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Does this sound like it’s Bartholins cyst ?

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am66
am66

Hi , about 4 weeks ago i had bad pain after sex which felt so bad it hurt to sit down and i ended up putting a cold pack on my vagina to relieve it. During sex i had felt a bit of discomfort but put it down to not enough lubricant. Ive never experienced this before. All i could see was a slightly red area just on the edge of outer labia /entrance to vagina, it also looked more swollen on that side. I went to the doctor and was told it was a Bartholins cyst that was infected and got antibiotics. I went back the following week as just touching myself gently to look at it in mirror made it hurt again and i still had discomfort sitting at times , it was like an ache rather than a localised soreness. The pain travelled out from my labia to the side of my bottom/leg. Doctor said it looked normal but a little irritated and she couldnt find a cyst ., but after her very gently examining me the pain came back sometime later. She prescribed Oestrogen cream (im 55 and was already using HRT patches and oestrogen pessaries) Over Two weeks later I had sex again and i had to stop as it was hurting, same side and again pain like an ache after but not as bad , this has happened again since then and it always seems to happen soon after i have an orgasm . I am due to see the doctor again this week. The pain i experience is localised at labia /vaginal entrance but also can be on one side of pubic bone like an ache (same side as before)

Does this sound like a cyst ? Im very worried it may be something else but not sure what

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • rosie22736
    rosie22736 am66

    Edited

    I went a year of NO one knowing what was wrong with me. It was very frustrating to say the least. I have had the pain during intercourse , swelling, itching, burning , discharge and anything else you could think of related to vaginas and what can go wrong.

    I saw my regular primary care doctor no less than 7 times, many internals and many creams for external for yeast infections and inserts for BV. Nothing worked because I didn't have anything other than a bartholin cyst.

    I finally went to a specialist and within 1 min of the exam he said "Have you been experiencing pain for over a year?" YES! And he told me what I had. Five days later I had it drained. And then a cath. to keep it open and to continue to drain.

    If you had an exam and the doc told you that you had a cyst how come she couldn't find it on next exam?It doesn't make sense that there was one and then not..... I think you need to see someone different right away!

    Good luck!

    • am66
      am66 rosie22736

      Edited

      thank you very much for replying. I saw a nurse practitioner the first time as my doctor was called away on an emergency , the following time i saw a GP. ive made an appointment for myself at the sexual health clinic at the end of september im hoping they will be more knowledgable. im beginning to wonder if there was a cyst at all and concerned it may be something else. Three weeks does not seem enough time for a cyst to disappear from what i have heard. After seeing the GP again she examined me internally as well this time and found nothing wrong she said it could be that there had been an infected cyst and its dispersed. She referred me to gynaecologist at hospital, I already have an appointment at start if October with gynae at hospital as routine check for vulval dermatitis which is under control at moment thankfully. im so sorry to hear you were suffering for a year before this was sorted

  • am66
    am66

    Edited

    Hi, I just thought I would update this, after seeing my GP as I mentioned above and her saying that nothing was wrong, I then had another bad episode of pain not connected to sex and when I had a look had two pus filled pimples just inside my vagina and some swelling on one side at the bottom of the entrance to my vagina. I saw another GP at the practice who also works at the sexual health clinic and she said it was an infected Bartholins cyst and gave me a different type of antibiotic, this helped and I felt better and the following week was able to have sex for the first time in months without pain. Meanwhile my gynaecology appointment at the hospital for Vulval dermatitis,(that I had been waiting for for two years due to Covid) came up and when I got there the cyst had gone, the consultant said that she could see where the cyst had been. Anyway as luck would have it, three days later I began to feel pain again (not had sex just pain when sitting etc) and it looked the same as before with two very small pimples and some minor swelling again.

    I saw the GP today and she said they would not be able to drain it because it wasn't really that swollen. She told me that "they didnt drain it if is wasn't asymetrical " She did refer me back to Gynaecology again but I just don't know how long I will have to wait. She prescribed me more antibiotics (this will be the third lot in three months!) but I said to her I didn't want to take them if I could help it she said to keep them in reserve in case it got worse over the weekend and to try salt water baths to see if it would ease it. I was really hoping that a procedure would have been offered and at least go on a waiting list to have it sorted out. Has anyone else been told this that they can't have a procedure either marsupialisation or balloon catheter? This has been causing a great deal of pain even though it is not very large. It is really getting me down. I am in the UK

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