Anyone having breast pain/body pain/and insomnia

Hi everyone,

Yes, I am having these symptoms, and my dr. is blowing me off as well. I went to a health food store that I trust... because of my age (40), the fact that I have one ovary, and the type of symptoms I have (sore breasts, cravings, bloating, and night sweats), the person there recommended a supplement called DIM, short for diindolylmethane. It is a concentrated chemical found in cruciferous vegs like broccoli. Supposedly, it helps balance hormones and rid the body of xenoestrogens (harmful estrogens). It is recommended especially for those symptomatic of estrogen dominance. Women who suffer PMS and women in perimenopause supposedly benefit the most from it. Women who are menopausal (meaning periods have completely ceased naturally), can also benefit, although to a lesser degree. I have no idea if this will work, but started on it yesterday. Was told to give it a week or two. Last night was the first night that I did not have night sweats... maybe a coincidence?

Dr. Christiane Northrup was on Oprah today, and recommended that if a woman is having symptoms, she should request to have her FSH and TSH tested. Additional testing for actual estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels can also be helpful. But she says the first two will give a better picture.

CC

Hi Hystersisters,

I had my 2nd post-op yesterday. It was so strange, it felt like during the exam there was nothing there to exam It kind of all brought it to reality. When I asked my doctor if I still needed a yearly exam he said "you are still a beautfiul woman, and you should get checked every year. I can't tell you how much that lifted my spirits.

Anywhoo -- I asked the following questions:

1. Why are my boobs so big. Estrogen. He discouraged decreasing the dose, as the con's outweigh the pros. He said I could experience bleeding, bloating, weight gain. Okay. For those how have had a TAH, plese talk to your doc, as symptoms rare their head at about 4 weeks.

2. When can I have sexual relations: at 8 weeks aminimum (I had more invasive surgery - so be sure to ask your own doctor).

3. When can I begin light exercise - 8 weeks

4. When is my next appt. - 4 weeks.

5. My disability has been extended 4 weeks from 2/2. I can hardly walk up the stairs.

For sleeping he upped my dosage to 5MG of Ambien. Good Lord, that knocks you out. Now instead of waking at 11:00, I wake up around 4-5, which helps as I have to get my son up at 6:00.

I stll take Klonopin during the day for anxiety attacks during the day ( very minimimal - expecially if I'm driving). If I feel anything, I call hubby.

Pray for me, I have 2 appts tomorrow. 11:00 nails, and 1:00 hair frosting, Today all I did was sleep.

So it looks like another 4 weeks of rest for me. I'll definitely keep you posted.

If I can give anyone a recommendation - please go to your local spa and get hand and foot reflexology. I had it done this past weekend. Feet stopped swelling, and I felt so calm ( and still sometimes do). When i told my doc, he said sometimes holistic means, do much more than meds. Anyway, I've already made another appt. Fortunately, myy insurance pays 10 sessions a year - so check that out.

Hugs to my Hystersisters!

Okay, saw the physician asst. at my pcp's office today. Told him about the insomnia, anxiety attacks, etc. He asked me if I snore and if I'd been to the sleep clinic. Hello! I just had surgery, could they be related? Then he checked my bp, said it was a little high so that could be the cause. ARe you kidding me? Could it be high because I'm talking to an idiot? And I know how I feel when my bp is up. I've taken meds for it for years. He refuses to accept the possibility of it being hormonal and finally gave me a prescription for ambien for the insomnia and the best I could get from him for the anxiety was an antidepressant. His reasoning is that many people have post op depression so that must be what it is. I looked it up and it helps with anxiety, too so I'll try it until I go to the gyno next Wednesday. Then I had to practically beg for a urine test. It's been getting darker every day for about 3 days but he checked my temp, no fever so must be just dehydration. Finally got the test, the quick result came back with lots of blood and leukocytes in the urine (sign of uti) so he's having the lab do the full culture on it. Great, that takes 2 days which takes us to Saturday, when nobody's there so maybe Monday I can get some antibiotics. What a quack. I guess I'll just wait till it gets a little worse and go to the ER. I'm so disgusted with the shoddy care I've had through this whole thing. Makes me want to cry, but I'm sure he'd blame THAT on hormones.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by wildone2000 Okay, saw the physician asst. at my pcp's office today. Told him about the insomnia, anxiety attacks, etc. He asked me if I snore and if I'd been to the sleep clinic. Hello! I just had surgery, could they be related? Then he checked my bp, said it was a little high so that could be the cause. ARe you kidding me? Could it be high because I'm talking to an idiot? And I know how I feel when my bp is up. I've taken meds for it for years. He refuses to accept the possibility of it being hormonal and finally gave me a prescription for ambien for the insomnia and the best I could get from him for the anxiety was an antidepressant. His reasoning is that many people have post op depression so that must be what it is. I looked it up and it helps with anxiety, too so I'll try it until I go to the gyno next Wednesday. Then I had to practically beg for a urine test. It's been getting darker every day for about 3 days but he checked my temp, no fever so must be just dehydration. Finally got the test, the quick result came back with lots of blood and leukocytes in the urine (sign of uti) so he's having the lab do the full culture on it. Great, that takes 2 days which takes us to Saturday, when nobody's there so maybe Monday I can get some antibiotics. What a quack. I guess I'll just wait till it gets a little worse and go to the ER. I'm so disgusted with the shoddy care I've had through this whole thing. Makes me want to cry, but I'm sure he'd blame THAT on hormones.

