Anyone with a mood disorder?

I am curious how removing your ovaries can affect your mood. I have a mood disorder and hormone imbalance and am scheduled for a LAVH due to fibroids on June 18. I am trying to decide whether or not to keep my ovaries, I have had cysts on them previously but otherwise they are healthy. I am wondering if I can get a more constant level of hormone by removing my ovaries and using a patch. Any thoughts will be apprieciated.
Thanks,
Erin

(((((Erin)))))

First, best of luck with your surgery!!!

I have depression, anxiety, and OCD. I was on Paxil at the time of my hyst (TAH). The ovaries were left because the cysts had erupted prior to surgery so they were deemed 'healthy'. After the TAH, I just felt 'off' and talked with the Dr about it. I was put on Effexor and it worked wonderfully for me!!

About 6 months after the TAH, I ended up having a BSO. Once again, I felt 'off' and my Dr suggested that instead of chaning the meds again, to just increase the dosage. Worked like a charm!

What kind of mood disorder do you have? Maybe you could try doing a search for the disorder and see what other sisters have talked about.

Again, best of luck to you for your surgery. Make sure you follow Dr's orders to the "T" and let us know how you are feeling when you are able to.

Love & Hugs

First, I do not have a mood disorder.

I had my ovaries removed at my GYN's advice. My primary doc wanted me to wean off the HRT as soon as possible and I began decreasing my level this past January at 6 months post op. I thought I could be off a little after my one year anniv which was this past Wednesday, 6/4.

3 weeks ago I called my PCP and said I was so crazy with mood swings that my poor DH no longer knows what to say or do with me!! She said I was "estrogen dependent" and that the estrogen was depositing in my "fat" rather than getting to where it needed. I mentioned this to a good friend last Sunday about being dependent and she immediately said with no other words from me, that it's staying in the fat. Oh my, the very same words and she didn't know about the new theory of estrogen dependency but being a bio-chemist she knew about it staying in the fat! My PCP put me back up to the full level of when I had my hyst, told me to lose weight and faithfully exercise and we'd try again in the fall. She thinks I can lose the weight by the fall! I need to lose 30 pounds.

That being said, I'd say keep your ovaries if you and your doctor agree. I could be the only woman on earth to experience this, but it feels very really to me. I wasn't sleeping, had radical mood swings and was actually "shedding" pubic hair!! Now it has stopped. (except I had lots of little hairs in the tub after my shower this morning still.)

TC

Hi I had tah/bso 18 months ago due to severe pms mainly mentally, it has helped somewhat but I am still having trouble finding a balance and the fact that I am only 32 and I see that you are even younger than myself I if you have the choice to keep your ovaries , KEEP THEM I cant say enough its not just the estrogen you have to balance but testosterone and maybe some progesterone if you already have trouble with moods its not going to make it easier to find a balance because it's just how we are made up some people suffer pms and some people dont .the ovaries do so much more than we ever know until they are gone . take care and please dig deeper into your research before you decide best of luck to you take care.

shazza

Hi. I was diagnosed with bi polar in 1997, and was on lithium and wellbutrin for three or four years. I went off the drugs in 2001 as I had stabilized and learned to deal with it by stress managment.

I was scared to death of my hysterectomy and ovary removal because I was afraid it would destabilize me, etc. I had always had pretty terrific PMS and did not want to see any of that sort of thing permanent with ovaries gone, if you know what I mean.

SO - I researched HRT to the nines. Everything I could find and more. I set up my own HRT with the assistance of a compounding pharmacist BEFORE my surgery. I had hormone levels tested before surgery, etc. I had my prescriptions in my bag I took to the hospital May 15.

It has been only 3 weeks, but to be honest, I have felt very stable. I've had NO crying jags, no hot flashes, no sweats at night, no insomnia; none of the horrors I read about with other women and I was VERY worried because of my past history with depression and mania (the ONE big espisode of mania I had in 1997 was drug induced, wrong antidepressants for me, however, and not naturally occurring).

