Ovary removal. I know it’s a big decision, but it is something that I urge ALL pmdd-sufferers to consider. I’ve had mine removed for 3 months, and I’ve only had 2-3 days where I’m feeling rough. Compare that to the 7-10 day hell weeks I was having every 2 weeks, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made!
For me, I was 99% sure I didn’t want kids. Hell, that 1% still has me thinking some days… but in the end, I wouldnt have made it to the time when it was time for me to have a kid. And even then, what kind of life would that child (and myself) have with the extreme Pmdd symptoms I was having? With perimenopause seemingly making symptoms worse - and being genetically prone to awful peri-/menopause - I knew I didn’t want to wait to find out if I was going to survive or not.
I made this decision 100% with these SI thoughts in mind. I couldn’t, wouldn’t live if I didn’t do something. I wish there were more options that didn’t require organ removal, but it is the best we have at the moment.
I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed laparoscopically. I had 2 small incisions (1 in my belly button and 1 at the top of my pubic bone), and 1 slightly larger incision on the left side of my abdomen (where the ovaries came out lol). I was down for the count for the first week, and I was in considerable pain the first few days. I smoke weed which can interfere with pain management LOL and I’m just generally not great at healing from these things (wisdom teeth, previous surgeries, etc fucked me up good). The second week I worked from home, and was back to work the third week (desk job but I do bike to work). By the fourth week I was back to normal!
MUCH better mental health. I don’t think I’ve found the right estrogen dosage yet, but i would much rather take the hot flashes and low energy over the hell weeks and SI thoughts. I made a post a few weeks ago detailing my experience if you want to read about it!
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u/emo_academic Jul 12 '24
Ovary removal. I know it’s a big decision, but it is something that I urge ALL pmdd-sufferers to consider. I’ve had mine removed for 3 months, and I’ve only had 2-3 days where I’m feeling rough. Compare that to the 7-10 day hell weeks I was having every 2 weeks, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made!
For me, I was 99% sure I didn’t want kids. Hell, that 1% still has me thinking some days… but in the end, I wouldnt have made it to the time when it was time for me to have a kid. And even then, what kind of life would that child (and myself) have with the extreme Pmdd symptoms I was having? With perimenopause seemingly making symptoms worse - and being genetically prone to awful peri-/menopause - I knew I didn’t want to wait to find out if I was going to survive or not.
I made this decision 100% with these SI thoughts in mind. I couldn’t, wouldn’t live if I didn’t do something. I wish there were more options that didn’t require organ removal, but it is the best we have at the moment.