How long will surgical menopause last?

Hello everyone
I am just now having the light bulb moment. I felt GREAT afte my hysto with ovaries removed. I had SO much energy and was so pain free. Now 4mos post op I feel awful, I am tired all the time, headaches, acne ACK and so on. I can not take hrts because of a history with blood clots. My understanding is that "going through menopuase" is the time when hormones leave your body so if our ovaries are removed then our menopuase should be over once the hormones are gone from our tissues leaving us feeling like crap until eternity. How am I doing so far? At least that makes more sense to me than anything else. I just dont know what to do about this lousy horrible feeling.

I think everyone is different on how long the symptoms last.

Here is a link to some information I found on it:

http://www.jeanhailes.org.au/faq.htm#26

I am over 50 had my hyst 3 years ago and still have symptoms, but I will say they are not as bad as in the first year and half.

If they are bad the dr can give you something other than hrt to make you more comfortable till you get over the worst part.

Hang in there

s

I had my hysterectomy a little more than 3 months ago (ovaries out, no cervix). I'm not on any HRT, but am on plenty of supplements - and I thought tampons were expensive

I started getting hot flashes around the 4th week out, and yes, they have increased since - especially when I am in stressful situations. I've really noticed that and think there is a mind/body link as well as the physiological one. I have also noticed my lack of patience at times, snappiness, etc - but it's really no different than when I got PMS.

Oh yeah, and then there's the skin sensitivity. What's up with that? I can't bear to be touched softly anywhere at all - feels ooky, so I've instructed my boyfriend to have a firmer touch.

My acne has flaired up as well, but again, I always had bouts of acne.

I have insomnia - the kind where it takes at least 5 chapters of a dull book to fall asleep, then I'm up 3 hours later to pee. Oh well, there's always the weekend to sleep in.

My vagina is dry and I have to use lots of lube. But then again, I used lube from time to time pre-hysterectomy.

I'm very tired when I get home from work, but proud of myself, too, for doing a great job and happy to have a nice home to come back to at the end of the day and a dog who can't wait to see me.

Therefore, I consider myself very lucky - lucky to be alive, lucky to have a job that I love, lucky to have a good man in my life.

I'm just taking it one day at a time, keeping a sense of humor, getting outside myself by immersing myself in my job, my family, friends, pets, hobbies. Yes, there are down times, moody times, crying times, worrying times. I just try to keep it all in stride. Difficult at times, I know. I'm so thankful for this site.

In 2 days I will be post op 5 weeks. I have not yet begun any menopausal symptoms. I had my ovaries out too. I am thinking at this point I will not get them? I was in peri-meno for about 4 yrs prior to my sugery..so maybe I was through most of it already so that's why I haven't had symptoms........yet lol. I hope I don't get them.

Have a good one

Hi - Hyst on Sept 26 - HRT patch while recovering. The plan is 1 month at .1, one month at .75, one month at .50, and one month at .25. I am so new at this, never had surgery, never been to a doctor for 15 years. Mine is estrogen only - does this mean less chance of cancer? Is four months considered a "long time" or a "short time"

Today is the second anniversary of my hysterectomy. They took the uterus, the ovaries and the cervix. Several people, doctors and menopausal women, have said that menopause lasts, on average, until you're 54 - with or without surgery. After that it's said to taper off. All of my doctors have said that I will be much worse off without any HRT. I'm having difficulty - it's not getting into my bloodstream and when they up the amount I'm getting very bloated. I'm gonna try one more time - and by the way, my cholesterol has shot up despite a diet very very low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables. I will be very concerned if I can't make the HRT work - but I will be looking for any natural solution that can be found - because I don't want to end up a hunchback like my grandmother did!

***(Sorry, this is a bit long.)****
I am now 51 (this July), and had a TVHBSO on Jan 4 of this year. I thought I was post-menopause (I was on HRT for a year or so prior to the hysterectomy, with no periods) thinking my symptoms would be minimal following surgery. WRONG! I came out of surgery with a patch on... which didn't seem to help much. I was miserable with all day hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia...all around miserable for months. My GYN put me on Cenestin which helped some and told me my ovaries had still been working to some degree ,even though not enough to overide the HRT I had been on, to produce a period.

