medical menopause.

[Foodman500]

Hi, I'll be having a hysterectomy along with both ovaries removed soon. I wondered two thinsg

1: any tips for post operative recovery?

2: any advice about navigating medical menopause?

Thanks

A

[MrsPaddingtonBear]

Hello

Post op can be very painful. You will have drains in your stomach and a catheter. You can be in hospital up to 4 days depending on type of surgery. The removal of drains can hurt! No lifting anything more than a cup of tea for 6 weeks, no housework, shopping etc. literally sitting about for 6 weeks. Gentle walking around the house then outside for a few minutes at a time building up gradually. It’s 3 months total recovery. You will tire very easily as well. I had my surgery in October and the menopause symptoms after have been hardly anything really. I’m on Evorel patches and I rarely get hot flushes, I can’t stand much covers on at night but I’ve been like that for a few years now, my skin is a bit dry but nothing major going on. Hope all goes well.

[JOSANDY40]

It's a big operation. Are you sure you have the best advice? Yes there are some improvements to Endometriosis after this operation but many Endometriosis Patients still have Endo afterwards. As long as you have all the facts about problems that can happen to bowel, new pain and bladder issues and you are well read on this them I wish the best outcome.

x

[mrskiki]

Are they doing keyhole or open surgery? as open is the longer recovery.

[Bookworm3371]

There are some great communities online (Reddit, FB) which I’ve found so helpful during the lead up and post op.

Post-op - rest! It can feel slow going but the more you rest early on the better. Build up activity slowly and follow all the advice on what not to do (no lifting etc). Someone mentioned you will have a drain, that isn’t always the case, I didn’t. The pain post op wasn’t as bad as my usual adeno / endo pain and aside from some morphine in the recovery room I was on paracetamol and ibruprofen only from day 1, reduced down over time. Was out of bed 6am the following morning and discharged that day. Depending on your risk factors you may need to wear surgical socks and do blood thinning injections for a period of time post op.

Medical menopause - best to take advice from your consultant on this as everyone’s circumstances and risk factors are different. I was already in chemical menopause (zoladex) with add back HRT (tibilone) and will continue with the HRT until natural menopause.

I hope it all goes well for you, I found me pre op really helpful and took a massive list of questions with me x