can't be sure unless they do surgery. I asked the OBGYN about the "communication" between the cysts and she said it just means they connect. However, she didn't seem concerned that this second cyst showed up on the last US and it wasn't on the one 3 months previous.

[TeddyC]

If it were me I’d let her know. It was a symptom for me, before my diagnosis. I just put it down to age but in my case it wasn’t.

[starrynight5626]

Got a response back from my GP which is exactly what I thought she'd say "I don't think this is at all a problem with the ovarian cyst - it sounds like pretty standard "urge incontinence".

[Django123]

Pelvic floor physical therapy really helped me after I had problems following hysterectomy. Good luck!

[Petrolhead]

in addition to Django’s reply above re pelvic floor therapy it might be worth looking at vaginal weights. These help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles more effectively than most pelvic floor exercises. A couple of different sorts available. I have used in the past. I used the ones like a tampon where you increase the weight every few days. Use while in the shower so not a great deal of hassle or time to use.

Best wishes

Fay

[Tlflom]

A cyst is a fluid filled bubble. When is communicates, it is sharing fluid.