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Ovarian Cysts

How to deal with the pain

By Ada ZubaPublished 4 years ago 6 min read
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This is the least graphic image I could find...https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/ovarian-cysts

All women go through the same phase of the period. Some women have seven days of bleeding, others have only five. Every woman is different and we all know that. There are woman who don't bleed for months at a time and then have a ten day streak of heavy bleeding. This my be uncomfortable for you to read, but some women have hard menstrual cramps and others barely feel a difference. This article will get personal and a little bit awkward. When I first got my period it was normal I was one of the lucky ones, I did not feel any different, there was no pain or cramping and quite frankly it sneaked up on me. I have lived very happy with my period up until I started university. The first time I experienced the pain was thanksgiving. I was eating dinner and over eating and I was happy and laughing with my family, until I suddenly felt like someone had stabbed me in the lower intestine. I thought it was only indigestion, but then the pain was moving towards my left side. I got up from the table and fell to the ground, it hurt too much to stand. My mom found a pillow to put under my head and my oldest sister stood there accusing me of being weak, saying hurtful things like "she's just being dramatic". No, sister. No, she is not "being just dramatic". It felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife in the lower left quadrant of my stomach. My parents helped me up and put me in their bed (because it is the closest from the kitchen). I remember crying lots and howling from the pain as the rest of my family had no idea what to do. I remembered that I had some left over naproxen from my shoulder injury. I directed my dad to go find it and he did. I took one immediately and I prayed that the pain would be going away soon. I was crying badly because the pain was not going away and I was in a fetal crouching position screaming "make it go away" at the top of my lungs but it came out all weird because it was through my tears. Then my other sister brought me a hot water bottle and I put it on my stomach, which helped a lot but I was still crying and my head started to hurt from lack of oxygen. I decided to convince my body to shut down. I took in a deep breath and pretended to go to sleep, i closed my eyes and still nothing. luckily we had melatonin in the house so I took it quickly and within minutes I started to feel all the medications starting to work. As the months wore on I started to learn the signs that the pain was coming, first step was my legs being in unbelievable pain, like growing pains, but a little more intense because no position is comfortable for you to lay in. My doctor had given me a stronger dose of naproxen. I would take it before my period would come, so I would be well prepared. One time we went to the movie theater to see Moana and I felt a little weird so I went to the bathroom and even though I had taken naproxen the pain came to me anyway. I went back to the theater grabbed my coat told my sisters "it's happening, I am calling dad" and I sneaked out of the theater and I collapsed beside the door of the theater. I lay there for thirty minutes and no one, not even a staff member came to help me. When I woke up I managed to call my dad, but he said he could not understand me my words were slurred, but I finally told him where I was and he was on his way. Ten minutes went by when finally one staff member came to see if I was okay and needed water. I probably sounded drunk to her, but I should have called an ambulance then. My dad came fifteen minutes later, he helped me to the car and took me home. I went into bed and passed out. My body took the flight response as opposed to fight. This was not a normal thing happening. I made an appointment with my doctor and she said I might have endometriosis and it could reduce my chances of having children. All I ever wanted were children. After doing an ultrasound for my pelvis. I was relieved to hear it was not endometriosis. Instead I had cysts on both my ovaries, which explains the painful periods I have been experiencing. On the left side I had a cyst that was four inches all around and on my right it was two and a half inches. It was usually my left side that hurt, so I was shocked to hear that they were on both sides of me. I was booked to get surgery on them because of the size. My doctor prescribed other medication for me, which I could tell it helped. Now, the pain was came for five minutes and then I was fully functional. Then, I had my last ultrasound to see if any changes had happened and during my English class I got a phone call from the Gynecologist's office. I ignored it because I was in class and I called them back five minutes later.

"We have some news for you," said the lady on the phone.

"What's that?"I asked.

"You will not need surgery anymore, the medication worked and you're all cleared up" she said with a happy tone.

"Thank you so much" I told her and hung up. I was so relieved. It was over, I was better. I did not need to miss four weeks of my classes because of surgery. I would not fall behind my classes. I was free from the cysts. i told my family I was cyst free and I was never happier. However, I started to have the pains again, I went for an ultrasound and my cysts were back around one to two inches on both sides. I was prescribed a different kid of medication and it worked it's magic. So my doctor decided to put me on birth control permanently, so they would not grow back. It was hard for me to adjust to it, but I did and I am so glad that I did. My father did not know for the longest time that I was "on hormones" as he put it. Now, he does and every time I make a decision he does not like, he blames it "on those hormones" I am taking.

I cannot stress this enough. If you are experiencing pain during your period or even before your period and it's pain that makes you faint, or it makes you curse like a pirate. Then, please go see your doctor and if you do not have a doctor that's what walk-in clinics are for. Make sure you are not risking more by avoiding the issue. You are in pain? go get help. Find out what is wrong with you. Take care of yourself.

A few good ways to take care of yourself is to make sure you have a hot water bottle ready to go, make sure you have melatonin beside you, it can help you by convincing yourself to go to sleep. Naproxen is good even before the pain comes, so if you have a period tracker take it the day before. If you need to go on birth control then you need to do it, even if it is against what you believe in, but ask for other medications that can help before committing yourself to it. Stay safe! Please note that I am not a doctor in any way. Anything that I have written in this article is pure experience.

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About the Creator

Ada Zuba

Hello fellow interweb explorers! I am Ada Zuba. I binge the Netflix shows and just recently Disney plus has been my happy place. I am a creative person with a big love for Disney movies. I hope to one day write and publish a fantasy novel.

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