Sex after TVH?

Ok ladies I need the lowdown! I am 6 days from my TVH and of course I am nervous and thinking of every excuse I can use to cancel (even though as I type this, I am laying on a heating pad for the second day in a row!).

My question is this. I am having my cervix removed and I was wondering if sex will be the same at all? Also, I assume that the vaginal secretions are secreted thru the cervix and I have never had a dryness problem. I am keeping my ovaries and I have read that women who have their ovaries removed have dryness issues and since I am not having them removed I shouldn't have a problem, right?.......However, where will my vaginal secretions come from if I am stitched up with a cuff?? Just trying to fester over all the little details..... Also, will I still be able to achieve the big O??

OMG this morning I woke up with the SAME Exact questions! haha... i cannot tell you how much better I felt when I read your post! I am 5 days away from d-day and am a nervous wreck! I am going to ask my doctor about those questions today and hopefully get an answer for both of us! good luck to you!

YES! Please keep me posted!

I too am anxiously awaiting the information! That is one of my biggest fears too! I am having both ovaries removed due to endometriosis issues. I don't want to "feel" different to my husband. I want to still be ME when this is all over, but a far better ME. If I need an artificial lubrication, that doesn't bother me, because that's doable! I just want to make sure my husband gets the same satisfaction... Not to mention mine!

OK ladies.... Let me see if I can help with ANY of this.....

I'm 6 weeks post-op from LAVH kept both ovaries... I was cleared from all restrictions on Tuesday 5/4/11 by my Dr....

I have not noticed any increase in vaginal dryness.... and although I'm ready to try out the new set-up as it were - my DH is scared he'll hurt me so we're waiting a bit longer for penetration (until I can convince him ) With that being said, I can tell you that he has.... um.... helped in a
different manner and I cannot notice any difference in "The Big O"....

Hope that puts your minds at rest at least a little bit. Take care!

Thanks for sharing Cyn! Just enough info without too much info! If you look at my surgery date, you'll know why this is on my mind as well...

I had my uterus and cervix removed on 4/6/11 and haven't had sex yet so I can't tell you if it will feel the same or not. Even those who have had sex have different opinions. But from all of my reading and asking my doctor questions, most women don't feel a difference at all as far as anatomy, but the pleasure factor is better due to no more pain, bleeding, etc. I can say I have been able to experiment with my husband with external stimulation. I am still very much able to have clitoral orgasms and actually they feel more intense. Weird, but I'm not complaining. I have had no problems with dryness because during that time I could feel the moisture. Yes, the cervix does produce discharge that changes with your menstrual cycle. As far as I know, its not really a major part of the sexual arousal lubrication. Your vaginal walls swell and excrete a lubrication when you are aroused. Women who go through menopause or have their ovaries removed experience hormonal changes and hormones play a major role in how your body works. That is why they have issues with dryness. Even if you do keep your ovaries, you can still experience some dryness and sometimes after a hysterectomy even if you kept your ovaries they can be a little silly temporarily. It's a shock to your system and it takes time to adjust.

I hope I helped at least a little. Best wishes.

Hi boopers1232000

I had a TVH and kept my ovaries, and I had all the same questions as you do!

Here's my experience:

• For quite a while, sex felt different to me. The surgery rearranges some blood vessels and removes one of the major organs involved in sexual activity, so that makes sense. I had the same sensations as before, but I felt them in different places. As for the cervix, that hasn't been an issue for me. The cervix did not play a role in my sexual response before my surgery (and in fact it led to pain), so I haven't missed it at all. If your cervix is part of your sexual response now, you may have a more difficult adjustment.
• Some of the lubrication comes from the walls of the vagina, so some women don't experience dryness at all. I do, even though I kept my ovaries. At first I was a bit upset about this, but I used that as an opportunity to try out some fun lubes. Also, I use a vaginal estrogen insert that helps keep things better lubricated.
• Orgasms. Yes, it can still happen. Orgasms felt different for a while, but I have had better orgasms since my surgery than I did before.

It's important to be patient with yourself. It can take up to a full year to recover from a hysterectomy, and this applies to your sexual parts as well. If things don't seem to work the way you hope they do when you first resume sexual activity, that doesn't mean it will always be like that.

Thank You ladies for your input....I hear so many conflicting stories from "the worse part was waiting but so happy they did it" to "worse thing they did was have their hysto". I took some advice a couple of weeks ago and stayed off the post op boards for now!
Of course, as I get closer and more nervous, the questions keep pouring in!

Just remember that going online to a message board doesn't really give you a really good solid answer to how things will be for you. You will find so many more horror stories online than positive outcomes. People turn to the online forums and chat rooms and all that for support, answers, and the comfort of knowing they're not alone. As morbid as it may sound, people are happy to know that their horrible experience or awful pain is affecting someone else as well. Misery loves company. But, its just human nature. We all want to feel normal, and when we don't we want to feel it's normal to not be normal. Lol sounds silly. All the women I know in real life have nothing but positive experience with their hyster. If every woman that has had one would come on here, you'd probably see more positive experiences. But, since a lot of women have had good outcome, they are out enjoying it. Just a thought.