what's happened to my memory?

it's just over 4 months since my op. physically i feel pretty good, although i'm not sleeping at all well. my brain, however, doesn't seem to be ok! i find myself having problems remembering things, getting easily confused and also worrying about stuff i would never usually worry about. my brain feels very tired and i actually feel rather low because of all this. before my op i was usually pretty good at remembering to do things and was not much of a worryer. can anyone help? is it lack of hormones?? (i had everything removed and am not on hrt at the moment)
i am hoping others have had/are having similar problems and can help me out with their thoughts and ideas.
thanks everyone theresa

A hormonal imbalance can cause all sorts of problems. I had trouble concentrating at first after my tah/bso. After my dr and I found the correct dosage of hrt, it did get better.
I think that you should discuss your worries with your dr - hopefully, together, you can find a solution.

S

ThereSam, I too am having a hard time remembering things and even speaking correctly. I use the wrong words when asking or speaking about things. Yesterday, someone told me that her mom, after heart surgery, had this problem and her surgeon said that it is the anesthesia and that things would get better after 6 months. Anesthesia stays in the blood stream a while. I personally think it is a combination of menopause and anesthesia.

Ah, yes. I know exactly what you are talking about. I'd be talking to someone and forget what I was saying in the middle of a sentence. Very embarrassing. For me, I know the problem was a lack of hormones. Several years ago I was put on Lupron for endometriosis and I had huge memory problems then too. Now that I'm on estradiol it is much better. If you can take hrt, and your doctor thinks it would be good for you, you might want to try it. After my mom had her hysterectomy 12 years ago she had the same problem but chose not to take hrt. Her memory has never been the same since. It did eventually (2-3 years later) improve somewhat, but it is nothing like it used to be. Good luck!

hi
thank you so much for your replies. i figured it could be hormones, but wanted to know what had happened to others. i hadn't thought of anaesthetic being a problem. when i saw my doctor a while back he did say i wouldn't feel right until at least 6 months had passed. i thought he meant just physically, but maybe he meant all round! i'd like to not have to go on hrt, but will maybe have to re-consider this if things don't improve. i am guessing hormones are the cause of not sleeping too!
thanks again. will let you know if things improve or if i try hrt or not.
theresa

I too am having trouble with my thinking abilities. I get very confused at work and easily overwhelmed. I am on estrogen but am wondering if I need to raise the dosage. I don't know whether this is anesthesia related or hormone related, or a combination of both. But it is bad enough to where I am thinking of leaving my job. I am making so many errors! Can anyone shed some light? I am 4 months past the complete hysterectomy.

Thanks,
Tiredofbleeding

hi tiredofbleeding
i have to say that work is the place i really notice my memory isn't working properly. i have to write everything down, or i forget. i bought myself a thick A5 size jotter pad! i think the word 'overwhelmed' discribes how i feel as well. everything seems too much and it gets confusing. it seems to be a common thing, judging by the responses and it seems to be a mix of hormone imbalance and anaesthetic left-overs. as you're on hrt, i don't know what the answer is really. one thing i was told today, was that it will benefit if i did things to keep my mind 'active' as it were - like puzzles, sudoku etc. this helps apparently. i plan to give it a go. any one got any other thoughts?
theresa

I definitely have bad memory problems. I can't even remember what day is tomorrow! I also took Lupron, plus it's only been 3 months since my surgery. Anyway, you all have given me hope that it might get better after 6 months. I had anesthesia done for a surgery years ago, but I don't remember having a memory problem at that time (maybe I just can't remember... ha ha!)

This memory disability is so bad that I've also gotten depressed about it. So, I've decided to get out and get at least 20 minutes of sunshine each day, go for walks and maybe even a jog if I can, and start doing some exercises. I figure that it might help get a little more blood up to my brain, to stimulate things up there....

It sure is worth a try, anyway! My doctor also wants to test my estradial level. I am on Vivelle Dot .05, but I've had extensive endo, so I have to be careful. I think my doctor feels that a higher dose of ERT would help out with the memory problems.

Brenda