Women’s health question, please only for mature and helpful answers?

okay this is for women only, because this is mainly a woman’s problem. i think i may have an ovarian cyst of some kind, but i’m not sure. it could also be an intestinal problem or a kidney problem. i’m pretty sure it’s not my appendix because it’s not on the right side most of the time. but i’ve just been getting a lot of awful pain in my lower abdomen and i’m not really sure what to do about it. sometimes it gets really bad and i get super sick and throw up or worse, and it seems to worsen around my period–but it’s still around when i’m not on my period also which makes me wonder what’s going on. i’ve gone on the internet and looked at all the possible circumstances which has only freaked me out even more and told me basically that i need to go to my doctor. which is all well and good except that i have terrible anxiety and i barely ever leave the house. every time i do for anything–usually a doctor’s appointment–it’s a huge struggle and it makes me so sick freaking out about going to the doctor that by the time i get there, the doctor can barely diagnose me. or at least, that’s what i imagine happens, except that my doctor just fucking dropped me from her practice because she literally felt like she couldn’t “stabilize me.” like she just gave up on me. she didn’t give us any recommendations or anything. she had one of her fucking assistants call us to tell us while she was away on a holiday. she didn’t even answer any of my questions from my last appointment and i’ve got a ton of problems that need answers and solutions. like about my medication and whether i should continue/stop taking certain pills and stuff. that’s all up in the air now. on top of that, all the other doctors in town aren’t taking any new patients. this is like the 3rd or 4th doctor that has left. they either retire or move away or just completely give up on me. and it’s not fucking fair. i’m tired of doctors just deciding they can’t handle the heat and then tossing me around for someone else to deal with. it’s not like i’m a bad patient, okay. i always tell them what’s going on the best i can, i always alert them when i think that something is wrong, i never yell or scream or anything during the appointments, i’m not even a sarcastic asshole or bitchy or anything. because i fucking want to get better. and now that this pain is happening and i keep getting sicker and sicker i don’t know what to do anymore! i guess this isn’t just a lady post after all, but nevertheless, my original intention in saying all this was that i’ve never had a pelvic exam before and i might have to get one from some new random doctor that i don’t even know and i’m scared. also, why do all these doctors and their entire families apparently have to be in on my problems. one doctor i had had her daughter as her assistant taking notes throughout my entire appointment. she must have been premed or something but it really fucking bothered me. like wtf happened to doctor/patient confidentiality? ugh. i’m so fucking angry and upset and i dont know what to do anymore. fuck.

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Savage

5 Answers

1 accepted

It must be hard and sorry to hear your having troubles with doctors I'm not an expert on all this but u can give you some ideas in what may help. First off you really need to get checked out... So what you could possibly do while at home is write everything down so when you get to the doctors and you do become nervous anxious you can just give them the paper and saves you getting worked up secondly you could try calling near by towns (maybe a pain) where someone more qualified could help. If your throwing up and being sick you will need medical help as vomiting can also cause dehydration alcers maybe just take a fee steps to start with... I hope this helped message me if you wanna talk more

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MissKiddz

You seem like you need to get a lot off of your chest. I may be 17, but I'm a good listener. As for your cyst, I just recently had one. They should act up more between periods. My abdomen swelled a little too. Swelling may occur more if it's a bigger cyst. They do pop/shrink on their own but it could be a while until then. Going to a doctor would just confirm it and then they'd probably give you something for it the pain. Try not to exert yourself too much, it makes it worse. I'm sorry for what you're going through. I hope you feel better!

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ashleynicolefs

Doctors more and more are picking their patients literally. You could have a cyst and it's possible that they won't do anything about it if you do. I am so sorry you are going threw all of this. Anxiety is very real and can be crippling. I assume you are under age. The next best thing I think you can do is to see a psychiatrist. They can better help you with meds anyway. They may be able to give you something that can help calm you before seeing your new doctor. You can say no to a pelvic if you just cannot go threw with it. If you have to say no just tell them you are trying to cooperate and your sorry but you just cannot go threw with it at this visit. Your story of being dropped from your doctors care is becoming all too familiar. Doctors these days seem to only have a small list of things they are willing to treat like colds infections. Anything hard they seem to just want to pass on to another. If you ever need pain meds you will be treated like the plague. I have disc problems with my back and a few times have been down for 2 months with it. They treated me like a junkie. I hope you find a solution to your problem as no one deserves to be treated like this. I am so sorry. Psychiatrists are there to help people with severe anxiety so I don't see them dropping you as a patient when the going gets ruff. Good luck and I hope this has helped in some small way.

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Broken 1

615

First things first: you need to address your anxiety problems with a therapist of some kind and will probably be put on medication for you to be calm enough to handle going to a physician. Take a few deep breaths. Humor me and actually do it, please. And here's something that might make you smile: "'I just Googled my symptoms and... I'm dying.'" -- From a medical/scientific standpoint, everything sounds life-threatening. So don't panic! I promise it is going to be ok!

Have you looked up the medications you are on currently to see if abdominal pain is a side effect to any of them?

Are you having regular bowel movements? Some medications screw with your digestive system and can back you up, so to speak, and that causes pain in the lower abdomen. Sometimes this gets overlooked as a cause of pain in those areas. I was on an antibiotic recently that I ended up having an allergic reaction to. Part of that reaction was severe abdominal pain.

Have you noticed your urine being cloudy or darker than normal? Does it have a strong odor? These could indicate a urinary tract or kidney infection. Those aren't pleasant but the pain is usually in the lower back toward the back side of you or in a burning sensation in your bladder and when you pee.

While I'm not sure if I've ever had cysts, I have had similar pain to what you are describing that usually manifests about a week prior to my cycle starting and lasts until it is done at least. My mother had ovarian cysts when she was younger and described something similar as well, so it could very well be ovarian cysts.

If you are sexually active it would be a good idea to establish yourself with a gynecologist and get regular exams. They are a little uncomfortable but nothing unbearable and only last a few minutes. If this is a problem related to your monthly cycle such as ovarian cysts or another linked problem they will be able to tell you and possibly be able to assist you with treatments. [[Personally I have PMDD and have a period from hell that all but incapacitates me for one week a month. Until I lost my health insurance my gynecologist had me on a specific type of birth control to help with PMDD and I can't even begin to tell you how much it helped (or how much I desperately miss having it!)]]

As far as getting medical treatment with a physician in your area... you may end up just having to go to the hospital to get treated. Either that or to an Urgent Care/Rapid Response type clinic. That's the boat I'm in since no doctor around here will take me without insurance. They have financial aid programs to help with the cost of treatment and will sometimes pay for it outright if you don't make enough money. They shouldn't turn you away and will be able to help you with a variety of tests, medications, and procedures should you need emergency attention.

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JoJo

1,147

I appreciate everything you guys are saying to help. The irony is, the doctor that dropped me from her practice IS A LICENSED PSYCHIATRIST and nurse practitioner. There's really not many people left to help me. I've been through just about every doctor in town and they all toss me to another doctor. I really don't know what to do anymore.

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Savage