Early menopause (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid



Message

missturbation -> Early menopause (1/16/2007 2:33:05 PM)

Been to the doctors today and have been told i may have to have my ovaries removed, possibly full hysterectomy. Along with the all the side effects of menopause i will be at an increased risk of cataract formation and osteoporosis due to my age, i'm only 33. Has anyone else gone through this early?

Edited to add oh shit i meant to post this in health - who moved it? [:)]



LuckyAlbatross -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 3:40:34 PM)

I'd obviously get a second if not third opinion and many more tests before I went all the way to hysterectomy AND ovaries removed. 



sub4hire -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 3:43:50 PM)

I haven't been through it.  Though I did have a doctor just "offer" to do the operation on me a few year's back.
My mother had ovarian cancer when I was 4.  My sister died when she was 43 of it.  So, I'm a prime candidate.  A few year's ago I went for a pap...before the doctor examined me he was wanting to schedule surgery.
I opted to go on my own until I started having signs of anything.

If cancer is the reason.....you can still get cancer even with everything removed.  Instead of ovarian you can get cervical.  Removing everything only limits the one cancer of showing up.
Reason why I opted out...aside from early menopause..hot flashes..moodiness...and everything else that goes along with it.



missturbation -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 3:47:43 PM)

No its not cancer. I get repeated ovarian cysts and when they operate i always end up with adhesions and such. Last time they operated my ovaries were stuck to my womb and my bowel etc had got stuck too. Its incredibly painful and they have said chances are that the more cystectomys i have and adhesions occuring the more damaged everything will get and will need removing anyway.



juliaoceania -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 8:05:20 PM)

My sister has polycystic ovaries, she is 42 though, not 33, and she is considering having everything yanked. I am sorry you are having this trouble.



babygirl005 -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 8:14:07 PM)

Oh Gloria,  i am a cancer nurse and my advice to you would be to get those ovaries out.  Yes, you may still get cancer somewhere else if your family has a predisposition to it.  But hotflashes and moodiness is nothing compared to the things you go through with ovarian cancer.  i'm sure you saw that with your family.  i would hate to think you didn't take the necessary precautions.   hope your doing well in your new home.



Lordandmaster -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 9:05:12 PM)

That Estring is one lucky motherfucker.

Can't you convince him to take global warming seriously?



Koukei -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 10:42:00 PM)

Early menopause... lucky. My grandmother was 70 when she hit menopause and I probably will hit it late in my life as well. I wish I didn't have to have a period every month! Granted, cancer is bad. I had my gullbladder removed recently... not the same but before they took it out if I ate anything after 6 o clock at night I would be up with god awful stomach cramps that wouldnt disappear until i vomitted. And personally, who cares if the gullbladder breaks down fat? I'd rather work harder in the gym then ever have lack of sleep because of late night vomitting again! And I can assure you, you would rather live without the organ then the pain with it. Plus... do you plan to have anymore kids?
 
~Koukei MonStar~



SusanofO -> RE: Early menopause (1/16/2007 11:22:01 PM)

I agree with LA - my gosh those are your reproductive organs! I think hysterectomies are overdone as far as operations on females go - at least in the U.S. Get a second and third opinion. I know there is pain involved in what you got through now - but, if you think this is drastic - then maybe it is?

- Susan



MizSuz -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 6:43:09 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: missturbation

Been to the doctors today and have been told i may have to have my ovaries removed, possibly full hysterectomy. Along with the all the side effects of menopause i will be at an increased risk of cataract formation and osteoporosis due to my age, i'm only 33. Has anyone else gone through this early?

Edited to add oh shit i meant to post this in health - who moved it? [:)]



I had a total, radical abdominal hysterectomy when I was 20.  I'll be 44 next month.

I had problems with menopause, significant and severe menopause (I once laid down in the dairy case of a grocery store due to a 'lay down or fall down hot flash'), for nearly 10 years until someone decided to get very aggressive with my hormone therapy.  Then for nearly 10 years I took 6x the normal dose they would have given someone going through menopause at a 'normal' age and my symptoms all went away.  Then about 4 years ago my pulmonologist and my gp said "you can't take anymore hormones, it's going to kill you" and I stopped taking them cold turkey.  I did have some mild menopausal symptoms for about a year after that, but for the most part it's all stopped.

