Full or partial hysterectomy

[emmalouj]

I’m going to have a hysterectomy for stage 4 endo keen to avoid hrt and keep my ovaries but keen for advice on pain returning with partial hysterectomy as opposed to full I am 43 so hopefully oestrogen production slowing down so going less risk of re-occurrence any advice welcome

[luthien]

that's a difficult one.

endo cells are microscopic and once present they don't go away, so they can always grow whenever there are levels of oestrogen - which all mammals have even males.

if a lot of your endo is around your uterus which is what you're having removed then the partial one will help lots from the point of view of removal of endo. However if endo is on the other pelvic organs even when removed it can still grow back.

having a full hysterectomy removes the ovaries too, of course that will reduce the amount of oestrogen but our body still produces some and large patches of endo can produce its own so it can still regrow.

the amount of pain, symptoms, when it comes back and how much relief you have is individual.

best thing is to weigh up as you have the pros and cons for each, decide on a path you want and see what happens; make sure you have a chat with your surgeon before to ensure they will remove as much endo as they can while doing the partial hysterectomy as this means it is less likely to cause problems otherwise you'll be left with no uterus and still have stage 4 endo.

after your op make sure to chat to your surgeon to check what has been done as then you'll have an idea of recovery / pain / additional medication and next steps - it's all to easy to forget there's no cure for endo but we can control it rather than it control us

keep us updated xx

[niggle in reply to luthien]

I am also in similar situation,

Diagnosed with Stage4 endo, adenomyosis, one ovary stick to bladder and other to sigmoid colon.

Met BSGE specialist and he recommended full hysterectomy.

I am 38years old and my family is full, still very difficult decision to make especially if there is no guarantee that endo pain will go away or not after going through irreversible surgery.

[emmalouj in reply to niggle]

The back pain is terrible and exhausted all mechanical routes , for back pain not keen to go on hrt so was looking at leaving ovaries or full hysterectomy with oestrogen only , and then manage with plant based diet and other therapies

[Bdgjdjd in reply to niggle]

As you said that your family is full

So if you don’t want more

you could consider this decision it

there are some of people who had hysterectomy and they no more suffering

I think the main issue is the adhesions that caused most of our pain especially the pain that not associated with period if you have daily pain thats mean you have adhesions and you can discuss with your doctor about the treatment for adhesions

If you don’t mind

Did you get pregnant before or after diagnosed ?

I am thinking that if i get pregnant and feel my family is full i will think about hysterectomy But i will start my ttc journey soon so i am at the begining of my journey

And this journey will take long time as i have stage 4 endometriosis

[Sludge78]

Always the risk that endo could return especially if you keep ovaries. Would still potentially need HRT as will most likely hit menopause early. Would need to be a combined HRT to keep the estrogen in check. You may obviously have reasons for not wanting to touch the stuff, I feel great on mine and my mother was on it for 30years (forgot she was on it till she was 76!) and did fabulous. Worth checking out all the options. Look at the hystersisters site.