I've never really been offered cyst monitoring by Shady Grove, and I always had one or more after a medicated cycle. They've offered one of two options - either take birth contorl to get the cysts down and return in 2 weeks to try to restart the cycle (that never worked for me, I always had to wait out a full month anyway) or wait a full month to see if the cyst will go away on its own. Whether I took the birth control or not, the cysts generally resolved within the month, or at least stopped producing a problematic amount of estrogen so we could move forward with a cycle.

I always had cysts after my IUIs and my friend told me to do a castor oil pack to get rid of the cysts and i thought she was nuts, but I was willing to try anything. and I got pregnant unassisted the very month i did this, so i'm a believer...

https://www.healthline.com/health/castor-oil-pack#how-to-make-one
i made it with cheesecloth. laid it on my stomach, put a towel over it and then a medium heating pad. laid down for a half hour to an hour. i did this for a couple of days. good luck!

Anonymous wrote:PP - wow that sounds like a lot! So glad it worked out for you! Shady Grove says any tests of the cyst aren’t covered by my context or my insurance, so they have just told me to wait until my next period and “hope everything looks good.” Which feels very on brand for shady grove and very frustrating for me! Every time I think I’m clear to move forward, this process throws another curveball...

It seems like maybe your regular gynecologist could be helpful in this? At the very least for insurance coverage? If it’s producing estrogen, I don’t think that’s the more simple cyst that sometimes forms after ovulation and usually goes away. (But that’s the only kind Ive ever had so didn’t effect cycling since no effect on estrogen)

PP - wow that sounds like a lot! So glad it worked out for you! Shady Grove says any tests of the cyst aren’t covered by my context or my insurance, so they have just told me to wait until my next period and “hope everything looks good.” Which feels very on brand for shady grove and very frustrating for me! Every time I think I’m clear to move forward, this process throws another curveball...

I lost an ovary to a dermoid cyst in my teens. At 26 I found out I had started growing another dermoid on my remaining ovary. We’d been married for a year and after a few (mixed) opinions, I decided to try for a child before risking it’s removal. I got pregnant quickly and had the dermoid removed during my csection. Took a long time to conceive our next child, but my ovary eventually healed and now we have three kids.

So, i would not count a cyst being a big determiner, and I definitely wouldn’t risk surgery if it meant the risk of hurting your fertility. Have some follow up ultrasounds. I had an MRI too. Get as much information as you can and ask questions!

OP - they did not tell me the type of cyst, but that it measured 14. They said the problem was because the cyst was causing my estrogen levels to rise and the letrozole would not work. So I am supposed to wait a month and hope it resolved itself, but I have no guarantee that this exact scenario won’t happen again. It’s very discouraging.

Did they tell you what type of cyst you have? What is its size? It is normal to have certain type of cysts every cycle, and those go away on their own. But if the cyst is not one of those, and is a complex cyst such as an endometrioma or a dermoid, it will not go away on its own and would require surgical removal.

Given the array of experiences on this forum I’m hoping someone has dealt with this before. I am an SGF patient. After MC, IUIs, we have moved to IVF. First FET failed. Second cycle was canceled because thin lining. I’ve never had cysts in any of these prior tries. Was just about to start new effort and went in for bloodwork and US and I have high estrogen levels and a cyst.

Because cyst monitoring is $580 a pop and I’ve spent all my money for the shared risk contract (why the eff isn’t this included?!) i have no choice but to wait yet another agonizing month.

Has this happened to any of you? Is there anything I can do to make a cyst go away between now and next month? I’m worried I’m just delaying with no actual guarantee of improvement? Given the price tag of cyst monitoring, how do I avoid this exact scenario repeating itself?