I feel for you, as my pain is on my right and has been going on for at least 1 yr, I am gong for a second ultrasound next week. First one was last year when I developed this stupid thing.I was talking to a friend of mine, and she had the same thing and has said that it was PID (pelvic inflammatory disorder). Endo and that are pretty close but if you look at symptoms for that, it sounds about right. In that case, Antibiotics for that can help, lots of heat and baths and tlc of course. My bf sees me everynight keel over in pain, and the only thing he can do is get me my Rx and heating pad. But don't give up. Keep at the Dr's to do the tests and what not. You will get the result and hopefully the cure.

You can also try and see if you have a pelvic pain specialist in your area. Because that's their area of expertise, alot of times they are very helpful as well. Have you ever looked into pelvic physical therapy? That is very helpful as well depending on the situation.

Thank you, ladies. I have been doing pelvic PT for about a year and a half now. It helps dramatically, but not with the left side pain! I have been checked for PID and infection and I don't have either. I am just curious what a cyst feels like because that was something my doctor was questioning.

For me, cysts are sharper and I can pinpoint exactly where the pain is. It makes everything around it ache. I can feel it getting squished when my bladder is full and it causes very sharp, shooting pains if I twist or bend the wrong way. Conversely, endo pain is more of a constant, aching burn. Does that make sense? Hope this helps a little!!

kDeezy that makes a lot of sense thank you!

I guess the problem is that I don't know how to differentiate different pain for myself all the time! I know that bladder pain is lower and centered. I know what cramps feel like, I know what digestive pain feels like, and I *usually* can tell when it is my pelvic floor muscles... But I don't know what pain from endo is supposed to feel like by itself I guess... And I am just dying to know what this shooting left side pain is!

Cyst pain to me is usually very sharp pain. And like kdeezy said, you can pinpoint exactly where the pain is. I have had some very large cysts and also feel a fullness or pressure where it is sometimes.

Before my two large cysts were removed from my left ovary I had the sharp pain, and a annoying pain that went all the way up the left side of my abdomen. The Dr. who did my surgery said "oh this absolutely is not related to the cysts or the endometriosis" Yeah well, since removing the cysts the left sided pain is gone with the exception of the sporadic pain I get throughout the same. So I would figure if your cyst is large enough and irritate things enough, it could be causing referred pain.

That's a really good point Vally...I have had a lot of referred pain with my cysts. If I lay flat on my back I had pretty severe pain up near my ribs. The doctor said it was referred pain from the cysts.

I would also like to add, to have endo in general can cause inflammation and irritation to surrounding areas. As my R/E put it it makes a "toxic soup" and lets off inflammatory chemicals (wish I remembered his exact words, as he made it make so much sense). So it could be the cyst, it could be that you have endo growing on a nerve, or it could be inflammation in secondary to the endo pissing everything off. Either way, I hope you find relief soon, and hopefully your Dr listens to you about your pain and doesn't brush it off (I hate, hate, hate when Dr's do that, but that is another topic). Good luck!

When I was 17 I was rushed to the ER. My mother feared I had appendicitus. The only thing was, my pain was on my left side, not my right. It was such a stabbing, intense, gripping pain that I collapsed in the living room after an entire day of growing pain. The Gyno ordered an ultrasound and they found the cyst. To make matters worse, this doctor said it was a normal cyst that occurs every now and then during ovulation and would go away. It didn't and I could feel it! Constant thing in me, like princess and the pea. It grew from the size of a pea to the size of a small orange. I don't know what is worse, the cyst pain at 17 or the cyst pain when it imploded when I was 24! I officially have a chocolate cyst on my left ovary. Oh fudge. ;) pun intended
I did have some temp relief when I went on a bc at 17, and that stalled my ovulation pain for a while. However I got off bc due to lack of insurance, and fear of the unknown of it all, not realizing I had Endo. Wasn't diagnosed till 24.

My current left pain is also from my ovary being bound in a mass of knotted intestines. Endo has made a mess of my insides. I can clearly say that my ovulation pain (which almost sent me to the ER!) was definitely from the cyst. It was instant pain, I went pale, almost fainted, and scared everyone near me. I had been helping to set up stage for a major concert. A stranger drove me home and I had to lay down in her back seat holding down vomit. I spent a lot of time in bed begging for death, thanks to my cyst.

I hate to leave on a negative note. Just keep in mind that having a cyst is normal with endo and it can be dealt with by surgeons with experience/training. Also, I no longer have ovulation pain because I am on bc to prevent all periods. Other things that have helped me in the past: massage therapy, warm epsom salt baths, heating pad (keep it low or you can actually cause internal burns and not realize it due to pain), lying down, yelling, eating my fave food, movies with Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, or Bruce Willis in them. :)