Tubo-ovarian abscess from mirena coil

[Cazzan]

Hi all,

I'm new here but wanted to see if anyone else out there has had a Tubo-ovarian abscess, how it was dealt with and how you feel now.

I have endometriosis and have previously had a laparoscopy to remove the endo 9 years ago, then a lap last year to remove a large chocolate cyst, left ovary & Fallopian tube.

That all went well, but this year I had a mirena fitted in March (to help the endo) and 10 days later was in agony and went to A&E being sick and in severe pain. Was sent home with antibiotics but got worse over the weekend. Back to A&E and was admitted and scanned and they found the abscess in my right tube. Had IV antibiotics for 4 days which didn't work and I ended up going septic, then rushed into theatre to have it drained by keyhole surgery.

Unfortunately this didn't get it all out and I ended up back in surgery a few weeks later- this time a c-sect type cut and the abscess was drained again. Seems to have worked this time and I am 8 weeks post surgery and no more pain or night sweats or high temperature. Spent 21 days in hospital in total and none of the swabs grew any bacteria. They think a bug got in when the mirena was put in.

Has anyone else experienced similar?! Would be great to know there are others out there!

Thanks, Caz

[Anabelle101]

Hi can I have had quite a few tubo ovarian abscesses and I have had sepsis from pid on so many occassions. I have had three laparoscopies, a c-section style laparotomy and one with the cut from my belly button straight down. Inbetween I have been treated with iv and oral antibiotics, with varying degrees of success.

Unfortunately my pid has been ongoing for over ten years, which was only diagnosed in the last three years and my first abscess two years ago. I've got alot of adhesions, pain and difficulties with passing urine. However I think I am an extreme example of when things go wrong and I bet only a small number of people are like me.

As for how do I feel now. I don't let the pain get to me too badly. It's hard not to panic when I begin to feel unwell. Maybe that's just me each person has a different experience. Hope you continue to have a good recovery. Any questions just ask and I will do my best!!

[Cazzan in reply to Anabelle101]

Hi, thanks for your reply and sorry to hear you have had so much pain. Can I ask why you've had several abscesses? Do they know what caused them? And you say the antibiotic had varying success- can I ask why?

I am paranoid that it might come back

I too have a lot of adhesions. The surgery was tricky as everything was stuck together. Also have pain passing urine since the laparotomy but I imagine there is now even more scar tissue and adhesions.

Thanks, Caz

[Anabelle101]

My case is slightly different to yours in that I had pid for a long time before my abscess formed. I think mine is caused by e.coli. It's harder to clear something that's been there a long time.

As for antibiotics it's difficult to know which one will be best to use depending on what type of bacteria and the extent of the infection, in some cases oral antibiotics have cleared it but other times I've needed surgery.

I think you shouldn't be paranoid just more vigilant about experiencing the same symptoms as you have before. Don't be afraid to seek help early and express your concerns. Are you still seeing a gynaecologist?

[Cazzan in reply to Anabelle101]

You poor thing having pid for so long. They don't really know what caused mine, but it happened 10 days after the coil. I hope there was nothing there before (swabs were all negative), and it was that 1 in 100,000 risk of infection getting in.

I was on a whole host of antibiotic in hospital. Three different types at once.

I am still seeing a gynaecologist yes. Had my post op 6 week check, and seeing someone in August too.

The whole thing was awful and was off work 3 months. Going septic not nice at all!

Thank you for chatting

I hope you sort your pain management out.

[xomarcy]

I have always had problems with painful periods and severe cramping. In December 2015 I had mirena placed. Over the next few months I kept getting sick (bronchitis, severe pharyngitis, etc and I never get sick) and they couldn't figure out what it was from. I had occasionally cramping over those months but that was nothing new for me. In May I had pain so severe I couldn't walk and thought the mirena had perforated my IUD so I went to my doc. That is when they found the tubo ovarian abscess. They treated me 4 days in the hospital with IV antibiotics and then 2 weeks of oral antibiotics. The repeat ultra sound at the end of the antibiotics showed the abscess was gone. That was in May. It is now mid September and I am still have severe pain and starting have symptoms of getting sick all the time again. Do you think its possible the abscess has come back or is still there? I have always heard they need to be drained if they are bigger than 2cm. Mine was 6.5x2x2.5. I am afraid the abscess is still there but the doc keeps saying its normal to have residual pain. Do you think I should go for a repeat ultrasound or be worried? Did anyone else have symptoms like this after their abscess was 'gone'?

