LAVH: Worried about surgical menapause BSO

I'm 51 and I'm schedule for a LAVH and BSO on Feb 22nd. I was diagnosed with complex hyperplasia. All long my doctor has been suspious that I may have cancer, the size of my uterus, how the biospies looked...but even with a hysterscope and d & c, dx remains the same. OBgyn suggested the ovaries be removed, I'm worried about surgical menapause. I know it won't happen over night. I was on the pill when I was younger, and I didn't like the weight gain... so I haven't had much experience with hormones. I know it feels like I have been in perimenapause for years...night sweats, unable to stay asleep,hair in places I don't want it, some mood swings...but it could be because I bleed about 28 days out of the month now with just a few days of light spotting. There's no reason to take my ovaries...but she feels at this age I don't need them and if they have to go back in later...it's much harder. Not to mention the hyperplasia is from estrogen overload...why keep them... So, I'm just wondering how others have made out. My uterus has served me well... I have two adult sons. Aunt flo has been a faithful friend for 41 years.....but I'm tired and run down from the bleeding. My get up and go has gotten up and gone... Let me know how you made out after your ovaries were removed.... txs

Maureen17 -

Everyone reacts differently to surgical menopause and unfortunately yes it can "happen overnight". Some members develop symptoms while in recovery after the surgery. I was not perimenopausal and mine hit like a mack truck 5 days later (3 days of headaches and hot flashes). Others are much more lucky and nothing happens. Some of it can depend on your weight, since fat produces a form of estrogen. so this will be a wait and see how it affects you. I ended up with clinical depression (surgical menopause was one factor of it) and am on Effexor. It helps regulate the menopause symptoms and I'm hoping that once I start coming off of it my body will have adjusted to the lesser hormones.

As for the complex hyperplasia was it w/ atypia? That is considered pre-cancer. Is your surgeon going to do biopsies to see if there is cancer? Also if they are concerned that you may have cancer have they talked about having a gyn-onc do the surgery or at the very least have an oncologist present? Just some things for you to think about.

Also if you put your surgery date in your profile you will be able to post on the post-op forum after your surgery.

as you are awaiting your surgery.

G

Hi there!

I had my hyst for the same diagnosis and had everything removed. My GYN Oncologist felt it was absolutely necessary to remove everything since it is a pre-cancerous condition. I am 41.

The surgical menopause has been kind of a mystery, in a way. I have only had a couple of night sweats and hot flashes. I have, however, had some emotional ups-and-downs. The reason I say it's been a mystery is that I have not always been clear how much of what I've experienced is just post-op trauma, how much is just normal life stuff and how much is actually menopause.

For me, the recovery time has been somewhat traumatic. After the initial relief that I lived through it, I was somewhat on a "high" because of that. I was so scared of dying that it seemed nothing could bother me at first.

After a short time, I started to feel like a very different person. Most of that was in a positive way but it also was confusing trying to redefine myself. It's been 6 months now and in so many ways, I really am a different person. A lot of it is a direct result of the hyst and I'm sure somewhat hormonally driven but not completely.

I am sure this sounds confusing and that's because it has been confusing. I will sum it up by saying that menopause has not been bad at all but it has taken a lot of inner strength and faith in God to get through it.

My best advice is to pay close attention to what you are feeling as you go through it (if you end up having your ovaires removed) and to get help if you need it. Most women choose HRT but I have not......yet. My doctors have explained that if the symptoms are not intolerable, I don't have to take HRT. So far, I can live with menopause.

I wish you all the best in your journey.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. My Doctor feels if I need it I can start HRT after the surgery if needed. At 51 I'm not sure about how much will affect me. Thank you again..

I am scheduled for a sonogram on the 18th and then if that appears as expected, will have surgery on the 23rd. I am also concerned about surgical menopause and the decision of whether to start HRT right away or see how things go first. I am about 60 pounds overweight which sounds like it might actually serve a positive purpose in respect to storing some hormones for me . I have visited the HysterSister store and purchased the cooling pack as I already have hot flashes and think those aids sound wonderful; who knows maybe because I am so far into perimenopause, actual menopause won't be that different. Good luck and please post how things go for you.

I agree, there is not way to predict the outcome of BSO surgery. Being peri-menopausal/menopausal, I also was concerned about being slammed into menopause after having everything removed on Jan19th. Since I would not be opting for HRT, I had discussed my concerns with my doctor and she said it could go either way or somewhere in between. Luckily, about 3-4 days after surgery I had only one 10 minute hot flash which was nothing.

I had a BSO when I had my hysterectomy. I am 46 and had never missed a period. I had my first hot flash at night within a week of surgery--so it can happen 'overnight'. As I look back on it, it was kind of amusing. "So, that's what they're talking about", I thought!

I wasn't sure whether I would go on hormones or not. As it turns out, the hot flashes at night were really disrupting my sleep and as I was getting ready to go back to work, I realized that I really needed to sleep. I started on Premarin .45 at my 6-week post-op, and the hot flashes stopped after about a week. About a month later I was having so much 'foggy-brain' that my Doctor upped my dosage to .63. I've been on that for about 2 weeks and I'm feeling pretty good, so I'm hoping that I found my dose.

I hadn't really started perimenopause, so it's possible that you won't have such a noticible change, but you won't know until you go through it.

I had a TVH, BSO, AP Repair and TOT sling on 01/12/10 at the age of 48. My physician believed I was perimenopausal or possibly menopausal (my FSH was inconclusive). I am not taking hormones and so far the only menopausal symptom I am having is hot flashes. My doctor said symptoms would probably start 2 days after surgery, but it took about a week. I have noticed that the hot flashes seem to be increasing the past few days, but are worse in the evening. Some nights I have them during the night and other nights I don't. (I don't consider them night sweats because I don't actually sweat, just get hot. I am trying to avoid HRT's because of past history of a blood clot. I chose to have my BSO because I have put up with pain since I was 10 and my doctor believed I would be back within a year to have them out any way. Its a personal decision, but I signed the papers to have them out even if my doctor had to convert to a TAH.

I am 38 and 7 weeks post op, no ovaries and no HRT due to endo. I have not had any menopause symptoms yet. I am not very far along but I hope I never feel the effects of menopause. I will be watching my bone and heart health closely.