Hormones or Not?

I had LAVH a little over 4 months ago(kept ovaries). I felt fine for about the first 8 weeks, but now it's like I am a different person. I used to be laid back, easy going, rarely lost my temper, etc. Now the least little thing ticks me off. I speak my mind at the drop of a hat. Some of you talk about crying, I feel like I'm too mean to cry. I'm having some hot flashes. I have 0 libido, and when I do have sex it takes forever to get aroused. O's are normal.
I know that sometimes it takes a while for your ovaries to start back up after surgery, but how long does it take? I was thinking of calling my Dr. and having my hormone levels checked. Should I?

I would definitely talk to your Dr. about how you are feeling. I was the same way and it got to the point that I could barely stand to be around myself. My Dr. was very understanding and said not only do your ovaries go into shoch, so do the estrogen receptors, so we get a double whammy. She put me on a low dose estrogen patch for only 6 weeks. I started it one week ago and there has been a dramatic improvement in my mood and I am not having hot flashes anymore. I absolutely did not want to do this, but as my Dr. said we should not have to suffer!! Sending you

I had a hysterectomy 5 weeks ago and have done well since. My doctor placed me on the Climara patch. I haven't experienced any mood changes or hot flashes. My hysterectomy was to remove both ovaries and my uterus due to multiple fibroids and enlargement of the ovaries. Test results came back ( a okay). I do , however, have to return for a visit Monday to be sure that my levels are where they should be and that the patch is not causing the fluttering and chest pains. I will keep you ladies posted on this.

I bottomed out at week 5 of recovery and I am on HRT and I kept my ovaries. I would call your doctor and discuss what is going on.

Scared03, I didn't know the estrogen receptors can go into shock. That's interesting. I was told that some woman don't absorb the pill form of estrogen as well as others.

I agree, call your doc. I just had my bloodwork done yesterday to have mine checked.... and I still have my ovaries, I just think they're still on vacation! It never hurts to check... from what I've heard, sometimes the ovaries don't kick back in enough to keep us on track.

I use the Vivelle Dot for my estrogen replacement. I find this patch to be very convenient and would recommend it to everyone needing estrogen replacement. It is very small, and doesn't curl up and stick to your clothing. I had trouble with the Climara patch not wanting to stick and it was just so big. I've never had to replace a Vivelle Dot patch before it's scheduled time. It smarts just a bit when pulling it off to replace it. I am 1 yr 4 mos post op and doing fairly well after recovering from all the complications. I;m 44 and I had a TAH BSO and also use topical progesterone to help with my tissues and sometimes add in testosterone, but learned that my adrenal glands are producing enough, according to my Nurse Practioner, that specializes in HRT. I do have hormone testing done and recently had to up my estrogen and then drop it back down again. I was disappointed to learn that even though I found the best level of hormones for my body, that even now I am plagued with tweaking them according to the weather or maybe even my stress levels?????? ZRT laboratories also has saliva testing which is much more accurate than blood testing, if you want to investigate that. If you consider changing to the Vivelle Dot, make sure your DR prescribes "DOT" or you will end up with a large patch similar to Climara that is large and doesn't want to stick.

I feel HRT has helped me maintain a great intimate relationship with DH and wouldn't want to think of life without it!

TC

I went through this as well. My ovaries were not working properly. My obgyn offered to put me on estro for a couple of weeks to "jump start" my ovaries but due to bleeding disorders that was not an option. Then she wrote me a script for prozac to help with the symptoms until my ovaries kicked in on their own.. well since I do things naturally, that was not an option either. I actually went to the nearest health store and bought herbs to help me.. pills called Oona. AND boy did they ever help.. I hope you find something that helps you out. I was so bad that I had self hate because I was mad at who I had become.. thank goodness that is over with. I may have moments through out the weeks ahead but nothing like I had previously.

I called the Dr. Friday morning and was able to see her that day. She ordered the blood test and is supposed to get back to me today with the results. She went ahead and wrote me a prescription for a low dose estrogen with testosterone, but told me not to fill it until she called with the results. Hopefully I will know something this afternoon.