Abdominal pain can come from a variety of sources. It can be related to your ovaries and uterus, but also your bowels (intestines). The fact that your pain went away after starting birth control pills may have been a coincidence or it my be related to blocking ovulation and indirectly helping with endometriosis. Although most women who have endometriosis usually have progressive pelvic pain that tends to either start with their period or a few days prior to the start of your period. With regard to where do you go from here I would stay on the birth control pills for at least a few months to see if the pain returns. If it does it is more likely to not be from a gynecologic cause. One last comment, pelvic exams and ultrasounds rarely pick up endometriosis, they are much better at finding larger masses, for example ovarian cysts or tumors or the uterus. Good luck.
James T. Roth, MD, MSPH
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