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[lesleyl]

Hi. i'm a newbie - its been one week since i had my hysterectomy - everything removed - so i am now officially in surgical menopause.  But i know everyone is different however i am finding it hard to find accurate information about it.  I have been told that symptoms will start immediately, will start within 2 days, will start within 2 weeks.....and so on.  I wondered what others have found.  So far apart from a few sweaty nights and the odd sob i havent been too bad... am i going to be one of the lucky ones or is this the calm before the storm??  I'm 47 so could well have been perimenapausal but had the op because of fibroids following a myomectomy for fibroids 5 years ago so who knows. 

Thank god for sites like these.  When i have been talking about this pre op with friends the thing that really stood out for me was how little we know about something that is going to happen to all of us in one form or another.

Anyway, grateful for your input.

[Taz2]

Hi lesleyl - you will find lots of help and support on here.

At your young age you really should have been offered HRT to start immediately following your hyster. Was this mentioned to you at all? Up to the normal meno age of 51 you would have naturally been producing oestrogen which is necessary to keep your heart and bones healthy. The HRT risks don't kick in until after the magic age of 51 as before then you are merely replacing what should have been yours naturally.

As you say everyone is different and you may find that you don't suffer many symptoms at all if you decide not to take HRT. However, you may still find that you get vaginal dryness and there are topical oestrogen supplements for this so don't suffer in silence.

Have a good look around the forum - there is lots of info in the menu on the left of the screen and also much to be discovered in our posts. Have you also tried the hystersisters forum?

Taz 

[lesleyl]

Thanks for the reply Taz.

My GP and my surgeon both said to wait until after the surgery and see what happens before deciding whether to go on HRT.  They gave the impression that as i was so close in age to the menopause anyway that it might not be necessary if i dont have bad symptoms but my GP did say she was comfortable offering it to me until i was 50 if i needed to.

I will have a good look around the forum - there seems to be loads of posts running so its a bit of a minefield to get my head around but will persevere.   

[Joyce]

 

Early days for you. I wish you a speedy recovery from your op.

You're right though everyone is different and you may be fine, some ladies are. I wasn't. I was very thankful for HRT! I took a break a while back & am now back on it again. My hysterectomy was in my mid 30s.

[Taz2]

At least you know the option is there lesley. Normally you would, of course, gradually lose oestrogen production over the next few years but all of yours will have gone in one go which is why you might suffer symptoms.

If you use the search box in the blue bar towards the top of the page you may find relevant posts quicker.

Taz x 

[andius]

Don't know if this helps you, but when my periods stopped, it took 3 months and it was pretty obvious I was in for quite a bit of trouble with menopause!  (of course, that was natural, not surgical) I had been having light symptoms already for about 4 years and already had VA, but the flashes started and were unrelenting.

Here's an article I think you might find interesting!  I found it on the front page of this website-MM.  It discusses the harm done to some women by not taking hormones during menopause as used to be offered before the WHI study that came out about a decade ago. If you are lucky and don't seem to need them at all, good for you!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/estrogen-death-hysterectomy_b_3622710.html'show_comment_id=270875711

Let us know how it goes and be sure to keep in touch with the doctor.