keeping ovaries - how long til

How long until my hormones stabilize again? Does anyone know or have experience? My biggest worry of this procedure has been how my hormones will react. I mean I know my ovaries are staying, so I'll still have my hormones, but will I go through a period of time where they'll be a little wacky from the trauma of the procedure? How long should I expect to feel hormonally unstable? Any ideas? Gosh so worried. Having LAVH in 2 days, but am ready, know despite the recovery it will be well worth it in the end. Thanks!!

Hi,

I kept both of my ovaries, and went through about 3 months when my hormones were out of whack. My doctor recommended taking Estroven during that time, which helped a lot.

If I had it to do over, I would have started on the Estroven immeditely after surgery, or even before, if my doctor approved it. It takes awhile for it to work, and it would have been that much less time I would have had to put up with the symptoms (hot flashes and irritability.)

s,

Lisa

Shashi - I thought my irritability was just part of my charm!

My own experience with keeping the ovaries was that I had night sweats for about 4 nights each of the two next times that "should" have been my period. After that, my ovaries got back on the job and all was well.

I think that being rather fluffy (size 20) helped me some. My doc told me that the female body stores a certain amount of estrogen in the fat cells. He didn't have to tell me that I have plenty of those!

I had a hot flash last week, but just one in over a year doesn't seem like much of a bad deal to me so far. I know that menopause is going to naturally occur for me in the somewhat near future, so it's no surprise to me to start to get the occasional symptom.

Everyone's reaction is different - some gals talk about flashes and sweats as soon as they wake up, others, like me, get them a month later. It's part of the HysterAdventure - finding out exactly what your body's reactions will be!

I was having some mild pre-menopausal symptoms for the past year or so, so I was a bit concerned if my ovaries would take a hysterectomy as a cue to shut down. Had my operation on the 17th and the doctor first told me he was able to leave them in and then said he thought they looked very healthy and would likely clock along without any increased symptoms. So far, so good. I would imagine it would depend in part on how healthy they are and whether they get traumatized during the operation, say from feeing fibroids or adhesions.

I was only able to keep one ovary, but best that I can tell its working as it should from day 1. I'm pretty sure I ovulated last week and jumped for joy when I saw the discharge. I haven't had any night sweats, hot flashes or mood swings, so I take that as a good sign.

Thank you for your replies! It does help to see that everyone is different and only time will tell. All I can do is hope for the best. Starting tomorrow I will need to worry no more, phew!

Hi

I'm like you.. having LAVH with cervix going also on the 27th. I talked to my Doc today, who is a wealth of info but hard to get it out of.. , and I asked him about my right ovary and the fact that it is attached to the side of something and also has a cyst that they found the other day with the ultrasound. He asked me if I want him to remove them.. I looked at him like he was crazy. Am I the Doc all of a sudden? Cause from what I remember I just recently started even being interested in the subject of Hysterectomies about 3 weeks ago. What do I know that I want? I told him that I dont want it to be removed cause it has adhesions.. they dont really bother me.. but if it/they are in bad shape and diseased then he has the go ahead. I really dont want to go thru anymore surgeries. He agree'd. So now I have a BSO or something on my chart too. I'm used to the Doc telling me what is best to do. Luckilly I have this website for all the info.. and good friends who have gone thru this b4 me. If I can keep them.. then I will.. if they are in bad shape and will cause problems later (sooner than later preferably) then they are gone. I will know when I wake on Friday. Good luck to you!

I was 31 when I had my TVH a couple years ago, and I remember having menopausal symptoms for about a week or so. Nothing serious or horrible, but I must say that those "hot flashes" that everyone talks about are wild. Fortunately, the old ovaries must have kicked in pretty quickly because the symptoms were pretty short-lived.

Best wishes for a smooth surgery and a very easy-going recovery!

Kim