After I recovered from surgery and was more back to "normal" I found I had zero libido and also had a hard time reaching orgasm...if at all. (I have always had a healthy sex life, with no problems in this area at all.) Plus, I was miserable and feeling like I had lost an important part of my life....and still was having problems with night sweats and sleep. My GYN then put me on Estratest HS and within a few days it was a world of difference! Things returned to almost pre-surgery levels for me (other than a touch of oily skin and minimum breakouts...which I had not had for a few years or more); then the newspapers broke with how Testostorone could cause cancer. At my request, my GYN reduced my dose of the Estratest HS to half by having me take it every other day, with Premarin in between. (She told me the decision was up to me, I needed to do what made my life feel normal...and that she herself had taken Estratest HS, and had stopped only because her teenage acne returned because of it.) But, the old symptoms came back with the reduced dose of testostorone.

So, I am now back on the Estratest HS every day with most symptoms under control (I still have problems with sleeping and night sweats, but not to a degree I can't manage or just ignore the problem.) I have put on almost 10 lbs with no change in my diet or activity level from before, which my GP attributed to the Estratest. But....all in all, I feel better all around and assume as I am in my 50's some weight gain is to be expected (my weight is still in the normal range for my height at 5'8"...but now on the high normal side...and now in the middle and tummy, where it never was before!) This is all VERY frustrating, but I have decided to stay on the Estratest HS for quality of life.....I think at least for 5-10 more years.

I would love to hear from others in the 50-ish age range with thier ovaries removed to hear how things have fared for them. It is so helpful reading all of the information on this site!

Gretchen

I've been without HRT for 6 weeks or so, and can say that not being estrogen dominant is wonderful. I have bouts of insomnia, but I've been like that my whole life. Sweating when I'm stressed? Yes, but it was much worse when my body parts were intacked. My legs are burning at night, but I've come to the conclusion its the RLS for sure.
I've also noticed that not only do I not crave sweets as much now, but they make me hyper and antsy. My weight is still an issue, but the cellulite like blubber is going away, and the fat seems to be less dense.. very strange.

I've been taking One a Day for Women and its been great, but am going to try GNC Menopoise starting to day. I'm also taking flax seed oil daily, and calcium when I don't get enough in my diet during the day...(too much will give you kidney stones..) Premarin seemed to work great at first, then the angry, moody, depressed PMS symptoms started. Dryness, hairloss, and itching were added to the mix also. Estrace was good too at first. No more dryness,, hair stopped falling out everywhere!!! Then the crying started, and depression and not wanting to leave the house. I just came to the conclusion that I needed to start eating better, getting more exercise, and putting myself at the top of the ladder for a change. I love my DH and kids, but I can't take care of them if I feel like crap all the time. I'm still working through this, and probably won't be at peace with it all until I lose this @#$#$# weight!!! but I'm not going to die without estrogen. My dads lady friend is going to be 85 and has lived without estrogen since her hyst at 36. She has a full head of beautiful purple hair, a slim body, and biggest complaints are her stomach issues and my dads hearing loss and driving lol. I hope I will be as fortunate.

As most have said, we are all different and have to find what works for us. Estrogen is what got me here to begin with, so not having it has improved my life more then I could say.

I hope you find what works for you soon!
hugs
Donna

Hello again. (I posted way earlier on this thread.) The links that hostess SuzyQ has offered have some useful information in them. The thread began by being about how long the surgical menopause will last. I'd like to say that for those who are interested in not using drugs (as some here seem to be), I have found two books most helpful:

Carolyn Chambers Clark, Living Well with Menopause: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell YOu . . . that You Need to Know, and

John R. Lee, with Virginia Hopkins, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Hormone Balance.

Both books advise about things one can do in terms of her environment and her foods that will improve menopausal symptoms without the use of drugs. Lee is quite strong about the pharmaceutical companies and their links with doctors' offices. In any case, I gather that some of those who have posted are having difficulty with their issues, and so I suggest these titles for those interested in trying to take matters into their own hands.

I'm doing okay with the symptoms of menopause, which are pretty strong at times. Would rather just deal with it than put my body into another new chaos. I've never been one to take drugs, however, and have always preferred anything to drugging up. I do like a glass of wine in the evening while cooking and and then with dinner (I love to cook), but I've even given up all alcohol, because this brings on really bad hot flashes! All in all, I have found doing without the drugs is do-able, if I keep my mind on the longer haul and not on the short-term inconvenience of discomfort. We're all different, though, in how much we can tolerate, and so this procedure might not be the best for everyone, though it works for me.

Thanks for your post. I was wondering myself because I dont seem to have as many of the problems that others have that are on hrts. I am not. Our grandmothers didnt have them and they were just fine. I do not know too many women that are really happy with hrts most that I know stop taking them.