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WHAT YOUR DOCTOR SHOULD KNOW; WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES
8 May 2009
by
admin
Filed under
Women's Health
Annie’s Story: Annie is a twenty-seven-year-old advertising copywriter. Annie wants to clear up her health problem, but she is confused about what is wrong with her. Her story scans this way: “Since I was about sixteen, I’ve had stabbing pain in my left aide and back during my period. I was told it was part of being a woman. About a year ago, I doubled over in severe pain and had to be taken to the emergency room. I was so wiped out, they gave me a blood test to ensure mat I was not Weeding internally. Ultrasound confirmed a cyst on my right ovary. The doctor said it would be reabsorbed by my body in the weeks that followed (which was later confirmed). That’s all they found, yet I left the hospital in pain! I couldn’t eat or sleep for the pain. I called my doctor again and he said it might be an infection, or even gonorrhea, and that I should come in for a test. How could it be a venereal disease? I’ve had this pain for eleven years!”
Unfortunately, a majority of doctors do not suspect endometriosis when a differential diagnosis seemingly confirms pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or, in some cases, gonorrhea. Cramps, back pain, abdominal tenderness, and other symptoms tend to indicate pelvic inflammatory disease; additionally, gonorrhea left untreated creates a few symptoms that can resemble endometriosis, including abnormal bleeding and severe pelvic pain. However, there is often accompanying fever with advanced gonorrhea (pus from resulting tubal or ovarian abscesses may cause pelvic inflammation), which does not occur in cases of endometriosis. We emphasize this contusion in diagnosis because a majority of doctors suggest the possibility of infection first. Antibiotics, as previously noted, do not help sufferers of endometriosis.
Cysts are a common ovarian abnormality. They vary in content and can be benign or malignant. A simple cyst, which is a fluid-filled sac, can grow on an ovary anytime during the menstrual cycle. A dermoid cyst contains types of skin tissue, is mote solid in character, and grows less frequently. Most ovarian cysts will disappear spontaneously after one or two menstrual cycles and are therefore not much cause for alarm. This is the type of cyst doctors thought Annie had, but such cysts tend not to cause much pain. In Annie’s case, pain was severe.
Endometrial cysts, called endometriomas, grow faster than either simple cysts or dermoids and can cause more pain—the kind of pain Annie was feeling. Endometriomas are also called chocolate cysts or blood cysts, since they are filled with old blood and endometrial cells, and they are deep brown in color. An endometriotic cyst can be very large, even bigger than a grapefruit, or smaller than a pea. Interestingly, smaller cysts can cause more pain than larger ones and may make diagnosis more difficult.
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