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[Jennifer1234]

Hi ladies

I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago and I would say its a pretty major operation ......... I'm not saying I wouldn't have it again because I needed it but it's not just a few months recovering. I think if you have keyhole surgery is quicker , I had incision and a very long op. Too be honest I think it takes your body a good year to really bounce back to full speed again ...... I don't mean you have no life for that year just takes time to regain yourself so to speak. And as other ladies have said it can effect your bowels/ bladder etc ......... Plus your figure ....... I don't mean weight gain ...... I mean I've been left with a kind of waist that from the front goes in almost to my back but therefore makes my tummy stick out which in actual fact it doesn't lol ...... Hard to explain.  . It's obviously not the end of the world but there are alot of things to be considered.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Yes the 3 sachets of sandrena are meant to opress my own cycle, but not sure if that is sufficiently effective?

As for the potential physical issues associated with a hysterectomy.. bring it on.

I think the well intentioned women genuinely have no.idea how desperate and despairing these hormonal fluctuations can make you feel to the point of suicidal.

Losing my waist line or potential bladder issues seems like a tiny price to pay for not feeling suicidal or utterly hopeless on a regular basis.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Chi Chi what did Studd and Evans say about a hysterectomy?

[Jennifer1234]

GRL

I wasn't trying to be little how you feel as I have not experienced what you are going through ..... I was just giving you an indication of hysterectomy pit falls.

[GypsyRoseLee]

I know you weren't Jennifer, honestly.

It's just that I would LOVE to only have the physical tangible effects of peri menopause to deal with. Or having to deal with them post surgical menopause.

It is the horrible uncertainty, and constantly changing mood swings and floating anxiety which I find soul destroying. Trying to cope with them is like trying to knit fog. You feel so powerless and out of control.

If you wake up in the night with hot flushes you can open the window, change your sheets, have a cold drink etc. There are practical steps you can take.

But if you wake up in the night feeling riddled with panic, for absolutely no reason then it's so difficult to 'treat' it.

[Chi chi]

They didn't really go into detail, Studd said it would be keyhole so minimal recovery time and only 2 nights in hospital. Both said I was silly to worry that I'd feel worse, and neither of them had any experience of patients this has happened to??
Spot on what you said about the physical symptoms of it all, if only it was that simple with the emotional symptoms 
I'm like you, bring it on!!

[dazned]

 Another thing to possibly consider is the type of surgery offered.My best friend who is a nurse said never have a hysterectomy by keyhole . Its a shorter recovery time but there are quite a few major organs is quite a small space .

[Lizab]

GRL, I am so hoping it doesn't come to that for you. Honestly, for my own self s well. You and I have different details but I believe the mental anguish is the same. Someone mentioned Mirena. With the issues you've had with progestins, I definitely do not recommend Mirena for you. In spite of all the doctor said about how the hormone only goes to your womb, I developed crazy migraines, non stop morning sickness, dizziness, hot flashes and well, basically similar to menopause symptoms, all this was years before the peri began for me. As for the hysterectomy, I've never heard anyone speak anything other than praises for it, but that seems to be the kind of thing that you don't hear the nightmare stories about until you're in it. Wishing you well!

[Hurdity]

Hi GypsyRoseLee

I can't offer any information or advice about hysterectomy - but I am still a bit unclear as to what you are hoping to achieve by hysterectomy and the reasons for it - and whether you want just want a full hysterectomy, or a full hysterectomy with ovary removal?

Is it that the mood swings of peri-menopause are so severe in your case that they affect your mental health, so you need to control your cycle which is normally possible to achieve with very high doses of oestrogen ( as you are trying now) or various types of pill - which you have also tried (presumably you did try Qlaira?)

... and is it that given the above, you are seriously intolerant to all types of progesterone or progestogen that this prevents your getting the full benefit of these methods of controlling your cycle - because they involve taking extra progestogens? Sorry if I am being a bit dim here but I've lost track a bit - I know absolutely that the mood swings in your case are severe - but I am wondering about which method (s) you've tried - to control your cycle and why they haven't worked.

Although I haven't experienced what you have I can understand your reasoning - but I would definitely go with Taz's advice re shutting down ovaries chemically before doing so physically. Only really because hysterectomy is for life and you are so very young still - and peri-menopause will be over in a relatively short time although having said that maybe recovery is better when you are young as everything goes back into place better before lack of oestrogen and collagen makes everything lax and prolapse!

Or in your case would it be better to take the ADs for a few years until your hormones have stopped fluctuating in such an extreme way - and so that you could then revert to "normal" HRT - and still retain your ovaries and womb?

I'm sorry this is probably not at all helpful given my lack of experience but didn't want to just ignore your post.

 

Hurdity  x

[coldethyl]

GRL, I completely understand where you are coming from wanting an end to the terrifying mood swings of perimenopause as some days I've been in that place too. What I would say though, is that reading on here and elsewhere, that being menopausal isn't always a walk in the park either and some women experience anxiety and or depression when they are without a monthly cycle. I have a friend in her sixties who had a late menopause at 59 and now aged 66 is still very anxious and overwhelmed so perhaps for some of us, ADs are part of the solution as well as hormones? Obviously without a womb, and given you age, you could take oestrogen only and this may help but like Taz and Hurdity have said, it may be better to try something like Zoladex first to see if being shut down actually has the benefits you want. As bleak as it now seems, I'd be wanting to explore all options before opting for an irreversible physical solution. Without wishing to appear to dismiss your current mental anguish, it is easy to say you'd happily swap it for x when you don't have X. Some side effects of hysterectomy will be easy to cope with, but should it go wrong, I'm not sure physical pain, unhealing wounds or incontinence issues would be any easier to cope with and would in themselves bring the emotional suffering that you are struggling with now.   It is still very early days with your new HRT and whilst wanting to feel better is understandable, you do need to give it time and yourself space to heal mentally before planning the next stage. The perimenopause can be hell and yes it can seem endless, but it is finite in most cases and it may be better to just see how it goes in the next 6 months or so before opting for an operation.

