History of Mittelschmerz (Ovulation pain)

To All:

Something has been gnawing at me since the dx of 3c OVC. Since I began ovulating at about the age of 14, I have experienced "Mittelschmerz", ( the term for ovulation pain). The pain so bad that during ovulation I could barely sit from the pressure. i thought my ovary would burst. I would vomit and at times had elevated white blood cell counts. Three times I was in the emergency room for suspected appendicitis. (colonoscopies and GI series were also performed). My gyn, of 20 years said "nothing to worry about just Mittelschmerz" but did many pelvic ultrasounds to be sure. (Still the OVC was missed). She prescribed prescription strength Ibuprofen.

During those frantic days after dx, I read many OVC articles that suspected ovarian stress being a factor in developing OVC. Which may be a possible explanation of why the use of birth control pills and pregnancy lowers you risk. (PS I was pregnant 4 times and used birth control pills)

The gnawing question is (after scouring the Internet): Why there aren't any studies which may connect a history of Mittelschmerz with OVC. I presented my case to Dr. Sabbittini at Sloan Kettering. His response was that it would be hard to
find candidates since pain thresholds are hard to establish. Middlesmirtz pain can be severe like in my case or a mere pinch in other women.

I thought I would start my own informal study so as to justify further research. I would like to know how many of us with OVC dx can also say they suffered with this throughout their menstrual years.

By momanderson920
Posted July 4, 2008 at 4:29 pm

I started having ovarian pain in my 40s. More on one side than the other. I don't recall having it until then. It was not debilitating but felt like someone stabbing me with a knife. I did have ovarian cysts and it could have been caused by them. Once my gyn did a vaginal ultrasound when I told him about the pain and he said it was probably from the ovarian cysts which were nothing to worry about unless it became severe. I think the pain was connected to ovulation since it would occur between cycles and no other time.

By artattack59
Posted July 4, 2008 at 4:41 pm

As I understand it, (feel free to correct me ) isn't ovulation itself a process which produces a cyst? I think it is funny that you describe a pain that was like a knife (similar to that pain I felt) and the doctor didn't think that was severe. (Neither did my gyn). I really feel this is something that is not getting enough attention.

By Luann
Posted July 4, 2008 at 4:46 pm

This is an interesting post. I started my menstrual cycles later compared to most females, I was almost 17, and went through menopause early....I was 45.
I too suffered from "middlesmirtz" and would have times during menstrual cycles that the cramping would be so bad that it would cause me to vomit.
However I did not have that severe of pain to the point of vomiting during ovulation.
I took low dose birth control pills for a short time and had 1 pregnancy.
No one else in my family has ever been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, thus far I am the only one.
artattack 59 you are very fortunate to be going to a doc at Sloan Kettering. I have done some research and find that Sloan Kettering is one of the better places to be with ovarian cancer.
I live in the midwest and they don't often do IP chemotherapy here but had read about the study at Sloan Kettering and begged for the opportunity to try the IP chemo.
It was too toxic for me but it was because of the study
that I wanted to at least try it.
Good luck in your research on "middlesmirtz".

By Carmeta
Posted July 5, 2008 at 9:49 am

Your interest in this topic has me so excited! Clinicians just can't take the time to try to figure out the kind of puzzles you and I think about. Several months before my diagnosis I had a pain that I compared to mittelschmirz, but it went away after a few weeks. I have told people that I think in retrospect that the pain was caused by the tumor breaking through, but I told people there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and no one listened. My point is I am not a physician and so I don't have credibility and the people in charge have no reason to listen to us. I think you have put your finger on a symptom that if recognized by clinicians could save many lives.
For years during gynecological quarterly procedures (I had hyperplasia in my uterus and needed biopsies) I had a pain so severe I needed my husband to hold my hand while it was being done. The novacaine (or whatever) worked everywhere except for the same one spot that made me cry out everytime the procedure was done. No doctor ever showed any interest in what was causing that sharp pain in the region of my ovary that no other woman experienced.

