A cyst or a follicle?

curve31

Had my baseline yesterday and we are good to good for an IUI cycle! This is my first with the new RE and she wants me to do clomid and a trigger shot. I asked why she wanted to do that since my last RE (a nurse actually) said I didn't respond to clomid, that it wasn't strong enough. She said this after an US I had after taking the clomid and she said I had a 3cm cyst. So that cycle was cancelled. I remember her saying that it was a cyst since it was so big. That they could open it up to see but they have seen many of these and she knows that there isn't an egg in there.

So I tell my new RE this and she says that you can't tell if its a follicle or a cyst from an ultrasound. That there had to be an egg in there and she didn't really understand. Maybe I didn't remember or understand it all myself enough to be explaining it.

Has anyone had issues like this? Because now I'm super confused and worried things aren't going to work this cycle. I trust my new doctor but I just want to understand this and why they seem to disagree.

ronniesgirl1981

I've heard the same thing...that they can't necessarily tell whether it's a follicle or a cyst, but 3 cm is big.

Tiko99

I've also heard my RE call follicles left over from the previous cylce that I didn't ovulate "cysts" and "left over follicles." It is so confusing! 

BunnyBerry

Technically, most cysts (and certainly any caused by Clomid) are follicles that just continued to grow instead of rupture. So it's kind of a moot point if there is an egg in there or not, though I've read that perhaps some follies don't rupture because there's no egg in there.

Given that mature follicles are 1.5-3cm, a 3cm cyst still around at the end of a cycle sounds like a follicle kept growing / stayed the same instead of shrinking and/or turning into a corpus luteum like it was supposed to!

Perhaps your RE thinks that the cyst must have formed in your Clomid cycle instead of a previous cycle (for example, if your file had a baseline ultrasound that cycle that showed no cyst), meaning that there was some response to Clomid. Or she may feel that given your hormone panel results, Clomid has a good chance of working well for you even if it's not 100% of the time. Perhaps you could ask her why she choose Clomid as the best option for this cycle? I also wonder if she wants to observe your response to Clomid (and maybe stairstep if needed) to have a better idea of your best inject plan if that's needed? Don't know.

Hope this cycle does the trick!!

curve31

The 3cm whatever was found on day 11 or 12 when I went in for the US right before triggering. I'm just kinda wondering if the IUI should have been cancelled or if the IUI could have been successful. I guess its a judgement call and not an exact science.

curve31

I'm starting to get it. I've been reading and what you girls have said, its all making sense. I think if I had been told, "too big-not viable" instead of "cyst, no egg", I wouldn't have been so confused.

I'm just more and more happy I moved for my last RE. They never did a baseline US before giving me clomid, which I know now was wrong. So who knows what was going on.

Thank you girls!

SweetieShellieH

I think they go by the size. I had one last cycle that they thought might be a regular follicle, but it got too big too fast and then they said it was just a cyst.

rachelkeller

I have had a similar experience... An ultrasound tech went ahead and measured a cyst on my cervix and thought that it was a follicle. The RE knew right away because it was obviously in the wrong place (she was a dumbass basically) but it honestly looked exactly like my follicles in all of the pictures. So, I don't believe you could tell the difference with just an ultrasound.