dVH/RALH: BSO: up to me

I'm scheduled for a dVLAVH/BSO on 12/26, but my surgeon said I can decide up to the morning of surgery about keeping/taking the ovaries. His recommendation is to take them, but he's hesitant since I'm still 15-20 years from natural menopause. I have very painful endo (constant) and cannot take most OTC pain relievers. All I can take for the endo pain is oxycodone. The pain is daily and had GOT to stop. I'm afraid if I leave the ovaries, nothing will get better. I don't want to do all this only to have another surgery in a few months to take the ovaries.

Is HRT really that bad? I'm not sure what I'll be on, but it's some sort of estrogen pill. I'll start it a month after surgery, to give the endo time to die off. Hot flashes are nothing new to me-been having them for years with my Crohn's (and night sweats that wake me up and need to change the sheets). They're not fun, but bearable. Another concern is mood. I have bipolar disorder, which has been relatively stable for a couple years. I'm seeing my psychiatrist on Friday to catch her up on everything and see what she recommends. The only med I take for it is an anti-depressant.

Hi! I was where you are. I am 34, had to get a TAH because of endo. My doc told me he was going to take my ovaries, otherwise there was no reason to do the surgery because the ovaries were causing the issue and triggering the endo to grow. He also wants me off of HRT for 6 to 9 months to make sure all of the endo is gone. 1 month doesn't seem long enough to me.

I was also diagnosed Bi-Polar, but my last doctor thinks I have PTSD instead. I can tell you that I do have mood swings with hormones, but in all honesty I think my moods are MORE stable without the constant raging hormones. I take Elavil before bed to take the edge off my anxiety and pain and to help m sleep and thats it.

As for menopause...hot flashes are annoying, but not worth really worrying about or getting upset over. My doctor is more concerned about osteoporosis when I get older so I will have to get bone density tests, but they have a lot of new meds to treat it and since they are monitoring it they should be able to catch any changes before things get bad.