Ovarian Pain:
An Overlooked Cause and Possible Treatment

Overview

If you have pain in your ovaries, you should always seek treatment and diagnosis from a doctor. There can be many serious causes of ovarian pain including ectopic pregnancies, cysts and cancer. In my case my doctors were stymied over the cause of my pain, but research on my part has led me to believe now that it was caused by a deficiency of vitamin K.

My Personal Experience

Several years ago I had excruciating pain in my right ovary. I went to my doctor and who ordered a sonogram. Upon completion of the sonogram, I was told my right ovary was "plumper" than my left ovary, but that happened sometimes. Despite my severe pain, I was told I was fine and there was nothing to worry about. At one point the pain was so severe I even ended up in the emergency room, but the emergency room doctors could not find any specific cause. A doctor I saw later on said that my right ovary being plumper than the left one was a sign of ovarian cysts. He told me that that the size difference was exactly what they should have been looking out for on the sonogram results. In hindsight, I tend to think the second doctor's diagnosis was most likely the correct one.

At the time I was having the ovarian pain I was also having many bleeding problems including nose bleeds, menorrhagia, easy bruising, eye hemorrhages, hematuria (blood in my urine) etc. The doctors kept sending me to different specialists for each issue, but it was clear to me that something systemic was going on. My blood simply was not clotting.

Eventually I figured out from reading health books that I had a vitamin K deficiency. When I changed my diet to include more vitamin K rich foods, my bleeding problems stopped and to my surprise my ovarian pain also cleared up. Prior to my bleeding problems, a well intentioned but nutritionally ignorant doctor had put me on vitamin E supplements for breast cysts. The cysts cleared up, but I eventually developed bleeding problems from a vitamin K deficiency, brought on by the vitamin E supplements. I know now that vitamin E is known for thinning the blood and acts as a blocker for vitamin K. (Vitamin K is the main nutrient responsible for clotting the blood. The "K" in vitamin K comes from the Danish word for coagulation.)

Medical Papers Linking Vitamin K Deficiency to Ovarian Hemorrhage

Click here for a study I found on Pubmed cautioning doctors that "Ovarian hemorrhage with hemoperitoneum is a rare but serious complication of ovulation related to rupture of either the corpus luteum or functional cyst. It is due to treatment using oral indirect anticoagulant and specifically affects young women." In this paper ovarian hemorrhage of the patients was brought on by anticoagulants. Anticoagulants, like vitamin E, also block vitamin K. In my case I was taking vitamin E rather than anticoagulants, but I think that perhaps net result was similar - the resulting vitamin K deficiency played havoc with my right ovary.

I also found another related paper on Pubmed linking ovarian cysts to a vitamin K deficiency brought on by anticoagulant therapy, In this study the authors noted, a " Hemorrhagic follicular cyst of the left ovary. An unusual complication of anticoagulant treatment."

A 1979 paper in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, noted that all physicians should be on the alert for ovarian hemorrhage in patients receiving anticoagulant therapy.

Causes and Treatments That Worked for My Pain

So whether I had ovarian cysts at the time of my last sonogram or not is unknown. One doctor thought I didn't, another one thought for sure I did. But I do know for sure that I had excruciating pain in my ovary when my blood was thin and not clotting, and the pain cleared up when I got more vitamin K into my system and my blood began clotting normally again. Even now, if I eat a lot of blood thinning foods, the pain in my ovary will return. It is not as bad as I have had it in the past, but a mild pain still returns sometimes if I eat certain foods, or combinations of foods.

My pain will go away if I eat foods high in vitamin K. Any type of food that tends to clot my blood seems to help me. Lately I have been having steamed broccoli and that works out great.

Foods That Have Triggered Ovarian Pain for Me:

• The number one trigger is coffee, followed by herbal teas
• Onions
• Salad dressings with a lot of vinegar
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salsa
• Blueberries
• Watermelon
• Anything high in salicylates (spices, fruits, nuts, aspirin)

Foods That Reduced My Ovarian Pain:

• Most leafy green vegetables, especially steamed broccoli

Summary

There are many possible causes of ovarian pain including cysts, ectopic pregnancy, high estrogen levels, and cancer. The condition should always be evaluated by a doctor. Vitamin K is a possible, and perhaps not well known, cause of ovarian pain. A number of medical papers have noted a link between ovarian hemorrhage and anticoagulant therapy. Long term use of anticoagulants may cause a vitamin K deficiency. In my case I developed bleeding problems and ovarian pain from vitamin E therapy. Vitamin E thins the blood, so like anticoagulants, long term usage may also cause a vitamin K deficiency. In my case eating vitamin K rich foods eliminated by vitamin K deficiency and alleviated my ovarian pain.

Caution: People taking anticoagulants, or those with any type of blood clots or other health conditions, should not increases vitamin K rich foods in their diets without supervision of their physician.

These sections may be also of special interest:

Natural treatment for ovarian cysts - an alkaline diet, yoga postures, trigger point therapy and a hot water bottle all helped me.

Natural Blood Thinners - list many foods we eat every day that may cause bleeding problems if eaten in excess, or eaten lightly by easy bleeders.

Health Conditions Linked to Vitamin K Deficiency

Menorrhagia - overlooked causes of heavy menstrual bleeding

Menstrual Headaches and Migraines - the links to magnesium deficiency.

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