Question:
Ovarian cyst, fibroids post op anyone?

   — Kitcat (posted on April 29, 2006)

April 28, 2006
My wife had them both both as pre op and post op. causes her endless grief. had them removed and they reoccured. Really glad I am a guy.....
   — bob-haller

April 28, 2006
I had several episodes of painful ovarian cysts pre-op, which required laparoscopic surgery to fix. The last time, there were several on each side, and one was actually on my fallopian tube, which was sacrificed in the procedure. As a childless woman approaching menopause, who has always wanted a child, this was very hard for me to accept. Even though I am newly post-op, and have had no cysts diagnosed as of yet, I have had intermittent pain very similar to that of cysts starting just a day or two after surgery. Because I have already had "too many" laparoscopic surgeries on my lower abdomen, I am waiting to see if the pain goes away by itself or becomes unrelenting before doing anything about it. However, I am convinced by other things that the surgery itself may cause hormonal shifts, including the early onset and extremely long period of menses that occured the day after. All that heparin they gave me did not help, and the pain was excruciating. I almost thought my endometriosis of years ago had returned. Other times the pain seemed acutely located in my left ovary. Shrinking fat cells most likely do release estrogen, but because I have had them so often pre-op (when both average weight and obese) I am not convinced that excess estrogen is the only cause of painful cysts. Also, many women regularly develop non-painful cysts that are only discovered incidentally, and they resolve on their own. I am sincerely hoping that you have an understanding doctor. The (male) GYNs that I have had over the years have all been of the opinion that cysts never (or should never) cause such extreme pain, but I happen to know otherwise. If you do get a doctor who is ignorant in this way, you should leave, on the way out asking him to imagine how he would feel if he had a cyst "merely" three centimeters on one of his testicles, and proceed immediately to find a better doctor.
   — Anna W.

April 29, 2006
As a post-op I had an ovarian cyst and multiple fibroid which I never had before as a morbid obese person. To have ovarian cysts and fibroids is a normal function of the body and WLS has nothing to do with it. My Dr told me I was lucky to have them while I was thin because it will be easier for the body to release them naturally and less painfully. My body did reject them naturally and I did not need to have a surgery to remove them it was done by a normal function of the body system and I did not get them back. My Dr do not think rapid weight loss had anything to do with it. My sister who is normal had to have them removed surgically and she never had a weight problem. I think it is a pure coincidance to have them as a post-op because normal people do have them also. No one is excluded from getting ovarian cyst (complex) or fibroid. I hope I answered your question clearly. Dani
   — Dani96

April 29, 2006
Ovarian cysts and fibroids are so common. It is possible that you had it before surgery and didn't know. Anyway... most of the time there is no major long temr consequnces with these as so many women have them. I wish you all the best.
   — SteffieBear15

April 30, 2006
Hi Lynn, I had surgery in March of 2005. I had 2 uterine fibroids and 1 has gotten larger since surgery. My gyn is not too concerned but put me on a low dose bc pillto control the bleeding. I also had a complex ovarian cyst found at the same time. it scared me to death because of the way my PCP called me at home, talked about ovarian cancer etc. That cyst resolved itself eventually and now I have another one on my other ovary.....I think I just develop cysts. I asked the gyn if it could be WLS related and she said she did not think so but that anything was possible after losing a great deal of weight and putting your body through stress. terry
   — Therese L

April 30, 2006
Hi.. I am still preop, but have had overian cysts since puberty. I had one period of my life where I lost about 80 lbs and started having alot of problems...period every other week etc... and it was resolved with me getting pregnant with twins (I was infertal for the time before and since because of my weight). You may have had cysts all along once in a while, but you are probably starting to ovulate like crazy and make more turn into cysts. I was put on the pill to help (it does help most people). I had to have a hysterectomy last year because of my constant problems.
   — Shellie