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Endometriosis pain after hysterectomy

Hi, I am currently 38 years old & am a mother of 2 boys.  I had a hysterectomy with the removal of one ovary & my Fallopian tubes going on 3 years ago.  I had severe endometriosis.  I’ve recently started having some stomach pain on one side.  It just so happens to be on the side of the remaining ovary.  I thought I had an ovarian cyst, so I mentioned it at my yearly OBGYN check up a couple of weeks ago.  They did a vaginal ultrasound & said I had a very, very small cyst on my ovary but that it should not be causing any pain at this point.  My pain comes & goes but reminds me a lot of how my endometriosis pain felt.  I have an achiness in my side & sometimes sharp, stabbing pains.  The pain isn’t always necessarily in the lower abdominal region.  It kind of migrates around but stays on the right side.  I also have a lot of gasiness (sorry for TMI) that makes the pain worse.  I’ve been worried it could be something more serious but, the thought also occurred to me today that it might be the endometriosis since a hysterectomy never really cures it.  I haven’t had any pain or issues since the hysterectomy 3 years ago until now.  

My question is, is there anyone else out there who also had a hysterectomy but experiences endo pain???  If so, was it similar to what I’m describing??

Thanks in advance for your help!!
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134578 tn?1693250592
Either ovulation or (more likely) the function of your brain that triggers ovulation could cause endometrium that migrated to your abdomen before you had your uterus removed, to swell and be painful. Removing the uterus would not necessarily do anything to remove strayed endometrial tissue, unless you had a really good surgeon who knew how to look for endometrial tissue attached to other internal organs and structures. It can be widespread and kind of subtle. (Having a hysterectomy is not the usual occasion where a specialist goes looking for endometrium attached elsewhere, he or she is usually just focusing on doing a hysterectomy.)

In your shoes, I would try to find a specialist who is really good at this kind of surgery. (In my town, it was the specialist who did IVF, a reproductive endocrinologist, I think.) It could mean another surgery, but if someone who knows what he or she is doing will do your laparoscopy and get the endometrium out that is not supposed to be there anyway, you will feel a whole lot better. It's either that, or go permanently on the pill to keep from having a period kind of bodily response, or wait until menopause.
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3 Comments
Thank you for your response.  I’m not even really sure it’s endometriosis causing my side/stomach pain but it was just a thought that occurred to me today.  I think I will put a call in to my OBGYN & see what he thinks.  Your comment makes perfect sense!  Thanks again.  
Good luck. At the least, you could ask your ob/gyn to order an abdominal MRI at the time when you are feeling the pain. If there is migrated endometrium attached to the abdominal sidewall or the intestines, it would be most likely to show up when it is swelling.
I never thought of that.... thank you!  
707563 tn?1626361905
As far as I understand it, how it was explained to me when I had my hysterectomy many years ago, estrogen feeds the endometriosis, so since you still have one ovary, you can still have endometriosis if, as Annie said, they left even one small piece in there. Leaving you with one ovary makes sense, given your age and the benefits of your body making it's own estrogen, but a recent study shows that removing ovaries can reduce the need for more surgeries and lessen the chances of recurring pain.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/endometriosis-after-hysterectomy-3156908 - a summary of the study

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286861/ - the actual study

Obviously, there are a dozen (or more) other things that could be causing this pain, and the "migrating" pain could be radiating pain, which starts in one place, but travels to another, most often along a nerve path.

I hope you get some answers! Let us know. :)
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