Hysterectomy resulting from Endometriosis

Yes, Traci, I was perimenopausal this summer, before the bigtime pain from the adhesions and cysts started up. I was tired, cranky, weepy, and my periods were totally out of whack. I had hot flashes but didn't clue in immediately (It was August, I just turned up the AC then wondered why, an hour later, I was freezing). My ovaries were shot; endo had invaded the blood vessels. They had almost stopped working.

My doctor wanted me to keep at least one ovary, but I insisted that I wanted both out, as ovarian cancer runs in my family. Just as well, he reported they were both 'shot' when he got a look at them. I don't know why he wanted me to keep them at all. I have seen horror stories of women with endo, on this site, that kept an ovary or even part of an ovary and had their endo return, requiring more operations !

The doc put me on Lupron before my surgery, which let me tell you, some women with endo have HORRIBLE side effects. Joint pain - major, brain fog, blurry vision, insomnia, hot flashes you could cook an egg on, night sweats, the whole shebang. Lupron causes chemical menopause. It is supposed to shut down your period. It lessened and lengthened mine....and my insurance did not cover the 650$ shot. The reason behind the lupron was that it might shrink the endo. I can't say if it did or not, but I will never, ever, pain of death cross my heart, take that horrible stuff again.

I have since had my op (12/10) and let me tell you, surgical menopause is no big deal for me. I have hot flashes, cold flashes, mild stuff, throw off my overshirt or flip back the bedcovers. Mood swings, not bad, you can even ask my DH on that. I don't spend days crying. I get mildly vexed, but then, I'm married so there's someone who is vexing at times. Since the op, my moodiness is minimal, and my pain is gone. I run around like I'm ten years younger. No more fountain of tears, and hot flashes aren't a big deal. Mainly I get red in the face and am more embarassed than troubled by them !

Have you been on an HRT since the surgery? I'm worried about all the talk of the endo making a comeback?! The doc assured me it would be enough that 'people would still like me' but not enough to affect the endo, is this possible?

Thank you so much for that very positive note, I needed it!!

I feel, suddenly, like I didn't ask enough of the right questions far enough ahead of time, this site has been my hero!

ty ty ty

Traci

Don't worry about the Oxycodone. All Percodet is, is Oxycodone with Tylenol added to it. So the Oxycodone is safer because it doesn't have the Tylenol. Although it won't necessarily give you more pain relief. Except for the fact that you can take a higher dose without worrying about OD'ing on the Tylenol.

Hope it works for you, good luck.
Wendy

My personal experience:

I was perimenopausal in the summer, 03. I had my hyst in December. I was off hormones entirely until 6 weeks after my hyst, and now I am on a low level of progesterone, not estrogen.

I've been on the progesterone for about 8 days. No changes in anything yet, but I was told it would take 2 weeks for any real effect from the hormones. As for 'people still liking me' with hormones, I'm mystified. The feedback I get is that I'm moving better, smiling more, and look happier (I am !), and it had nothing to do with hormones. Getting rid of debilitating pain was key. It also got rid of my depression AND my back hasn't hurt even after I shovelled snow, and I can shovel snow no problem.

All I can say is, I'll keep you posted if anything mentally weird happens. I also wouldn't take estrogen if you held me down and force-fed it to me. I don't want that pain coming back, I don't want to be dealing with adhesions again, no thanks.