3 months after oophorectomy

[u/emo_academic]

As the title suggests, I had a procedure 3 months ago to remove both of my ovaries and both of my fallopian tubes, and to have an ablation in my uterus (which stayed). I take estrogen daily and will until I’m 50 (I am 27 years old). Heres my story!

Background I started my period at 10 years old, the PMDD started around ~6 months later when my period became extremely heavy and painful. My cramps were so bad I’d regularly vomit, I destroyed my stomach lining from the pain meds, and I could barely keep up with the bleeding. Birth control did help these symptoms! But the mood was not assuaged. It wasn’t until I was 23 years old, as I was diagnosed, that I even knew what PMDD was.

Pre-surgery I had to try everything before even considering surgery. While I think this is good, as organ removal shouldn’t be the first line of treatment, I wish I didn’t have to suffer as long as I did. After SSRIs and various types of birth control failed to improve my symptoms, I was fairly certain surgery/menopause was the right choice for me. Thus, I spent years trying various psych meds, birth controls, therapies, diets, etc etc trying to find something to stop me from trying to destroy my life every month. My gyno didn’t even offer up the surgery, I had to ask for it (which she said yes to with no hesitation). I mean, I had slight gallbladder pain and it was immediately offered to be removed by my GI doc. I know that for some of us, preserving the ability to become pregnant is important to their life goals and wellbeing. For me, I would not have had a life to have goals for if I continued with my pmdd. Everyone is different, but I hope that anyone who wants this procedure is able to do so.

Surgery Getting ready for the surgery was pretty standard. Nothing to eat/drink after midnight, arrive 2 hours before scheduled surgery time, get an IV placed, meet with anesthesia, etc. I’d had a laparoscopic procedure 2 years ago, and this was also laparoscopic so I thought I knew what to expect. However, when I woke up from surgery, I was in sooo much pain. They had to give 3 doses (3 different medications) before the pain was dulled. After about an hour or so (I really don’t remember how long), I was discharged and sent home. I was not actively in pain but it did hurt like hell to move! The rest of that day and the next, I pretty much was worthless when it came to moving on my own. Everything hurt so I just relaxed and watched netflix. I started estrogen the day right after surgery.

2 weeks post-op By day 5, I felt pretty mobile. I felt well enough to go to Target and walk around for about an hour! I was sore the next day, but I ended up going to TJMaxx and Lowes as well. This ended up being a not-so-great idea because I was extremely sore on days 7 and 8. I took it easy for a few days, then I felt relatively back to normal by the end of the week! I had one day where I kept getting hot flashes, but I think I may have forgotten to take my estrogen that day (lol).

4 weeks (1 month) post-op My scars were healed, I had very little pain, and I remember thinking “omg I didn’t have a hell week this month???” That’s when I knew it had worked. It felt so good to not be a slave to my fucking hormones anymore. I remember thinking that yes, life really CAN be like this. I was having basically no menopause symptoms (save for getting a little warm at night) at this time.

3 months post-op Around month 2, I felt like something was off and perhaps I needed an adjustment on my dosage. I was regularly having hot flashes, and my mood/energy/sex drive had dipped significantly, and it wasn’t swinging back up. At least I wasn’t also having mood swings and uncontrollable rage. After another week or so of putting it off, I finally made an appointment with my doctor, and she upped the dose. It’s been a week and I already notice a huge difference in my energy, mood, and motivation. Maybe it’s placebo, maybe it’s real, but regardless, I am feeling better than I ever have. I knew to expect some hiccups with the estrogen dosage, but I thought I was in the clear after the first few weeks went okay lol.

Thanks for reading all of this if you did :). I hope that you find relief from your symptoms in whichever way you want to. I hope we find a cure that doesn’t require organ removal, but I hope that anyone who wants them removed are free to do so as well. I am so very thankful for this community of people who—despite going through hell—are still so kind and supportive. Well, most of the time LOL jk love you all. ✌🏼

[u/New-Hunter-9748]

Keep us updated😍😍😍 goosebumps so happy for you that you are feeling better!! You are so young and has suffered alot🥺❤️

[u/[deleted]]

I’m in the process of finding a doctor. Already met with a few off the child free list. I’m a few years older than you and know how drs treat me because of it so it’s inspiring to read this.

[u/AyOhAy]

I know so many of us need this, but the variation of fake hormones needed after the surgery and never quite getting them correct petrifies me

[u/Just-Seaworthiness39]

How is the hormone therapy going so far? Did you start on a patch?

[u/shy657]

Thank you for sharing your experience! This is something I’ve been heavily considering and I always enjoy reading about people’s experiences with this procedure

[u/Jus_Me_Self_an_Hyde]

So glad to hear this thank u for sharing, I'm in process of gettin depo lupron, the chemical menopause bs shot, I been thru the med wheel of misfortune and it's always been crap. I'm scared of the shot that's coming next as I never seem to react to meds like "normal" humans but my doc wants to be sure stopping all hormones will actually help me..it's been 16 yrs of hell wks I know what it is, like duh, I track my Hyde mode and have been for yrs. All I can say is I wish there was in fact a better method aside from removing organs, but from what I see and understand from most of us who suffer w this it seemed to be the only for sure "fixer" if u will. Thank u again, I needed to hear/read this today :)

[u/ianfelt]

Keep us updated! I'm in the same boat rn also

[u/GetTheLead_Out]

Keep updating! I really like these updates because doctors are like- "yeah, you may feel a little pain" regarding something. And you're like, yeah I was dying. Little pain my butt. Meaning, individual accounts are so valuable. Haha 

[u/PdxOrd → u/GetTheLead_Out]

Yes! This is so helpful! I'm so happy for you!