Thanks!

-M

[KatXena]

Hey, I realise this was a few years ago for you now... but that sounded Awful!!!

I recently underwent a laparoscopy for an Tubo-ovarian abscess. I had the copper coil, which had worked for me brilliantly for about 3 years with no problems. I had a small chest infection and took prednisone which is an immunosuppresant and my period came 8 days early and went for an extended time as well. That was all fine. I then had 11 days respite after before I started getting severe cramping and spotting for about 20 days. I was completely lethargic and started to worry what was wrong cos this was super unusual for me. I worried my IUD was sticking into me, that perhaps I got pregnant on it and that it was causing painful implantation with the IUD... unlikely but I couldn't explain the pain. Blood tests and ultra sounds told me I wasn't pregnant, everything was normal, no cysts, I had no STIS, no urine infection. After waking up in sweats and agony I took myself to hospital where they confirmed the same and also that my blood temperature, pressure and white blood count was normal. My other dr gave me antibiotics, gyno took swobs and took out my copper IUD convinced it was causing the symptoms and would be fine without it. I thought maybe it was a uterus infection. I stopped bleeding after taking the antibiotics so I thought I was getting better. Then a week later still bed bound my bowels had stopped working and severe pain was present for at least 4 hours every morning and then I started throwing up.

Back to hospital the ultra sound now showed up an abscess on my left ovary. Laparoscopy drained the abscess which was hidden behind my bowel having tried to close up around the affected ovary. Took out about a litre of pus and cut out adhesions which had grown around the organs.

I was in hospital 8 days.

5 drip antibiotics - cos they didn't know what it was.

Then home with 2 courses of antibiotics as well

I'm definitely recovering but it still feels slow. I'm 3 weeks out from the surgery. Still getting pain which concerns me and of course I'm fearful of it not being over or coming back.

How long did you feel you had abdominal pain for following ???

[Quasita]

Hello... I too realize this was a while ago now but I got into a bit of a rabbit hole search tonight and found this thread.

My doctor *never*talked to me about possible infection risk and I presented at the hospital several times with pain. I had had a large dermoid cyst removed prior to my Mirena placement, but healed okay we thought, and placed the IUD several months later.

I had psychological side effects from it so I was treated rather poorly. My life absolutely fell apart after the first 6 months or so. Lost my job, became suicidal, it was awful. Pain was terrible. The ER kept sending me home till I presented twice in 12 hours, the second time with 103 fever. By then I had stranding through my belly cavity from the abscess. I spent a week in hospital NPO with IV antibiotics. I was released without the infection being cleared but my doctor claimed she was fine with my improvement.

I kept having pain problems so I swapped specialists, thinking I had cysts. They scheduled a scope to explore but I ended up getting another terrible infection that nearly put me in a coma. Needle drainage culture was negative and I spent another week in hospital then the next month on oral antibiotics and pain medications. I ended up scheduled for a radical hysterectomy because it showed it spreading on the ultrasound... So the answer of can it come back is YES.

I had surgery and the IUD was removed along with a dead ovary, tube and multiple adhesions, foreign bodies and loads of pus. I'm lucky to be alive now. They saved my uterus and other ovary but they stated I should anticipate possible loss within the next 5 years.

True enough, that was November 2013 and I had my hysterectomy and second oopherectomy in January 2018. Now in full menopause at 36 because of it all. I fought constant problems for 5 years before giving up. Multiple tries of different therapies, nothing worked. I'm still paying the medical bills from back then... I'd love to know how I can get help lol all this because I wanted to make sure to wait to have kids until I was ready and able to support them.

My point is, if you're reading this because you are searching a maybe in your head, call your doctor. Don't be another person living my pain. I am part of less than .5% of women that this happens to... But I nearly lost my life. It's not worth it. Trust your instincts.

Lucky for me, I found that I feel better in many ways. It sucks to be menopausal but it's amazing to know that I survived.