Problem with ovarian cysts?

Three weeks ago my gynecologists told me that I had a small ovarian cyst about 3cm. He put me on birth control and the pain still hasn't gone away, and now I'm beginning to feel the same pain on my other side too. I find it odd that such a small cyst is so painful. I can barely eat, urinating often, I have a horrible pain in my sides, I'm constantly nauseous, and really exhausted. My gynecologist never ran an ultrasound, so I'm not sure if it is necessary or not. My normal doctor just happened to discover it when I had a CT scan done about 4 weeks ago.

Can doctors determine that a cyst is a cyst with just a CT scan for the general are of the pelvis?

For any women that have/had ovarian cysts, were your symptoms like this and how long until they went away?

I tried to ask for something small for the pain (I've tried ibuprofen, but it doesn't work) just so it wasn't bothering me so much, and my doctor said that if it hurt enough that I thought I need pain medication then I needed to have surgery.
I'm supposed to have an ultrasound in September, but I've been in pain for about 9 weeks now, and now that it is starting to hurt on my right side it's kinda pissing me off.

Sorry! I don't mean to sound *itchy, I'm just sick of being in pain, and I just want to be sure that what I'm feeling isn't abnormal and that it will go away eventually.

<>< Mine would always get more painful during my period and then would all but go away during the rest of the month. I always had them on the same side, never on both. I actually had these issues up until my hysterctomy. I am sorry to hear that you are feeling so poorly. I have had friends that have been helped by birth control pills for this, it was not an option for me.
Edit: My doctor gave me something for the pain. You may want to get a second opinion. I used to take hot baths too that seemed to help the pain subside somewhat.

I've experienced the same thing. One night I was in horrific pain and went to the ER where the CT scanned me and said I had a cyst and sent me home. The problem was I was already on birth control. The pain lasted a few days and still comes back near my period, so it obviously hasn't gone away I guess. But after this I went to my gyno and she did an ultrasound to be sure and then switched my birth control. Not much of a help. I control my pain with advil and heating pads, it usually only lasts a couple days.

Your doctor's view on pain medication is inhumane. If he/she were in this amount of pain I"m sure he'd not hesitate to take something. So PLEASE find a different doctor and get something for pain. It helps to bring in a partner or relative to stand up for you on your pain issues. They can testify to the amount of pain you are having and demand that the doctor give you something for it. This method has worked for me. As far as the cyst goes, you could have something else going on that is causing you to be in so much pain not to say that ovarian cysts don't hurt because they do. I know, because I've had many over the years. You probably have endometriosis which causes ovarian cysts, extremely painfull and heavy menstrual periods that are also irregular. It is not that serious as they can easily remove the cysts with surgery. But if you have endometriosis, you are in for a lifetime of severe pain so get that under control now.