Please Please Help, Another Doctor!!!

I WENT TO YET AGAIN ANOTHER GYNO, EVERY DOCTOR I HAVE GONE TO DOES NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH MY HYSTERECTOMY SYMPTOMS. I AM SO TIRED, DEPRESSED, HAVE INSOMINIA, MEMORY LOSS. I FEEL SO HORRIBLE AND I CANNOT LIVE LIKE THIS MUCH LONGER. THIS GYNO TODAY TOLD ME I NEED TO SEE A SHRINK. NO ONE INFORMED ME OF ANY OF THIS I AM GOING THROUGH BEFORE SURGURY. I JUST AM NOT GETTING ANYWHERE WITH ANY OF THESE DOCTORS. THE ONE WHO DID MY SURGERY WAS STRAIGHT OF OF MED SCHOOL. BIG MISTAKE!!! I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO? ONE DOCTOR PUT ME ON THREE DIFFERENT ANTI-DEPRESSION MEDICATIONS. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO FEEL BETTER? I CANNOT HARDLY GET OUT OF BED. I FEEL SO SO BAD. UNBELIEVABLE I CANNOT FIND A COMPETENT DOCTOR. I AM SORRY TO BE SO DEPRESSING BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE TO TURN.

((Erin))

Are you on any HRT? I see you had your ovaries removed and it makes sense to me that you're probably suffering from surgical menopause. All the symptoms you mention are menopausal ones. Have you had tests done to check your hormone levels? That would be a good place to start.

Have you checked out the Hormone Jungle messageboard. You'll find a lot of ladies there with similar problems to yourself.

I hope you can find some relief soon.

Hi Erin

Just hang on in there. I also have had depression and loss of memory. Its not nice and I do know how you are feeling. I do think it is because they have removed your ovaries. They have to get the right balance with hrt and when they do you should feel much better. If you are on hrt if not change your doctor to one you can talk to. Let me know how you get on. It is very normal the way you feel.

DAWNIE UKXX

Oh dear, I am so sorry you are going through this. I am only 2 weeks post op but had TAH and BSO. I am on the Vivelle patch and started reading Sundden Menopause which I purchased through hystersisters website. The book is so far great and talks about exactly what you are experiencing. The author is a nurse who went through what you are describing and then shared the info for the rest of us. It could help you answer some of your own questions and maybe help you talk with the right doc to help you get on with healing and feeling better.

Hang in there, each day is a new day,
Billie

So sorry to hear you are going through such a hard time. Thankfully we have support systems such as this to help us all through. It's been 2 years since my surgery and I was not able to take any Estrogen at first due to adenocarcinoma issues. I tried Effexor and then Lexapro for hot flashes. Then I finally had extensive thyroid testing done. I cannot tell you how important it is to find a doctor who will listen to your symptoms, not just look at the TSH numbers. The brain fog, memory loss, insomnia can all be attributed to low thyroid (hypothyroidism) Get all of the information on this you can. Our throid can wig out after stress, surgery, and many other lifestyle situations. It also tends to run in families. Find a good endocrinologist (sp) or a good GP to run some blood tests.
I have been on Armour Thyroid medication now for almost 2 years (started about 6 months after my surgery) and I can't tell you what a difference it's made in my life!!
Good Luck and best wishes.

Dear Erin,

I'm so sorry you're still having to deal with all of this. I can only imagine how discouraged you are.
I wonder if you have found any of these doctors who have tried changing what you are taking and trying different doses of the estrogen? I know you have tried some things, but have any of the drs really tried to change your dosage to see if it will help? I'm just curious what has been tried.
I think having your thyroid tested is a very good idea. I'm also surprised one of these drs hasn't recommeded that. It's frustrating I know to have to feel you need to know more than the drs, but you really need to get very proactive here and insist that some of this be done.
Do you have a close friend who could help you monitor some of this? Sometimes when I'm not at my best mentally I ask a friend to help me think things through and make the hard decisions. How about your dh? I just think you need someone who is there with you, and perhaps even to go to a drs appt with you to help you make sure you are understanding the doctor and to make some decisions. You sound like you are completely over whelmed and I can understand why.
Please don't give up.