[vintagefiend]

chi chi i think you were asking whether a hysterectomy would help given that you already suppress ovulation with gel- i'm not entirely sure what u mean but if suppression with gel helps you then i guess that would be an indication that hysterectomy would work as long as you got a handle on the oestrogen supplementation afterwards. i wish you best of luck with coil- i have to be honest- it didnt work for me because: progesterone!! and of course a hyster would negate the need for it. it sounds as tho you, GRL and I have similar symptoms- god it's no fun! i'm just coming out of a horrible period- i was going to give up my venlafaxine as not yet working but lovely neighbour- a mental health doctor- insisted i keep at them- they need at least 2 months to work. so right now antideps are the way forward for me- i have a psychiatrist now thanks to my visit to the emergency dept....when i feel strong enough i will try to address my problems with hormones (oestrogen patches)- meantime i'll make sure i have some valium the next time terror and abect depression strike!!

[lisa789]

GRL you are in a very similar situation to me.

I too suffer with crippling anxiety due too PMDD/peri. Mine has got so bad I'm agoraphobic. If I have to go to appointments etc I have to take a strong sedative or else I can't leave the house as the panic attacks are so bad.

Last year I was given zoladex but not given HRT alongside it. As I didn't know anything about zoladex then I didn't question it. I went through hell, straight into cold turkey menopause with no HRT. I didn't go back for the second implant. Since coming on here I have learnt you should be given HRT alongside zoladex. Unbelievable that they gave me this at the hospital without HRT when I told them I was suicdal with the mood swings & anxiety. I suffered a month of pure hell and without diazepam I think I'd have lost my mind.

At the follow up appointment they gave me Evorel 50 which i was fine with but I only managed 2 days when it came to the progesterone part - 10mg of norethisterone for 12 days. I felt so sick and had constant panic attacks.

Went to see a consultant privately who gave me Utrogestan to take but only when I begged and he had to look it up in a book. As I wasn't impressed with his lack of knowledge I went to see another consultant privately. She told me to stop the HRT for 4 weeks as she wanted to do bloods. I'll be getting those done in the next 3 weeks and I'm having an ultrasound on Friday. In the past my bloods have come back with varied results some show I'm post menopause others don't. The last year I've had regular periods but the two years prior to that I missed a few. I'm 41 and sick to death of this. I hardly leave my house as the anxiety and panic attacks are so bad. Reading your posts my heart goes out to you as I totally get what you are saying. It seems there aren't many options. Like you I can't tolerate SSRI/SNRI meds. I've been given diazepam but that can lead to addiction so I'm careful. If all my tests come back ok and it's back to HRT I can't see that working as it would seem I'm progesterone intolerant so what does that leave? Like you I'm thinking full hysterectomy with ovary removal.

I'm going to ask about qlaira at my next appointment and see what her opinion is re the progesterone content.

I do know, like you, I can't take much more of living like this. Fingers crossed we both find solutions xx

[donnacrichton]

Wow haven't seen any post as similar to how my last five years has been. I too have been to a&e suicidal. Admitted myself to psychiatric unit thinking I was going mad. Eventually diagnosed as Peri at age 38. I had zolidex for 12 months with mixed results as still had fluctuations and they now believe it had not shut them down completely. I am now on buserelin nasal spray and estrodot patch but only 37.50mcg.  It looks like now I have been taking too much estrogen as they thought with my age I would need a high dose. If this works it will be hysterectomy for me desperate for this to be the answer. Not many people know how debilitating this is and I am sure some people think if can't be that bad but I read this and had to let you know you are not alone or going mad. Sending lots of hugs xx

[GypsyRoseLee]

Hurdity, it's basically wanting the extreme mood swings + the awful anxiety and low mood to just stop ruling and ruining my life.

Last year I was still getting 12-14 good days a month, with HRT. But since trying the BCP last Autumn, then Femostan over Xmas and New Year life has been much harder.

Since stopping 2/10 at the start of Feb I have only experienced maybe 10 'good' days. Otherwise I have been very low and often too anxious to leave the house (though I force myself). I have been signed off work for 4 weeks now.

Basically my symptoms are getting worse, but my bloody cycle still seems regular and very much in place.

When I saw Dr Annie she was undecided whether to try me on 2 or 3 sachets of sandrena, but told me to trial 3, but could drop to 2 if I felt 3 was too much.

Well I trialled 3 for 2 weeks but felt it was too much, felt wired and jittery, so dropped to 2, two weeks ago. Didn't feel so wired or jittery.

But on her advice, I went back up to 3 yesterday but splitting the dose, 2 in morning and one at night.

Slept quite well last night, no doubt thanks to Utro, but woke this morning feeling more anxious than I have these last 2 weeks.

It just seems so complicated and 'going round the houses' trying to control my symptoms with gel and Utro and even bloody ADs, when removing my ovaries and uterus would just solve it.

I don't want my ovaries or uterus, what would I want them for now?

[Chi chi]

GRL how are you taking the utro? By mouth or vaginally?