I’ve had ovarian cysts since I was a teen. I had surgery to remove them once. I have polycystic ovarian disease/syndrome (PCOD or PCOS), so they’re just something I live with.
I have been taking the meds to control them—Glucophage and the right kind of BC pills (I’m trying Yasmin)—for several years now. I’d been led to believe that it was such a big deal. There is some increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but I thought that was about it.
This past week, my primary care physician told me that when ovarian cysts burst, sometimes they are right at a blood vessel and the bleeding doesn’t stop. Women have bled to death that way.
That has NEVER been mentioned to me by any of the doctors who have treated me in the past! And yes, I checked—she’s right.
Now I find that someone I know from a homeschoolers’ list went in to have surgery to remove a very painful cyst, and ended up having to have the ovary removed. The surgeon said that had she been treated sooner, the ovary would have been fine. I’m not entirely clear as to how, but somehow the ovary got twisted up and cut off from its blood supply, so it was dying.
I know some of you other ladies have PCOS, too—please go get treated!
