Expert: Bob Kambic - 5/8/2007

Question
Hi.  I just had a few questions regarding the IUD.  I had it put in after I gave birth to my son about 2 and a half years ago.  It was fine for a few months then I started experiencing some pain in the pelvic area.  It started out with some light pinching feeling only on my right side.  I went in and explained this to my doctor and she said that it was fine and probably just pinched nerves and I should be fine.  Then the pain started to get worse and worse over the two years.  I went back again after the first year and had a CAT Scan done.  It can back that I had some cysts in my liver.  Abiut three to be exact.  My doctor said that the size of the cysts wouldn't effect me and I should be fine.  Well a year later and my pelvic pains got worse.  So bad to the point where my whole right leg would go numb and I would have Stabbing pains on my right pelvic area.  So I went to see my doctor and told her I wanted the IUD out.  I said that I didn't care if it was good or not that I wanted it out.  So when I went to get it taken out, they also did a pap smear.  My pap smear came back abnormal.  They called me and wanted me to go in and get a colcoscopy and a biopsy done because my pap smear came back that I had low grade cancer cells.  The pain still did not go away.  Except this time it felt like I was going into labor.  I went to go and see a different doctor and he said that I was probably having the pains because I was ovulating and that it was normal.  I kept complaining and in the long run he finally ordered an ultrasound done.  Now the results came back that I have a cysts in my ovary as well.  Are all these symptoms normal for the IUD?  I am really worried.

Answer
It sounds from your description that you have a lot of stuff going on. Some of the pain could be due to the IUD. An abnormal PAP smear and cervical cancer cells are usually due to Human Papilloma Virus http://www.hpvinformation.net/ which is most often sexually transmitted. After the IUD was removed, neither ovulation nor ovarian cysts generally would  cause such acute pain. Once the IUD is out, if you continue to have pain, you probably should see a neurologist, an expert in pain. I do not know the reasons for the liver cysts. None of your symptoms could be traced to an IUD for certain. And if they were, only some pelvic pain would be a reasonable effect of the IUD.