Hi Wild, are you sure you're dealing with a licensed gyno? Boy he sounds like a quacker to me.

Please do an internet search and see what it comes back with.

Call the OB office and ask for a referral (don't ask the doc).

KID WARNING

When my 1-derful and only child was born, my real OB was off, and I had someone I didn't know. I was shattered, as he didn't know my history. In short I ended up in the Cardiac Care Unit, with many blood transfusions.

Personally, I don't like the answers your doc is giving you. At the very least it takes 2 weeks for the anti-d's to kick in (yah, I've been on those two).

I'm not sure if this will help, but can you bring hubby along next time. My doctor seems to spend much more time with me when Nigel is there. He backs up my symptoms, so the doc just doesn't think i'm making it up.

After all, when was the last time did you see a male doc have a hysterectomy.

The ambien is somewhat working - slept from 9 - 4 until the darn cat woke me up. Arggghhhh.

Sister-hugs.

Melanie

This guy was the physician assistant at my pcp's office. My gyno was out of town but didn't think any of this could be related to the surgery so she told me to call my pcp. My regular dr. was also out of town so this is who they stuck me with. I tried the anti depressant to see if it would help. Felt kind of dizzy and weird the first day and yesterday, felt (and acted, according to dh) like I was totally drunk. Slept better with the ambien but feel really hung over today so the anti depressants are going in the garbage. DH would never go to the dr with me. He's been absolutely no help and not understanding at all.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by wildone2000 This guy was the physician assistant at my pcp's office. My gyno was out of town but didn't think any of this could be related to the surgery so she told me to call my pcp. My regular dr. was also out of town so this is who they stuck me with. I tried the anti depressant to see if it would help. Felt kind of dizzy and weird the first day and yesterday, felt (and acted, according to dh) like I was totally drunk. Slept better with the ambien but feel really hung over today so the anti depressants are going in the garbage. DH would never go to the dr with me. He's been absolutely no help and not understanding at all.

Hi Wild,

I feel your pain - you're not alone. I can only pray your gyno gets back in town soon. If not, please call the office and see who is covering for him. If they want to send you to a nurse practitioner, please say no -- a doc must cover for a doc - it's in the "do no harm" handbook. When I was in the hosp my so sweet cardio doc came in with his "nurse practioner", but I always call him Dr. Burns, because they're like Bonnie and Clyde - LOL.

Give the anti's time to work. But if you got them from your pcp - check with your gyno first. Just my opinion. If you take 2 new drugs at the same time, those feelings will tend to get to you.

Sorry about hubby. I'm mean I guess, and tell him "WE" have an appointment at such and such a time. He is actually fascinated, and I would bet your husband might be to. It's worth a try. As far as help goes, they soon learn that fending for themselves is no fun (and that includes cereal for dinner). I've walked away from the laundry on most days (unless I can't stand the odor), and brought in a housecleaner. You did WHAT he said. I said okay mister, here's the toilet brush and cleaner - have at it, I can't bend down. The look on his face was priceless.

Anywhoo - I love her and my lovely clean house.

I hope I didn't ramble too much, but hang in there. Every day seems to get a tiny bit better.

Sister hugs,

Wildone..

My surgeon is a 61y/o male. He is very good at surgery. I am still deciding if I like him with other things. I am having definite hormonal issues even though I kept one ovary and am 40 and was no where near menopause before this. My dr. told me it may take a few months for hormones to stabilize. I think they don't like to start messing with the hormones right away because of the fact that your natural ones will probably stabilize soon. THat said, if you are having bad issues, you should request an FSH test. Maybe they could put you on something for a short while. Bring that up to the gyno.

Good luck!

CC

I am 5 weeks post-op today! I love that I haven't had a hellacious period in over a month... but my breasts hurt as well, much like they used to hurt during week 3 of my cycle. My breasts have been sore for about 3 weeks and I'm waiting for my hormones to balance out. I think I'll try the decreased sugar, caffeine and increased exercise. Any other ideas?

Good morning Ladies,
I am 11months post-op from TAH and I have been having breast pain/tendersness that last about 1 week! I am cranky, tired and not myself. What does the breast pain mean? is it because I am ovulating? I do still have both ovaries and thought maybe it was that, but I am not sure...I can't even touch my breast without grimacing in pain! any help or advice would be fantastic from all of you ladies who have been there. thanks again for listening.