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Hello - An intro :)

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Sassyt:
Hello all,

I found this place via Google and I'm really glad I did!

My name is Sassy, I'm 35. I had a total abdominal hysterectomy and my ovaries removed in March due to severe endometriosis. My gynae said it was the worst case of endo he's seen and it took 3 surgeons over 6 hours to do the op as all of my pelvic organs were fused together and I had 2 huge blood-filled cysts in my ovaries. One of them had wrapped around my bowel like a parcel. They had to completely disect all of my organs, my appendix was in such a bad state that came out along with my womb, cervix and ovaries!

To make things even more complicated I also have ME and because of this I got a DVT in 2010 as I'm on the severe ME scale and mobility is very poor. This has affected my HRT options considerably.

I was discharged from hosptial on the estrogen only Evorel 50. I'm not doing too well on them, I still have really bad hot flushes (15+ a day) which wake me up in the night and I have a pretty much permanent niggly headache and some patches just don't stick at all, I'm still trying various places, my bum being the current which is going better than thighs but still not great. Again due to my DVT history pill forms of HRT are not possible.
I spoke to my GP yesterday about it all but because of my previous DVT my choice was an increase to Evorel 75 and an even higher risk of a blood clot or to stick on the 50 and ride it out.
Because of my ME I'm already at an increased risk of another clot so the best option seemed to be to stick with the 50 and ride things out  :(

All of this is really affecting my ME as my flushes are waking me up in the night and therefore affecting energy levels and right now I just feel rubbish. I've left the house 4 times since my March 12th op and each time it was for medical appointments because I simply don't feel well enough to do anything else!

I have my 3 month hysterectomy check-up at the hospital in a couple of weeks so I'm going to talk to my surgeon to see if he has anything to say about my HRT, I don't know if a different brand may help?

Phew, that turned out to be a bit of a long intro, if you're still reading this well done!  :D

I'm looking forward to being in this community, it seems like a really great support network!

Sassy

Babylon Burning:
Hi Sassy, welcome to the forum, we are 12th March operation twins!  I had a total hysterectomy etc but it was for ovarian cancer, how are you coping with the after effects of the surgery?  I am slowly making progress and even rode my horse for the first time today!

I wasn't offered HRT, in fact nobody even mentioned surgical menopause, crazy I know.  I'm sorry it's not working for you at the moment, I hope things improve for you soon.  There are lots of HRT savvy people on here, so I'm sure someone will be along soon to give you some good advice.

Hurdity:
Hi sassyt

 :welcomemm:

Re HRT and patches - I use Estradot which are much smaller and I find they stick well once you get the knack of how to do it - there have been thread on this recently (sticking patches) so do a search and you might find it!

If you really don't get on with them you could try gel - but you may not want the faff of having to apply it everyday.

As you are so young you may also need testosterone as your levels will be low following your op. Unfortunately the options for replacing this are now limited but testogel can be prescribed in small doses by a specialist to women off licence.

This is what it says in the orange menu on left at this link:
 http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/aftermeno.php

Role of testosterone after hysterectomy

If the ovaries are removed at the time of hysterectomy, as well as the estrogen level falling, there is also a 50% decrease in testosterone production. Some doctors recommend testosterone replacement along with estrogen replacement; testosterone helping energy levels, mood and libido. However testosterone replacement does not seem to be required by all and the ideal route and dose of testosterone for women is still being researched. It is therefore not routinely recommended following removal of the ovaries but can be considered for some women who do not fully benefit from estrogen replacement alone.

There is info about it here re post-menopause:

http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/testosterone.php

Hope this helps and you begin to get some relief soon - it's early days so be kind to yourself as your body recovers from such a major op

Hurdity x

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