HRT advice

[skt68]

Hi Ladies. I wonder if you can help? I'm having a full hysterectomy with removal of everything because I have endo and suspected Adeno. I'm afraid I have no choice all my lady bits are knackered I am 47 but by the time I have surgery will be 48. I understand that endo feeds off estrogen. What have you ladies done and used for your menopause symptoms regarding HRT? How are you after your full hyster? I would love to hear from you and your experiences on this. Thanks Sarah 😀 xx

[AGood]

Hi Sarah. Sorry to hear you are having to have a full hysterectomy for lots of problems. Last Friday was my 1st year anniversary of my op. I had adenomyosis, endometriosis and fibroids and also had a full hysterectomy. Before my op I had no menopausal symptoms at all. 12 hours afterwards I had full blown symptoms. It's been a bit of a journey to be honest these last 12 months. 8 weeks after my op I started on estrogel which is a self dosing transdermal gel. I found I had all sorts of "other issues" arise using this and quite frankly, I felt awful. It's taken a while of stoping and starting ( which I don't recommend!) but in the end I decided to stop prescribed HRT completely. I have found a plant based cream from a website which is working so much better for me. After 12 months I am starting to feel well and settled again. I do appreciate that many women go through a hysterectomy with virtually no problems and that is wonderful. For me however, it's been a very slow process of recovery and I'm grateful I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Since my op I have experienced

Nasty aches & pains ( mostly in legs & feet)

Swelling in legs

Backache

Ibs ( I already had this but it's got more severe)

Headaches

Mood swings

General feeling of anxiety

General feeling of being unwell

Sleep disturbance

Crashing tiredness

Urinary frequency

On the plus side, i have no more horrendous monthlys to deal with which is wonderful. This is just my experience though Sarah. As I say I know other women sail through this op and I really hope you do. I've had to go really gently with myself and find out a lot of information for myself too. There are so many helpful websites to check out. I'm so blessed to have a fantastic husband, family and friends who have been so supportive. I've had a good Dr too who has listened to me and supported my decision about HRT and eventually it has all got better.

I wish you well with your operation and hope this has helped you. Take good care and please remember to rest up and not do too much too soon after your surgery.

Very best wishes

[skt68 in reply to AGood]

Thank you so much Avoid for your response. I'm so sorry to hear that you have had such a rough time with it all. If I can help it I'm gonna try and not take any HRT. My surgeon did say that he will give me a shot of livial or something like that after surgery just a small amount of estrogen to hopefully ease things. Even though I'm possibly 3 years away from natural menopause at 48 my mother was 51 when she started her menopause but sadly she died of breast cancer at 64, well initially breast cancer but it spread to bones and brain and she died 6 months after being diagnosed with the breast cancer. My Aunt at 69 my mums sister has just had major breast cancer surgery and her oncologist said it was hormone related. So I'm very dubious on taking HRT and there is strong evidence I was told that women who take the combined HRT have a higher percentage of getting Breast Cancer. Thanks again Sarah xxxx

[Sunshinegirl00]

I not taking hrt as I had a Pe in Nov last year which was when I discovered I had large ovarian tumours and they won't prescribe hrt cause of blood clot risk. Hot flushes not nice and night times are worse but it's not as bad as monthly periods! Good luck X