Freaking out!!!!

hello! im scheduled for a total laparoscopic hysterectomy with BSO next week. im excited to never deal with periods and pain again, but i am scared half to death about menopause! seeing my mother go through it was horrible and not knowing much about HRT and what it's going to do to my body has me freaking out BIG time! im so used to being in pain everyday and bleeding so badly for days on end that im worried even with all of that stopped, i will be sick or have terrible migraines or some other nasty side effect of no estrogen! all these thoughts are jumbled in my brain and im just scared. plain and simple. please please please help me figure all this out!!!

I was worried about surgical menopause too. I asked my doctor, and he just told me that if I had menopause symptoms, he would prescribe something to help. I did have headaches (no migraines...used to get them monthly) hot flashes, night sweats, and moodiness. The doc started me on HRT at my first post op. It helped right away. None of the menopause symptoms was nearly as bad as the pain and frustration I had before surgery. I am still working on adjusting my HRT dosage, and it's not fun, but it's not that awful. Some women require no or very little adjustment. Some women have mild or no menopause symptoms. It's not all bad. Try not to worry about something that may never happen.

melissa,

First

Surgical menopause can be rough particularly if you're young. Asking questions is wise. Having your ovaries removed is a huge decision and must be made carefully--particularly if you're young. Are your ovaries causing the pain? Has your doc given you a good reason to remove them? Do you have options?

HRT has helped me, I was 55 when my ovaries went. I'd make the same decision now, almost six years later. One of my problems was PMS and with HRT I feel much better. HRT can be expensive and like Elsie says getting the HRT right isn't always easy. Many, many women do well on their HRT so don't be too discouraged. Just make sure it's the best thing for you.

You can find plenty of info on surgical menopause and discussions about keeping/removing ovaries on the site.

and keep us posted on your progress.

thanks ladies for replying trying not to worry is impossible as the word relax doesnt exist in my vocabulary!!! my ovaries are not what causes my pain. its my uterus that is the culprit. my gyn said that she thinks i should have everything out because shes worried i will still have pain if i leave the other stuff in. i have horrible pain during sex- its like my boyfriend is hitting something in there- and she thinks its my cervix causing that. i had a laparoscopy done last february and she found 5 fibroids behind my uterus and one on my right ovary which she removed, and i had endo all over the place. my uterus is fixated to the right, where most of my pain is, but ya she just thinks if im gonna do it i may as well remove it all and be done with it. i told her that was fine because i never wanna have to deal with going under again if whatever i left in there caused me problems later on. ive talked to a few women i know who have done the same and they all say its the best thing theyve ever done and do just fine on HRT. in fact, one of my friends had this done 6 years ago and hasnt taken any hormones and is fabulous! such a huge decision and im worried im making the wrong one. although i woke up this morning in such pain that it makes me wanna rip everything out right now!!!

As for the endo, you say you have it all over the place? If you have implants anywhere on anything that won't be removed, then the endo can still cause you a lot of pain even after hysterectomy. If your gynecologist is not an endo specialist, you should consult one if you can. The only way to be free of endo, whether or not you do HRT is to have all the implants excised. I just wanted to make sure you know. I wish you the very best and a pain-free future!

Menopause, whether due to age or due to surgery, can be totally different for different people. You might not have any of the problems your mother had. I was post-menopausal ehen I had my hysterectomy/oophorectomy. I eased into menopause with virtually no symptoms, and aside from dealing with recovery, I don't feel noticeabley different from how I felt before surgery.

When you live with a lot of chronic pain (which I deal with for other reasons), it makes everything in life harder. Once you recover from your surgery, and no longer deal with the chronic pain, you can work with your doctor for HRT if you need it. I will suggest that you don't worry about any of this for the first 6 weeks post surgery. Be prepared to have a lot of exhaustion and to have fragile emotions, just from the stress of the surgery for several weeks post-op. But after that, if you are deailing with problems that could be hormone related, your doctor should be able to prescribe HRT as needed.