Please keep pursuing your interest in this topic.

By songbird78
Posted July 5, 2008 at 10:56 am

Now to think about it, I did start to have periods early, I was 10, and since I was a kid I always always had bad cramps , it would be THAT bad , I would take naproxen " to take the edge off" the cramps but Id be so bad that for 2 days that and a heating pad was my only relief , it sounds like I might have had " middle" myself, like some others said for me it was not durning ovlation but durning the cycle itself.
This is a interesting topic and like the others you should pursue it

By Georgi
Posted July 5, 2008 at 9:41 pm

Hi,
I am absolutely with you on feeling strongly the relationship of mittelschmirtz to the possible development of ovc. I started my periods at age 11. It took me several years to realize that the tremendous pain I had so frequently was connected to the middle
between periods.

I had a hysterectomy at age 36 but they left the ovaries. Probably between 1 and 2 years before the ovc was diagnosed I again started feeling like I was ovulating. I told this to several Drs who all looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe we shoould try to get one of the cancer centers to listen to us?!!!
Georgi

By artattack59
Posted July 5, 2008 at 9:59 pm

I was hoping to find as many suffers as possible so I could share it with my doctors at Sloan Kettering in NYC, it would help it I spelled it correctly, (as was graciously pointed out by another member). The accurate term is german for middlepain:
Mittelschmerz. I haven't googled it using the german spelling as of yet.

By verlinda
Posted July 6, 2008 at 3:43 pm

I had it for years. I was 21 before a friend's mother told me what was going on. I was Baptist; she was Catholic. I happened to be at their house one time when I had the pain, and her mom said, "Oh, this will be a blessing when you're married. You'll know when you're ovulating." She'd learned about it studying the rhythm method of birth control.

Oddly enough, I only had it every other month, so mine must have been connected with a particular ovary. Wonder if it was the one that was cancerous?

I also had stage 2 endometriosis, so I had some really painful periods. Back in the 60's and 70's we were told to just deal with it, and take aspiring if it got really bad.

I never discussed this with my gynecologist.

By karenst
Posted July 6, 2008 at 6:27 pm

I too suffered from middle of the month pain. I started my period at 13 but by 15, I had pain in the middle of my periods. Strangely enough (or perhaps not so) my most severe pain was every other month on my right side. On the left side, just slight pressure, but an intense stabbing pain on the right . Very much worse than the cramping during my actual menstral period. I have often wondered also if this was a precurser to the ovca as the cancerous tumor was indeed on my right side.Good luck with your research!

By artattack59
Posted July 6, 2008 at 7:36 pm

I too had pain every other month. It is not uncommon for this to happen because ovulation does alternate ovaries each month. The tumor on my right ovary (where I had the pain) was 3 times the size of the left. One of the reasons I did not seek medical help sooner was because this was a common discomfort for me and my Doctors told me in the past that there was nothing to worry about. (This makes 5 of us in two days. Maybe we are on to something).

By Dodie1
Posted July 6, 2008 at 9:01 pm

Thanks for posting this.

I never had middle of the cycle pains like you're all describing, but I have a cousin that used to sit in the middle of the floor and cry her eyes out from the pain. I need to get in touch with her and tell her about this. She's just turned 40, so she probably needs to have it checked out.
My daughter has bad cramps and pains too, so I'm going to try to make her have it seen about. She's almost 19 and has never been to a gyn. She doesn't think she needs to because she's never had a "reason" to go. I've tried telling her since I've been diagnosed with stage IIIC ovca that she needs to keep ahead of things that could possibly happen later on.