I think my being educated about HRT and chemistry of endocrinology really was my advantage..at least so far. Things could change in 6 weeks, but I document and journal my moods, diet, etc...and so far the only thing that makes a difference is chocolate, and that was also true before HRT. I cannot tolerate chocolate, and I love chocolate (chocolate kisses, Hersey bars, etc) - my body just cannot TAKE chocolate is what I have discovered. Darn it.

PM me if you like.

Erin,

I'm scheduled on June 18 for a LAVH for fibroids, too. And also take Wellbrutrion for depression for the past year at the advice of my ob dr. I had severe depression years ago and had gone off all meds and was able to deal with it, stress management. But as the periods became worse and PMS increased with the mood swings, my dr felt the Wellbrutrion would help, which it has.

I was hoping the Wellbrutrion would help me quit smoking too and Monday will be my hopefully my last day smoking.

One of my ovaries has a csyst and my decision has been to keep the ovaries unless the dr determines they need to go during the surgery. Mainly because I had heard and read that the hormones they produce will help keep me balanced.

Your question was of great concern to me as I am having the same thoughts and worry. Good luck to you,



Beth

Hi Erin

I just wanted to send you a short note. I've been bi-polar with an anxiety disorder for many years. I thought about all the changes that would happen and talked long and hard with both my counselor and psych doc as well as my regular and ob doc.

With all of their advice in my head and having a mom who had breast cancer years ago( which meant I had to be careful with HRT's), I had to make a decision.

Because I was in so much pain and discomfort, I decided to go ahead with a TAH/BSO. Afterward I did well until my 3rd week when the menospausal symptoms kicked in. I was not doing too good. My ob/gyn oncologist put me on Premarin 0,625mg and almost right away I was doing 100% better.

I'm now 8 weeks post and doing great! They keep all my other drugs going throughout the whole thing (Serzonoe, Respirdal, and Xanax) and, like I said before, I'm doing just fine.

You have to really make the decision after talking with all your docs and people involved. Please let us know what you decided.

Sending you a big

Patty

Thank you all for the wonderful responses, they are all appreciated! I meet with my GYN next week to make the decision on what all to remove. I will of course go what he feels is best, but I want to be armed with knowledge when I go in so we can make that decision together.
My diagnosis is Bi-Polar Disorder, ADHD and OCD. After much searching for the right combination my Psych found my perfect combination in Lamictal, Adderrall and Klonopin as needed. These meds work great, however, I still have rapid cycling during PMS time.
It is very comforting to know that I am not alone and there are others out there like me. I will keep you all posted and I hope you all keep writing.
Thank you all again!
Hugs,
Erin

I had a TAH/BSO in Feb 2003.

I have anxiety, depression, and panic attacks and pre-op had been taking Paxil, Wellbutrin, and Effexor which was working fairly well. After the surgery, my level of anxiety went up a little bit so my psych doc gave me Ativan to take on an as-needed basis. My gyn also put me on Premarin and recently upped it to 0.625. All of this is working for the most part but I do still have "down" times, but they don't last very long. It may take a little fiddling around with dosages to find the right combination.

I'm hoping when my hormones balance that I can start weaning off some of these meds but for now they're working pretty well so I'm sticking with them.

Rose

Erin - I also have a mood disorder. I am currently taking 12.5 mg of Paxil CR. I have one ovary (my right one) and they are going to try and keep it. Right now it is covered in cysts. I have the same fear you do. What if they remove EVERYTHING and I go off the deep end? If I am not on medication I can barely function. I have been on Effexor, the regular Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin... everything. Right now the Paxil CR is working great and I don't want to have to change the dosage because I have a tendancy to gain weight with it. Please let me know what they do to you and how you handle it... I have the same fear you do and have something new to discuss with my doctor at my pre-op!