My skin, however, can get as dry as desert sand.  When the seasons are changing I have to lube up really well and have only found one moisturizer that really works well - and as you might expect it's extremely expensive.

I had a different issue than you but it caused me to have many surgeries over a 7 year period in my teens.  I too had problems with adhesions and when the hysterectomy occured I had major problems due to my innards sticking to each other.  I was in terrible and increasingly difficult pain for those 7 years.  By the time they took everything out I was quite happy to have it all removed.  I've not only never had a recurrence of the original problem, but I've never had one single 'ladies' infection since.  Not one.

I never missed my uterus, but I wish they'd taken my uterus before it was necessary to take my ovaries too.  It would have saved me a considerable amount of problems (although I'm the only person who thinks so - all my doctors have disagreed with that assessment).  If they had taken my uterus earlier, however, I never would have had any children at all.  I had my son at 16 and I'm glad I had him.  I'm also glad I never had any more.

Talk to your doctors, not just the surgeon, about their feelings regarding hormone therapy.  Look into it, research it quite well.  There are a significant amount of cons for hormone therapy, but it was also the only thing that enabled me to live a fairly normal life until I was old enough to have a 'normal' menopause.

Good luck to you with it.


Suz


edited for typos.



toservez -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 10:03:21 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: babygirl005

Oh Gloria,  i am a cancer nurse and my advice to you would be to get those ovaries out.  Yes, you may still get cancer somewhere else if your family has a predisposition to it.  But hotflashes and moodiness is nothing compared to the things you go through with ovarian cancer.  i'm sure you saw that with your family.  i would hate to think you didn't take the necessary precautions.   hope your doing well in your new home.


I have to echo this pretty much. It can be a very dangerous game to play with your life when that area of the body has problems and family history of that nature.

I also echo a second opinion at the least. I would also be very careful where you get it. I would strongly recommend making sure you see someone outside the sphere of your current doctors not because their intentions will want to be to confirm a diagnose but because there are always new treatments coming out on everything and you want to be exposed as much to other doctors who have been exposed in all the possible treatments.

I wish you the best and my heart goes out to you.

Lin



seeksfemslave -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 4:09:43 PM)

This seems a very extreme option, I wish you well.



maybemaybenot -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 4:18:03 PM)

missturbation:

I went through a full menopause at 39. Mine was a result of chemotherapy, but it is the same as what you are facing.

Yes, the hotflashes are bad. Not pleasant at all, but tolerable. I used herbal remedies to soften the effects and did fairly well.
Osteoporosis is a risk. Calcium Suppliments ans Soy milk will help with this. I am almost 10 years post menopause and my bone density is the same as it was right after I began menopause.

You will hear alot of things things that are supposed risk factor... memory loss, cataracts, heart disease etc. There have been many studies and the data is conflicting. There is a big push to use Hormonal replacement therapy and many of the studies were conducted by the Pharmacuetical companies that make HRT. Look around on the web and you will find many, many studies that do not support a higher risk.

I fully admit that I have always been an anti hormone use of anykind for my reproductive system and put no value on chemically altering the natural course of my bodies reproductive function. So that is something for you to weigh for yourself.

As for the cystic difficulties. No harm in getting a second opinion, but if you have gone thru a number of surgeries and have had adhesions, chances are the other MDs will only back up what your priomary MD is suggesting. I had a friend who went throught the same thing as you and put off the hysterectomy. Unfortunately the adhesions to her intestines abcessed and caused peritonitis. Not a common occurance, but a risk that you will run.
I would speak to your MD and have him/her give you best case worse case scenarios of opting out and opting for a hyseterectomy and weigh the risks/benefits for yourself.

If you chose the hysterecomy, it really isn't that bad.

                                                                     mbmbn



LadyEllen -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 5:13:52 PM)

Crikey MissT - I'm so sorry to hear about that. I think you have had some good advice above already though and there's little I can add to it given my chromosomes, other than to wish you well.