Take care & God Bless

By karenst
Posted July 6, 2008 at 9:02 pm

One other thing I just recalled. During my pelvic exams...my right side (the ovc side) was always very tender when the doc was examining me. I mentioned this several times to my docs right up to my last exam 1 year before my dx and was told it was nothing. Sure turned out to be "something" to me. Continuing good luck!
Karen

By Carmeta
Posted July 7, 2008 at 9:23 am

On my list of things to tell my gyn-onc, which I never did bring up, is that my periods usually came every 21 days instead of 28. Once in a while they were as close as 18 days. That meant I ovulated a lot! My mittelschmerz took my breath away and was significant enough that I went to a doctor about it; that's how I learned as a teenager about mittelschmerz. That was the same intense stabbing pain I felt during my uterine biopsies and several months before my dx.

By Gabriele
Posted July 7, 2008 at 9:38 am

I am becoming soo angry at docs who dismiss our very real symptoms as "probably nothing." I remember my first gyn (in 1970!) who smoked during consultation. They called him "Goldfinger" in my town. You can imagine why...
Dodie, please send your daughter ASAP to the gyn. I don't have any children but sent my two sisters. They live in Germany and told me not to worry because their annual exam includes a pelvic ultrasound. How is that for prevention? We have a great deal to catch up with the rest of the world.

By momanderson920
Posted July 8, 2008 at 8:37 am

When I did have pain in my ovary midmonth in my 40s, it was only on the one side, my right. And it wasn't every month. My left ovary had the cancer, none on the right. My pain was on my right side....I wonder if the doctor's left is my right? If so, that is suspicious since I too had pain on one side in the middle of the month between periods.

By momanderson920
Posted July 10, 2008 at 1:34 pm

Found this article about the connection between inflammation and cancer. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92737.php
I wonder if the mittelschmerz is a form of inflammation of the ovaries and thus the cancer connection.

By mjill
Posted July 11, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Wow! This is so interesting. I also had Mittelsmirtz though not as bad as some people but only on side of the ovary that developed the tumor. Doesn't this sound like more than mere coincidence. BTW, anyone with daughters needs to send them for ultrasounds as soon as they turn 30. This is what I did because my Mom had OVC and because of early detection mine was found at Stage I.

By BarbU
Posted July 12, 2008 at 3:59 pm

Interesting discussion regarding this type of pain. I too started menstruating at age 10 and had extreme pain with every cycle. The pain was not inbetween the cycle but during the actual menstral period. I once was hospitalized for the pain when I was 16. Afterwards I was basically told to use a pain pill and the heating pad to get through each period. I had one pregnancy and then used birth control pills for 9 years. I ended up having a hysterectomy at age 32 but they left my ovaries since they said the ovaries were not diseased and it would be better to produce my own hormones rather than take hormone replacement drugs. I did have endometriosis which was discovered during my operation. Over the years, even though I no longer had periods, I felt pain in both left and right ovaries which could have been around the ovulation time but it was difficult to know. I had several pelvic ultrasounds over the years but it was determined that all was well. Obviously that was not the case, since I was diagnosed with Stage III C ovarian cancer in February, 2007. It will be interesting to see what your doctor at Sloan Kettering says when you present him/her with the information you have gathered. Thanks for taking this on and looking for additional information.

By leahrun
Posted July 24, 2008 at 12:13 am

I cannot believe I found this discussion. I don't know where to begin. My grandmother had ovc, and I have been suffering with Mittelsmirtz pain for at least 15 years now. It is so bad each foot step I take is excruciating. My pelvic area is so tender all the time. My cycle has changed in the last 3 years in which I bleed inbetween periods. When I am ovulating I can't fit into the clothes I normally do. I have been researching ovc for quite sometime now wondering is there more to mittelsmirtz. I am finally getting an ultrasound tommorrow. Am I overreacting? or am I not doing enough? Thank you for your posts...you are couragous women. God bless you!

By cmcgrady
Posted July 24, 2008 at 9:54 am

I also suffered from Mittelschmerz & was hospitalized several times before they started me on the pill in my teens. I also know Dr. Sabbatinti, he was my daughter, Meghan's doctor, she passed away last October 22nd at the age of 22 from ovarian cancer. Let me know if I can help.
Cheryl

24 replies

Add to the discussion

Search

Join

Connect

You