ok, serious question about this "sleeping" ovary

I was left with one ovary after my TAH. Don't even know which one was left yet, left or right.

Anyways, I keep reading about the ovary not doing its job after surgery.

How will I know? I'm worried about this now.

I have both of mine, however they are sleeping and I am in meno right now. I got very bad headaches, my cuff took forever to heal without proper estrogen. I was put on the patch .025 at first then last week .075. I was having wicked mood swings too. The migranes are terrible for me. I am doing the premarin cream 2x weekly too for healing my cuff.

Hi

Both my ovaries were left and it took a couple of months+ for them to 'wake up'. I, too, was worried how I'd know whether they were working or when they'd start working ...

Quite simply, if your ovary doesn't start working again, you'll be menopausal - eg, hot flashes, etc. You'll know, believe me! On the other hand, did you have premenstrual symptoms before? Eg, tender breasts? About 10 weeks following surgery, my breasts were suddenly very tender (just like before my period) and then I knew my ovaries were working again.

At only a couple of weeks post-op, you've probably a long way to go yet, if the timing's anything like mine. Be patient! Easy to say ... I know how I felt at that time!

Take care.

Hi DNA,

I didn't have too many problems with my ovaries. I'm perimenopausal anyway, so the 3 or 4 times I had hot flashes and night sweats didn't worry me too much. I ovulated for the first time at about 6 weeks post op and again at 10 weeks (I kept both of my ovaries). So, not everyone has problems, there is a good bit of variation. Like the other sisters said, you'll get symptoms of menopause like hot flashes, night sweats, etc if your ovary is 'sleeping'.

DNA,

We all seem to have our own unique experience regarding our remaining ovary or ovaries. I see you just had your surgery on the 13th. Your body will tell you if the ovary is working or not. If you get menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, etc), then the ovary is not yet functioning. If you used to get PMS symptoms and get them again, then the remaining ovary is functioning.

My right ovary kept on working. I ovulated and experienced PMS right on the dot. Some ovaries get traumatized during the hysterectomy and take a while to start working again.

Hope this helps.

That's what my doc said too! He said if they're not working, you'll be having major hot flashes.

Also, like the PMS symptoms, you'll know they're working if you experience the breast tenderness and water retention. These symptoms let me know mine are functioning normally.

Around the 2 week mark, I started feeling hot and convinced myself that I was having a hot flash, but it was just temporary because it only happened when I had been moving around and my body was just trying to tell me to go lay down.
Good luck.

I thought I was having PMS for the longest only to find out that I was having meno mood swings! I could have sworn I was getting enough estrogen. It was so hard to tell for me. If I had not been having hot flashes so bad I would have thought I was going to start. I held fluid too. I had to laugh at my last Dr. visit... I had a hot flash right before he examined me and my bum stuck to the paper, I had to apologize and laughed when he said I needed more estrogen not less. i was taking the dot at .025 at the time all the while thinking I was getting too much but the symptoms suggested otherwise. Hope it is easier for the rest of you.