The little I can add though, is that even with my chromosomes I've had the sort of hot flashes that nat gals get in menopause. I had to stop the HRT for a few months ('cause of some odd blood tests which I have to have regularly), and whilst there's no way to know for sure of course, it was alike with what my mom was going through at the time!

Moral being, if I can stand it, then its nothing to fear. Especially against the possible alternative.

E



sharemeuk -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 5:22:24 PM)

Sorry to hear you're having to deal with such difficulties
..
Whilst i don't have advice byond that which has already been offered - do you involve yourself with any of the PCOS support groups in the UK? They'd be a great source of support and information - especially now, with the docs suggesting such drastic measures.

Wishing you well... s  x



LotusSong -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 6:58:14 PM)

Why was the reason for this suggestion ?  If it's fibroids.. tuff it out until natural menopause.
 
If it's ovarian cancer.. yank them puppies!



maybemaybenot -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 8:56:08 PM)

Ovarian cysts are not fibriod cysts. And they are not neccesarily cancerous cysts, altho * some * are. Most ovarian cysyts are fluid filled sacs or semi solid material that developes on or around the ovary. There are what they call " functioal cysts " , which are not disease related and  occur as a part of the natural ovulation process. There are  hormone related cysts, in general they are classisfied under the catagory of polycystic ovarian disease. There are also what is called " simnple ovarians cysts" which are usually noted on pelvic exam and monitored every three months. Sometimes they " reabsorb" and sometimes they persist. If they persist and grow to larger than 6-10 cm, surgical removal is indicated.

There are other less common ones, but those are the most common.


                               mbmbn



LadyKimberly33 -> RE: Early menopause (1/17/2007 9:13:53 PM)

HI,

It is a hard decision and I wish you the best...

I had to have one overy removed for the same reasons as you stated (I was 25), they left one in and I still have trouble with it and wish they had removed it at the same time they did the other. The cysts are painful, the surgeries worse, and I still went through a mini menopause, and My chance of cancer is high as well.

My thoughts are always to the dark side being a hospice nurse, never take the risk if you have a choice, and do it while you have a choice and are not forced.



CandleInTheWind -> RE: Early menopause (1/18/2007 4:09:10 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: missturbation

Been to the doctors today and have been told i may have to have my ovaries removed, possibly full hysterectomy. Along with the all the side effects of menopause i will be at an increased risk of cataract formation and osteoporosis due to my age, i'm only 33. Has anyone else gone through this early?

Edited to add oh shit i meant to post this in health - who moved it? [:)]

EEEGGGAAADDDDS doing a toal and rdiacl hysterectomy for cysts and adhesions??   if you do a bit of research in to pelvic pain ther eis a chemical treatment that is used when doing pelvic surgeries to reduce adhesions  it escapes me now...it is also 7am and i havent slept yet so alot escapes me...


but anyhooo...im a cevical and uterin cancer lady...and i am in a study and basically what was done rather than taking everyting out...i was scooped out like a umkin...and the cancer thus far has not grown back....the romoval of you girls parts has a lot more than just hormones...it has to do with mechanics of you innards...your utereus hold yout baldder in place and what not...i would honestly see a midwife...they cannot do surgery so they have no vested interest in offering it...but well suregeons are surgeons they do surgery!  that is wat they do...so that is their first as..i guess whe the only tool you have is a hammer you tend to lookat the world as a nail!

just my own feeling onthe subject and wel i would honestly see more than just a GYN  practitioner  also seean endocrinologist  so that you would be fully prepared fo rhte effects of the loss of estrogen!    as far as the cysts go  ordinarily poly cycstic ovaries are treated by using hormoanl therapy....most often the simple birth control pill can assist in  helping keep things in check


little red



maybemaybenot -> RE: Early menopause (1/18/2007 7:04:33 PM)

I have to ask.... what is the deal with everyone talking about cancer ? Missturbation has explicitly stated that she does not have cancer. I am a hospice nurse also, and fully understand that not all that goes wrong with our bodies is inidcative of cancer.

She stated it isn't cancer, it is ovarian cysts and adhesions as a result of surgery. Deal with the facts, not assumptions that have no foundation.

                                mbmbn



Page: [1] 2   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Collarchat.com © 2025
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy
0.046875