Autoimmune disorder after hysterectomy?

I found this thread to be very interesting. I had my hysterectomy in November. I've had MS since May '02. I am currently have my first relapse since I was diagnosed. I blame the relapse on the stress of the surgery, even though it was 3 months ago. Symptoms started probably 1 1/2 months ago. I think stress on your body causes all kinds of things to happen, so I am not surprised in the least that I would have a relapse. Perhaps that is what has happened to others as well. Stress created from the surgery brought the other diseases to the forefront. (I'm not talking about stressed out but rather stress on your body itself) I didn't have a choice about the hysterectomy so I have to deal with the after effects, as many others do. But most probably the hysterectomy is not the cause of the new disease but the trigger that starts a disease that was already there. And I also think estogen has a lot to do with things also. Perhaps (at least I hope) once the body has time to settle down and adjust to things it will even out. At least that's what I'm hoping!
Lori

well keep in touch , im do to go back to rheumatologist in the spring to discuss lupus again, i didnt havethese problems/symptoms before hyster or maybe i did but was just too busy dealing with abd pain that i didnt notice them

I have lupus and didnt know untill I had my dd.(4 years ago) I was told that the "stress" my body went through made it come to light so to speak. I had my hyster last Nov. and so far have been doing well. However the day I was discharge I had to go into the er and found out I had developed pneumonia. I had been taking autoimmune sup.ressant drugs for years before and was warned that something like that could happen. I kept my ovaries thankfully. I told by my speclist that women that take hrt should be careful. Not sure why as it hasnt come up but its something to ask your doctor about just in case. Keep us posted. Good luck!

I really stressed about this question. I think sometimes the stress of major surgery can bring on a MS flare. Actually both my neurologists warned me of this and some other MS patients also. I put my hysterectomy off for a long time because of the fear of what would happen with my MS. My MS is pretty mild and I've never had a big flare, so I was very scared of that. I'm four weeks post-op and I'm thankful to say that I haven't had any problems with the hyst recovery or the MS!!! My MS Specialist had recommended I take IV Solumedrol after the surgery to prevent a flare. I chose not to do that because it makes me feel so bad and the steriods delay healing and thankfully all was well. If I did have MS issues, I had the orders from him to give to my gyn on what to do with the IV Solumedrol and she knew what doctor to consult. But thankfully I didn't have any issues and still haven't.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by loriyas I found this thread to be very interesting. I had my hysterectomy in November. I've had MS since May '02. I am currently have my first relapse since I was diagnosed. I blame the relapse on the stress of the surgery, even though it was 3 months ago. Symptoms started probably 1 1/2 months ago. I think stress on your body causes all kinds of things to happen, so I am not surprised in the least that I would have a relapse. Perhaps that is what has happened to others as well. Stress created from the surgery brought the other diseases to the forefront. (I'm not talking about stressed out but rather stress on your body itself) I didn't have a choice about the hysterectomy so I have to deal with the after effects, as many others do. But most probably the hysterectomy is not the cause of the new disease but the trigger that starts a disease that was already there. And I also think estogen has a lot to do with things also. Perhaps (at least I hope) once the body has time to settle down and adjust to things it will even out. At least that's what I'm hoping! Lori

From how it was explained to me by my doctors, healing from the surgery means the immune system has to 'kick' in. MS means an overactive immune system, so that's why sometimes it causes a flare. Thankfully that hasn't happened to me yet. I'm 4 weeks post op.

And hopefully it won't! It doesn't necessarily happen. I went almost 5 years without a flare. And if it does, you can deal with it then. That's what I am doing now. And even though I am NOT happy about it, I know things could be worse. So I'll just deal with it and move on. You may not have anything happen at all. Our bodies are all different and how they react are all different. So I am sending you positive thoughts that everything goes okay, you will heal well and we will all move on from this !!!

Lori

Thanks Lori, I pray that you get over your flare soon too!

Thank you! I'll keep you updated. It may take a week or more. ( I hope shorter rather than longer!)
Lori

I have been diagnosed with lupus after my hysterectomy. I think why you are hearing this is for 2 reasons. Sometimes people have lupus (which can cause many gynecological problems), but have the beginning stages and don't know it. In my case, I developed a staph infection in my incision, which triggered and auto-immune domino effect -- lupus and arthritis.

I just posted yesterday on thinking of getting a partial hysterectomy and how it would affect my body from a hormonal point of view (weight gain, sex drive, etc). It never ocurred to me, until I read this thread, that my rheumatoid arthritis may be involved somehow. Wild! I was just diagoned with RA a month ago. This is after a few months of testing to that stemmed from a small bald spot on the side of my head that has been diagnosed as Encoupe de Sabre, another autoimmune disorder. The EdS is minor and hasn't really affected me. But the RA showed up in blood work. It was an explanation to all the pain in my joints. I was told by another doctor that I had minor arthritis and since I work out a lot, I assumed the pain was related. No biggie. So now this ... I guess I do have a lot to talk about with my ob/gyn and rheumatologist.