ovaries "in shock"

I kept my ovaries but have been having hot flashes and weepiness that definitely feels hormonal. After hearing people on here talk about their ovaries being in shock, I called the doctor's office. The nurse said she had never heard of such a thing and I should stop believing what I read on the internet. Did anyone else's doctor back up the "ovaries in shock" theory, and if so, do you always need HRT to "shock" them back into sync? The nurse tried to tell me it was all related to clearing the anesthesia from my body, but at a full week post-op I wouldn't think that would still be happening. What do y'all think?

One GYN told me that although you keep your ovaries, part of their blood supply was from the uterus and that source is now gone. They still have other blood supply, but they are operating on different flow now. And sometimes that disrupts their function for a while as they adjust. Made sense to me. The fact that we call it ovaries "in shock" or "sleeping" instead of "temporarily disrupted function" doesn't mean it doesn't happen. And the Dr may or may not agree with the nurse. I had terrible hot flashes after my TVH, worse than when I had the BSO later. They did improve after a month or so. I don't see how that relates to anesthesia. Talk to the actual Dr and see if you get a better response. I hope you have a good recovery.

The blood supply to the ovaries can be interrupted during a hysterectomy, causing them to function in a less than stellar manner as they try to re-establish a new blood supply. When this occurs, the ovaries can go into shock or go to sleep or whatever phrase your doctor wants to use.

I was aware of this phenomena not from the internet, but from my mom's personal experience. Her ovaries took so long to kick back and her symptoms were so extreme, her doctor put her on estrogen until her ovaries were able to get back to work. She has medical records to back up her story!

Your nurse is correct, however. Some of the symptoms we experience can be related to the anesthesia and each of our bodies will take a different length of time to clear out all of the effects of it. Men can have night sweats following surgeries, too!

Give your body some more time to heal before you worry that your ovaries are not going to work well. But if your symptoms do last, don't hesitate to make an appointment to sit down and discuss them with your doctor. You should keep a journal of your symptoms so you can share with him/her exactly what you are experiencing and how long it has been lasting. Your doctor likely will not want to add HRT for at least several weeks.

in there and know that what you are experiencing can be a very, very normal part of the healing process!

Thanks, guys! That definitely makes sense. I can't take HRT because of blood clotting issues, so I'll just have to hope they kick back in!

My doctor mentioned the same thing about the decrease blood flow to my ovaries. We are waiting 6 weeks to see where everything settles. So far I haven't had any symptoms that are worrisome. Also, I think once we are all up and about doing our normal everyday activities that should calm down some of the symptoms and get our bodies readjusted. :-)

My question is how do we really know if our ovaries are functioning?? other than menopausal symptoms.....

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Originally Posted by UnwrittenFuture My question is how do we really know if our ovaries are functioning?? other than menopausal symptoms.....

I know there's a blood test they can do to check hormone levels, and I think there's an easy smear test too. I'm planning on asking for it at my post-op visit in a few weeks.