advice please

i am 34 yrs old , i had a tubal ligation when i was 28,when i had my son. since then my periods have been extemely heavy and irregular, my cramps have become horribly painful over the last couple of years. my dr and i have tried multiple meds to get them under control but nothing seems to work. also since my tubal ligation i have had migraines to the point where i cannot work. they are very frequent and debilitating. my dr has recommended the hysterectomy, i am wondering since he will be doing to procedure if he should just take everything including the ovaries. i have already been trying hormone therapy to get my periods and headaches undercontrol and it did not work hence the need for the hysterectomy. i have been told that if you do not remove the ovaries now, it is only temporary and you will have to have another surgery within 5-7 years and i would like to avoid that at all costs. any advice would be great. thank you!

I still have my ovaries because I was not ready to go through menopause. This is a personal decsision that only you can make. Are your headaches from your ovaries? I have headaches but not due to hormones. If I were you I would have a 2nd opinion I am not sure why you would have to have another surgery in a few yrs to remove them My gyn told me it was up to me to keep them or not. He did not say anything about having them taken out after a few yrs. I would get a 2 nd opinion hun.

Keeping ovaries is a very big deal for me because my body couldn't handle surgical menopause. My dr. told me I may go through menopause within 2-3 years, or I may not. That's really not that early with my family history. Nothing was mentioned about further surgery; in fact she wants to be sure everything possible is done now because I shouldn't need any more abdominal surgeries.

Like dawnsy said, I would maybe get some other doctor opinions. For me it would greatly depend if the ovaries are part of the problem...if they are causing you pain, probably worth considering. Or if the doctor feels there's no reason to keep them and you'll have to be on HRT anyhow....again, maybe worth considering. I am 35 and the only reason I am keeping mine is to avoid HRT and menapause. But from what I can tell, I am not having any problems with my ovaries right now. They have cysts, but they probably have since I developed PCOS and doctor wasn't concerned. It could be a long time before I even have to consider menapaus, so there's no reason to rush it in this case.

These things could be very different for you though, so I def think it is worth looking into more.

I have been to so many doctors for my headaches. Neorologists, headache specialists and pain mgnt also, second opinions of all of them. I am just kind going off of a gut feeling based on all the other dr's i have seen and tests I have had. Plus I usually get really bad headaches around my time of the month. I have asked like 4 different dr's to test my hormones and they all have said no, that I was too young to worry about it. Ever since I had my tubes tied, this have just kind of gone down hill from there. I can only really associate it all my issues to that point. Along with the headaches, I also have really bad cramps, the pain goes all the way down my legs, I have never had cramps ever, heavy bleeding, irregular periods. so it is a combinatio of things that made me decide to go this route. Plus I had a dr that would actually listen to me. crazy , I know.

I have all the same issues you and they finally did an ultrasound that found my fibrous after I went off birth control that I was using to control the crazy bleeding and cramping. The birth control was just making my migraines worse so we stopped out and without those extra hormones my fibroids grew very rapidly. Like the ladies said I would get another opinion. I am keeping my ovaries as i'm only 39. Unless there is an issue with them like cancer etc in the future my Dr said there would be no need for additional surgery. Plus the HRT could be problematic with my migraines as well. Wish you the best! I know its a hard decision to make!

that a second opinion is in order.

I had my TVH a year ago. I kept my ovaries. I don't believe that's true that if you keep them you will need another surgery in 5 years to take them out. There may be individuals that need to do that due to their specific health situation, but I don't believe it's a given. I expect to keep my ovaries forever unless I develop ovarian cancer. When I asked my doctor if I would go into menopause earlier due to the hysterectomy, he said "maybe a year or two earlier".

Since I was 18, I used to have about 2 debilitating migraines a week. Sometimes I would get one that lasted for 5-6 days. I would miss work, miss entire weekends, etc. In the year since my surgery I have only had about 3 of them. In retrospect I think it was the Pill causing them. Since I am still ovulating each month, stopping the Pill is really the only thing that's changed.

My doctor's opinion was that if the organ was healthy, there was no reason to take it out. He had no desire to slam me into surgical menopause at 43. You are much younger than me, so I would give this decision serious thought. Wishing you the best

I agree with the others, I don't think you should automatically have your ovaries out because of headaches, unless you can trace your headache problems directly to them. There are so many things that can cause headaches and migraines.

As far as your heavy bleeding and cramping goes, have you been diagnosed with fibroids? Have you had ultrasounds or any type of radiology to see what is going on? If those symptoms are due to fibroids, then it may not be necessary to get your ovaries out as well, under that circumstance, I think a hysterectomy is sufficient. Also, are you seeing an OB/GYN for the problem, or a primary care physician? Having your ovaries out at a relatively young age can possibly cause you other problems with hormone levels and such. There are many cases where it is necessary, of course, but I'm not sure I would consider doing it "just in case it might solve another issue."

It seems to me, you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. In your situation, I would want to be relatively sure my ovaries, or hormone output from them, was at least, a likely candidate for the migraines before I would consider having them out.

These doctors, that have refused to test your hormone levels because you are too young, were they aware that you are considering getting your ovaries removed? Something tells me, under those circumstances, they may be willing to test them...

Do all the research you can before you make the decision to remove healthy ovaries. There's no turning back after the fact...

Good luck.

I did have my hormones and everything else under the sun tested at the 1st appt. for this. So I was 35. My mother started menopause early and they wanted to rule that out, but it was not big deal, just a first step, that and the ever-pleasant transvaginal ultrasound.