I've wanted a hysterectomy since 13

Hello all, so glad to have found this site as I have many questions! As the title states I have wanted a hysterectomy pretty much since I had my first period. My flow was so heavy I would go through a super tampon, maxi pad, and finally my pants. I felt embarrassed and disgusted. So, at age 17 I started the birth control pill which regulated the flow. I am now 29, married, I don't have any desire to have children, and I have been diagnosed with HPV. I have had the abnormal cells/pre-cancerous cells frozen off in 2006 and as of a couple months ago, have found out they are back. The sex life between my husband and I isn't the greatest, I believe it's a mixture of a loss in his libido, he has also gained some weight that he feels uncomfortable about; I on the other hand, was experiencing pain during sex or even when I had pap smears and had been getting what I thought were UTI's, my god were they painful. I would get the constant urge like I was going to immediately urinate, but when I tried to go on the toilet nothing would happen because my bladder was empty. I would sit there for what seemed like hours in quite some serious pain with tears flowing down my face. This would occur after sex, after the gym, or occasionally at random. I would go to the ER or GYN and they would take a urine sample and tell me they were UTI's. I eventually went to a Urogynecologist and she told me I had been misdiagnosed with the UTI's and actually had pelvic floor tension myalsia due to constipation and weak muscles in my vaginal area. I started physical therapy, kegel excercises, and muscle relaxers. Eventually the insurance ran out and I had to stop. Now, we're at a few years later I currently have a great job and benefits again, I have found out my HPV is back and I am again experiencing the UTI symptoms. I am 29, I know I don't want to have children, I am tired of taking the birth control and I don't want to take this pill the rest of my life. I don't want to deal with the pre-cancerous cells that I need to have removed every couple of years. As an added bonus, with a hysterectomy I wouldn't have to deal with another period again which is why I have always considered it since my teens.
The things that worry me would be the extreme dryness some people discuss on this forum. Also, I was wondering if there's so much scar tissue left behind internally that the belly is permanently swollen? What is the recovery time if I had the Davinci procedure done? There is heavy lifting required at my job and I was just wondering how long I would be off for this procedure. How long do you experience bleeding afterwards? See, if I were to lose my insurance again I am trying to weigh my options is it better to have a dry vagina afterwards or pre-cancerous cells that are left untreated?

Well I work at a desk job...no heavy lifting required if u don't count my purse. Lol
My dr still told my 4-6 weeks...he filled out my fmla papers for 6 weeks and I think I will be taking it all. While I'm not married and haven't had heavy periods since the beginning...I have always known I didn't want kids. So I kinda resented the inconvenience if the period every month since I had no need for it. Lot of birth control didnt work for me...Depo made me gain lots of weight and I also randomly spotted all frequently. After that I had paraguard IUD which was great never had to think about it. But it did give me heavier periods and bad cramps...I could deal with it cause it was still only 5 days a month. The second IUD I got caused scary heavy periods...sometimes lasting 10 days..I was severely anemic and that's when they found fibroids. Anyway IUD had to come out and I just wouldn't stop bleeding. This surgery is a hard decision to make, so much easier for people like us who don't want kids...I feel awful for the poor women who do but can't. I'm recovering now and feel kinda crappy but I know when this is over my monthly problems will be over...no more birth control...no more Aunt Flo! I couldn't be more thrilled!!

I was JUST like you for SO long. Ridiculous heavy & painful periods from my very first one, and I never wanted kids. I took the pill for almost 20 years. Now I have so many other health problems...(obesity, high bp, cholesterol, diabetes, I had a stroke last year, not to mention skin problems and the list goes on). I've been told by more than one doctor that many of the problems could be traced back to being on the pill for so long. I also went for a really long time without health insurance, and depended on inner city Planned Parenthoods for all of my health care. I went through more D&C's than I can count, after so many cysts & fibrosis, etc. The problem was that no matter how I begged, doctors would simply NOT perform the surgery because they always said I was just "too young". I still wish I'd been a bit more forceful. If you have the means to do it, I say go for it!!!

Good luck to you!!

Thank you both I appreciate your input! I too have used Planned Parenthood and Aunt Marthas which is a free clinic. It was a pain sitting around in the waiting room for hours just to get a refill of birth control. On the plus side, unlike having insurance Aunt Martha's would give me three months at a time where now I have to keep making monthly trips up to the pharmacy. I also worry about the long term effects of being on birth control which is really why I would like to have something permanently done without the use of drugs. I have also been reading about the SILS procedure which makes just one cut in the belly button. I imagine since they don't have to cut through as much muscle tissue the recovery time will be faster. I just started my job and I really don't want to take any medical time off. I was hoping just to use my vacation time. :-)

I had a Divinci surgery 9 days ago, I have 5 small incisions.
This surgery isn't that bad and if you do what they tell you
It is fairly easy to begin recovery, remember-

- Have at least three EXTRA pillows waiting for you on the bed.
keep one between your knees when you are on your side and under your knees when laying flat. The rest are to prop you up when needed. this is huge!
- Take a stool softener from day one!!!!
-Drink drink drink
- eat light for the first 4 or 5 days, this will make it easier on you!
- keep some bendable straws handy so you can still drink while lounging.
- go and buy, I got mine at Goodwill, large loose pants to go out in public in.
- DON'T DRIVE until your allowed to
- I had nausea the first full day, I wish I had had some Ensure and Gatorade but didn't so kept up with just water. For some reason in the hospital they served Sprite, DON'T DRINK IT! Carbonated beverages hurt! Stick with water!!!! No fizzy drinks of any kind, they just extended my belly and made things worse!
-If you need anything from the grocery like bags of dog food or bottled water, heavy things, BUY IT BEFORE SURGERY!
-Walk, walk and walk around your house.
-the bleeding with me was slight and only lasted a few days so make sure you have some pads!
- make sure your room is nice and neat so you can enjoy it, find that TV remote it will become one of your best friends!
- Try to enjoy the down time! How often do we get it!!??