Questions for all of you that had endometriosis and are on HRT

How long did you wait between your hysterectomy and starting HRT? Did they take both ovaries? Did your endo ever return?

Thanks Ladies!!

My reason for asking is...my Dr is making me wait 6 months. I want to know if this is the norm.

Hi Jeenifer:

I have Endo too, my Dr is making me wait at least a year.
I don't mind, I'm not having any big problems, just a few night sweats here and there, nothing a ceiling fan won't help.
And if and when I do decide to do HRT, I plan on doing it natually, with herbs, vitamins, etc.

I had my hysterectomy in 1999 due to endometrosis. My doctor offered to give me hrt at my post-op but I declined it because I didn't agree with what he wanted me to take. I didn't start hrt until 2006 and I don't believe my endo has returned. I used black cohosh for a little while and it gave me some relief.

I started HRT right away. With my intro to sudden menopause I had tears from out of nowhere and it scared me to be like that. Luckily, HRT made me feel like myself again. I knew I was taking a chance, but it was well worth it to me. Unfortunately, I did have more trouble with endometriosis, and had to have more surgery the year after my hyst. My surgeon had been careful to remove as much as he could, but microscopic implants left behind must've grown under the influence of my HRT. Despite the additional trouble, I do not have any regrets about my decision to use HRT.

s to you,
Beth

Well, I saw my old gyn (not the one who did my hyst, long story!) today and she put me on a low Viv-Dot patch. She said I was off of HRT long enough (almost 4 months). I felt like I was 20 years older! I can already see subtle changes, hardly no hot flashes. Woo hoo! Hopefully this HRT works out for me. We will gradually increase the dosage and track my progress with blood tests. I am looking forward to feeling good again. It has been a looooooooong time!

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I felt like I was 20 years older!

I swear I aged a decade the year of my hysterectomy, so I hear you!
My GYN said my HRT is only about 1/5 th of what my body was previously making on it's own. Not worrying about cycling has been a plus. I hope you do well on your HRT and have no further endo issues.

Take care.

I was hormone-free for about a month after they took out my uterus and both ovaries. I had terrible insomnia, hot flashes, night sweats, and I couldn't tell when I had to pee. Once I got on HRT, all those things went away. I did increase my dosage a few times, but about 8 months ago I radically changed my diet (for reasons other than menopause) and found I could be happy on less HRT after that.

So far I have not had any endo pain, but the vast majority of my pain was with menstruation, so removing my uterus took care of that, plus I had not much disease and it grew quite slowly. Because of how my disease showed up, I would be less likely than some women to have pain from endo regrowth, as compared to those who had pain every day or who had fast-growing disease.

My dr sent me home without HRT. I thought that was odd -but I guess due to the endo -it is more common. She didn't explain - just said we would wait and see how my body does on it's own. She stated the endo was worse than she expected when she got in there -had to burn a lot of growth off of my bladder - still having problems and some pain with that when my bladder is full or when I go to pee.

For the most part -I am not having emotional swings or upheavals. No crying like I read some of the other hystersisters having with or without HRT. I have had more cold chills than hot flashes but those seem to be subsiding. The weather here has been horrible. 5 days ago it was 9 and today it will be almost 60. I have had one episode of waking up soaking wet. I sometimes have insomnia - but really - when I am napping during the day- or so inactive - I don't find it surprising that I don't sleep well at night. I was like this before hysterectomy too.

OVerall I am surprised at how well I am coping without my ovaries or HRT. Makes me think they probably weren't working very well on their own there at the end anyway.

I haven't had a post op visit. Don't go until Jan 17th. I haven't had too many reasons to complain - so I am resting and taking it easy as much as possible.

THANKS for sharing everyone. It helps so much to know I am not going this alone!

I just had everything removed a week ago and I did go home with a HRT patch. My doctor did not want me to but I did. I do not do well emotionally off of it (I was on Lupron for awhile) and I just feel better with a little HRT. I am on a vert low dose and I just pray that my endo does not come back

	Quote:
Originally Posted by joeyanne I just had everything removed a week ago and I did go home with a HRT patch. My doctor did not want me to but I did. I do not do well emotionally off of it (I was on Lupron for awhile) and I just feel better with a little HRT. I am on a vert low dose and I just pray that my endo does not come back

I hope your endo doesn't come back!