Does anyone know on average how long before surgical menopause will kick in?

Hi Ladies,
Hope that you are all doing as well as possible on this wednesday.... I was wondering if anyone knows on average how long it takes our bodies to go into surgical indused menopause? Last thursday I had my last remaining ovarie removed due to a cyst the size of an orange attached to it. They also removed some endometreosis. On April 1st I had my other ovarie removed because of another cyst that had attached itself to my pelvic wall and then decided to burst (while I was on vacation in Mexico)! In January 2003 I had a hysterectomy, because after the birth of my 3rd child my cervix and uterus decided to scar themselves closed. Sometimes I think that my body is out to get me ( ). After the hysterectomy I went into menopause about 2 days after the surgery. Then around 3 months later my ovaries began to work again. Anyway, I have been waiting for the hotflashes, nightsweats, etc... to start, but nothing. (Not that I want it at all to start) but I am an impatient person. Thanks for any info that you can give to me. Take Care of yourself and if you just had surgery rest, rest, rest and take some Airborne or some vitimins! I didn't and yesterday I spent all morning with my doctor because one of my incisions had reopened and I was in extreme pain. Somehow (probably from a sick person in the hospital) I got a sinus infection with a bad cough. All of the coughing caused the biggest insision to reopen and caused me to strain myself down there. Thank God for my Doctor, he gave me 2 shots of pain medication as well as something stronger for the pain and some cough medication. So I have been knocked out since I came home yesterday, but at least it is making me rest. Ok I am just rambling on and on. Thanks for being there everyone. 's to everyone.........

Hi shellw,

I hope that you are feeling better! I just wanted to say that possibly you can be one of those lucky sisters who may not have to suffer through the hot flashes, etc. even with your ovaries out. My mom went through actual menopause about 25 years ago at age 52, and she said she never experienced hot flashes at any time. She did not ever undergo a hysterectomy either.

For me, that night in the hospital when I had my surgery was my first real hot flash. OH my, it was like my pillow under my head was on fire! I experienced that for a few days until I started the Premarin about 4-5 days post-op.

Best wishes,

I am 42 and had TAH/BSO on June 5th. I have not experienced any menopause symptoms yet. My Dr. will not even start hormone therapy for 4 weeks . He said because of the risk of blood clots. (all Dr.'s are so different) I am glad I have time to heal and decide what to do about the whole hormone thing. But I have had no symptoms at all.

bessiejo

Im eight weeks out and my symptoms are full blown but Im 27. Im not sure if it makes a diff. Im taking natural supplements instead of HRT. Im doing pretty good except today. I have been melting all day. Oh Sorry, my symptoms started about a week after my surgery and gradually got worse.

I've heard that for women who have a little fat on their bodies, it takes about 3 months for the estrogen stores we have in our fat to deplete.

I had surgery on Feb 9, and started on oral bio-identical estrogen and testosterone 3 days after surgery. I wasn't feeling very good (hormonally), and after testing my blood after 1 month, my levels were still low. We upped the doses 3 times in 3 months, and, lo and behold, I wasn't absorbing ANY of the estrogen I was taking. I was absorbing the testoserone - go figure.

Anyway, 3 months to the day, I felt like I was circling the drain. I felt like I was 80 years old. My GYN called, and said, "oh, Honey, no wonder you feel like you're 80 - your hormone panel is that of an 80 year old!"

I started the Climara patch that day, and felt better within 24 hours.

That was my timeframe for feeling the deep, dark, depths of surgical menopause!

Jennifer

Hi,
I just had my LAVH/BSO on the 6th of June. I am just now experiencing the night sweats and several hot flashes a day, but nothing the freezer wont help me with! I hope our menopause is easy. I think a lot of it depends on age too. I am 50, so its not gonna be as bad, as I expected it and was pre-men anyways..

Best of luck. Peachy


Breast CA IDC-8-30-06
Lumpectomy 10-13-06
33 rads completed 01-07
LAVH/BSO 6-6-07
onto AI therapy

Thanks for sharing your menopause experiences after your surgeries with me. I guess that I will just continue to wait and see what happens. As I had a hysterectomy when I was 29 yrs old and then this past April had one ovary removed, (I am 34) maybe my body has been already been going through menopause, just gradually. Since my hysterectomy I have definately been crazier than normal (LOL), I have been a walking psycho hormone. My poor Fiance will atest to that.
I am so happy that I found this website, it is so nice to know that I am not alone. No one can ever understand what you go through unless they have gone through it themselves. And it is so nice to be able to vent as well as ask questions to women who have had similar experiences as myself. Thanks to you all................

I started hot flashes 15 months prior to my surgery. It happened when my grandson was born. My daughter and son-in-law would tease me about being in menopause. I knew I couldn't be as I still had a period at least 12 times a year. But I think it was my new relationship with being a gramma. Then on 3/5/07 when I had my surgery, I had the worst migraine and they had to turn the air down and I was still hot only to find out that it was down to 55 degrees and my husband was wearing a blanket. I am 50 now and since the first day they put a patch on me by the time I got home to re-coop I no longer had hot flashes or I call them wake up sweats, just frequent migraines.

I am 50, and never had any menopause symptoms prior to surgery...late bloomer, I guess. My TAH BSO was on May 21st, and it wasn't until last week, Week 3, that I started having insomnia caused by hot flashes. This week I noticed my feet and hands drying, and migraines starting. Also, I am not a teary, weepy, particularly emotional person, but I actually cried over the traffic last weekend, and I wasn't even the person driving! Crazy.

Because I can't take hormone replacements, I am working with my doctor on developing natural vitamin supplements to combat symptoms. Time will tell if they work, but I am optimistic. Had blood workups today, so those should be interesting, also.