's, Rita

sweetie, first thing you need to do, is stop for a moment. you are overwelmed and your body is reacting to a big shock.

i agree w/ rita. enlist a family member or friend you trust and who can be your eyes, ears, voice and shadow you for this time of need. you have been on a horrindous rollercoaster ride both physically and mentally.

sometimes dr. rides are the most mentally draining and bring on more questions than answers.

i cannot begin to tell you what kind of roller coaster ride i have had in the past years, but a good dr. is down the road. my step mother would tell me that, unfortunately, it may take some time to find one.

if you have a way to be referred to a family members or friends good dr., that sometimes helps to get the ball rolling.

depending on the type of insurance plan you have and if you are bound to a clinic or larger facility, please contact the patient liasson / advocate. this person may be able to help you locate another doctor in your health care network. this is also where a family member or friend can get directly involved w/ you and them.

the dr. - angel of mercy - i finally found, that helped me back to a normal life, in january of this year and had only just arrived to my town and been in practice for 2 months before i was lucky enough to land right in her office.

i've been to men, women, old, young and have never met anyone like my dr. in all the years i was trying to seek out help. i've been through unecessary testing / treatment and even psych eval's before finding out what the problem was.

please don't give up. my heart truly aches for you. gather your four wonderful children to you and know that they will give you strength to go forward.
please feel free to pm me if you think it will help. maria

Sorry to hear about all the trouble. I too, have had a doctor that I now question after surgery. One week he tells me one thing and the next week he seems that he forgot everything that we have discussed. I think doctors don't take the time to listen to their patients because they are overloaded with too many patients. I am very discouraged by not getting answers from my physician. Don't you girls find it weird that we have to have a web site as great as Hyster Sisters to get answers instead of getting answers from our doctor.
I hope you are better soon. Please email me if you want: <email removed for your safety, please use the email link to the left-Thank you>

yep, at first i thought weird, years ago, that i had to turn to the internet to find out this, that or the other.

there are so many medical sites and message boards on the web, that its mind boggeling, but really necessary.

there have been few things that i became educated on and excitely passed on to past doctors, who really weren't happy w/ my new found info and would spout the evils of the internet. lol

especially one doctor who told me that a plain vitamin b12 tab will work equally as well as the shots and didn't know about the sublingual kind. well, this is not true for one dx w/ b12 deficiency.
so there you go......even the simplest thing can get past any doctor.

since my new isn't just 'any' doctor and i know she is just human - , i feel safe playing an equal part in my health care needs. m

(((Erin))), I'm sorry that you are still having problems. I know you have posted in the Hormone Jungle and have gotten good advice there. Getting balanced with our hormones can be tricky and frustrating, but it can be done. It takes time and patience and also helps to have a doctor who is knowledgeable about prescribing hormones for women in menopause.

At this point I would suggest that you find a doctor you really like and stick with that doctor. While it's easy to be discouraged when we don't instantly feel better, it's important to remember that this isn't an exact science and it can take a lot of trial and error to find the right hormones in the right doses. Making changes too frequently can complicate the process. No sense making this any harder than it already is!

In the Hormone Jungle we generally suggest getting as balanced as possible first on estrogen. Give each change a good couple of weeks to work before making another change. Once you've conquered your symptoms of low estrogen you can add in progesterone and/or testosterone if needed. It helps to use the list of symptoms of too much/too little estrogen, progesterone and testosterone as a guide. Print it off and check the symptoms that you are having. It also helps to keep a journal of the symptoms you are having. Share the journal and the list with the doctor you choose to work with for your hormone needs. Those useful tools can help your doctor make any necessary changes.

I know it is frustrating. I've waged my own battles with hormone woes more than a few times but I have been successful finding my balance by paying attention to my symptoms and fine-tuning my hormones. Slow and steady wins the race in the pursuit for hormone balance.

Good luck to you! It definitely can get better.

s