PCOS - sudden abdominal pain
In 2008, they discovered that I have polycystic ovaries, a common occurrence for women my age. But I suspect I had them several years earlier.
Update 2026: This disease has now been renamed to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome - PMOS.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is fairly common, although it is less common when you have endometriosis at the same time. There is a genetic hormonal link though - all of the women in my immediate family on mum’s side have endometriosis and/or adenomyosis and/or PCOS.
I got the trifecta - yay me?!
PCOS is diagnosed by ultrasound
In a routine ultrasound in 2009, to check on the adenomyosis cysts in the uterus, they found one of the PCOS cysts inside the ovary had swollen to the size of the ovary. It was gone on the next ultrasound, many months later.
The surgeon had recommended a wait-and-see approach.
If a cyst gets too painful or too large, then they will investigate further, and potentially operate. But normally, they go away naturally, during one cycle or another.
Sometimes the cysts are painlessly released, other times they burst painfully.
When a PCOS cyst bursts
I suspect I had another cyst burst this month. The adenomyosis symptoms were so much worse than usual - heaviness and soreness in the abdomen, bloating, moodiness, and the ridiculous amount of blood lost. Plus there were two days where it hurt to move and especially walk - spiking pain lanced through my right side with each step. Tiredness, crankiness, general pain and my immune system were all worse than usual.
Two days ago, it felt like something burst inside as I stood up. Yesterday, the bloating (and associated weight) had drastically reduced, and pain levels had decreased. Today, it is a bit better still, although I’m still awfully tired. It is similar to the sharp right side abdominal pain I had in 2002, where I did go to the hospital, but they couldn’t see anything unusual (at the time they were most concerned about the appendix).
When a cyst bursts, there can be fluid (or blood) released inside and around the ovary. As this has a chance of getting infected, I’ll keep a close eye on my symptoms, and head to a doctor if I develop a fever.