# New here. Diagnosed with constipation. Ovarian cancer fears



## Batmama (Jun 26, 2017)

Hey all,

I've been battling an undiagnosed illness. Over the last few years I've noticed I have occasional urgency, pain when having a BM, lower left side pain. It's never been consistent and nothing seemed to help or make it worse.

This, however, came on suddenly with low back pain followed by burning lower abdominal pain. Suspected kidney infection so took antibiotics. Culture came back negative. Had kidney and ovarian ultrasound. Both normal. My period was ten days late which is abnormal for me. Had a pelvic CT scan done which came back normal. Blood work including ovarian cancer marker CA125 came back normal.

I've ultimately been diagnosed with constipation at this point. Follow up in a couple weeks after increasing fiber. Specific questions to community are:

Can IBS cause one late cycle? Maybe during a flare? 
Is it an everyday pain? This inflammation and burning pain is new and hasn't quit since end of April.

I'm trying to determine if I want to do exploratory laparoscopy to check for ovarian cancer. I'm 31 and a mom to two young boys. I've been breastfeeding for four years. The risk seems low, but I don't know what else would come on suddenly like this. Hoping you can share your stories so I can ask doctor about IBS.


----------



## Justwannabenormal (Jun 2, 2017)

I understand what you mean. It is scary when you know that something is wrong, but you don't know what it is. I am there too. My hormones have been going completely crazy since last January. I had one late period, and ever since then my periods are irregular and I have pelvic pain and really awful PMS. I have had pap smears and they are always normal, my ultrasounds are always normal except for the appearance of polycystic ovaries. I had a weird burning sensation too, not like cramps but sharp pains, and weird sensations. I use a progesterone cream, and they seem to get better with that, but it happens at odd times. Sometimes it starts in the first week of the month. Other times it is the second half of my cycle. There is no rhyme or reason, and I am trying to identify what is triggering this. One month it really had me freaked out because it was quite bad, I had no idea what it was, and my mind went to some pretty awful places. Every time I go to the doc though, they cannot find anything. My doctor suspects that it is endometriosis (my mother had it, and had to have a hysterectomy at 36 because of it), and we are trying to treat it with progesterone to see if the symptoms improve. If this doesn't work then we will do laparascopy.

I have a great OBGYN and she told me that when you have pelvic pain, and painful periods (which I have always had) and they cannot identify cause, it is usually endometriosis. It doesn't show up on scans. The endometrial tissue can grown anywhere - on the bowel, on the bladder, on the ovaries, on nerves in your lower back, etc. and can cause a variety of symptoms, including IBS symptoms because it can grow on the intestines. The only way that they can make a definitive diagnoses that it is indeed endometriosis is to do laparascopy. So if you are very concerned, I would consider that. I really think that if you had ovarian cancer it would have shown up in the tests that you have had. I am not a doctor, and don't like to speculate, but what you are describing sounds a bit more like endometriosis than something more sinister. The cancer marker test, and the CT scan definitely would have shown that.


----------



## susanrkat (Nov 5, 2017)

Ovarian cancer does not always show up in the tests. The CA125 is the only blood test and it is not reliable. PLEASE GO BACK TO YOUR DR.

I just had a total hysterectomy for ovarian cancer. They got it really early and Im okay. Do not let this slide please.


----------

