My Wife Died

[CWidower]

Hello
The topic is very sad and I’m looking to establish facts only.
Please… no sympathy just factual responses.
Thank you
1)
I’m looking for links between the menopause and alcohol abuse. In particular between the lack of oestrogen and the need to binge drink.
2) I would also like to understand if women who have had a full hysterectomy still have hormonal fluctuations and mood swings?

My understanding is that hormone medication is required after a full hysterectomy so assume levels need to be right to help balance out any fluctuations.

I’m not aware of any link between the menopause and binge drinking.

Women who have had a full hysterectomy including removal of the ovaries are usually in need of HRT as they have had a surgical menopause. Without it (and possibly even with it) they can have menopausal symptoms such as mood swings, hot flushes, dry skin, vaginal dryness, aches and pains and weight gain.

1.www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7362573/#!po=37.8049 (US study)

1. I have had a full hysterectomy (pre menopause) and did not need any hormone replacement therapy. The only menopausal symptom I have had since are hot flushes.

Not aware of any such link. The drop in oestrogen and its protective effect on the heart can cause cardiac problems though. It’s a big reason I stopped drinking.

I believe a full hysterectomy will trigger menopause and so can cause menopause symptoms which may include mood swings

Depends if she was post menopause or not. I had a radical hysterectomy but as I was post menopausal, it made no difference to me hormonally.

I don't think there's any intrinsic link. From googling I can see there are various web pages indicating that alcohol abuse can make menopause symptoms worse, and that hormone fluctuations can make depression more likely. Certainly my mood has been extremely variable over the last few years when I have been perimenopausal.

I hope this stays within the realms of a factual answer - I think you are seeking a 'reason' for your wife's addiction. That isn't really how it works. You may find it helpful to spend some time with Al Anon.

I can only offer my personal experience. At menopause my hangovers were so bad I stopped drinking. I was only a social binge drinker. It may also have been entirely due to ageing though.

I don’t know if there could be a link to menopause via depression/anxiety to leading to drinking to as a way of coping with bad mental health.

I agree with another poster that alcohol (and practically anything else that’s fun) makes menopause symptoms worse.

But as I said, it’s only my personal experience.

The menopause causes hormonal changes which can affect or worsen existing mental health issues. So an indirect link perhaps. People struggling with mental health may turn to alcohol for coping. Alcohol addiction is complex though. Sorry for your loss.

I was suffering peri menopause a couple of years before I had a hysterectomy. It was only after my hysterectomy and being put on HRT that I realised as my moods calmed, anxiety lessened and I wasn’t such a wreck.

Prior to hysterectomy I had several years of drinking excessively. I also have several alcoholics in my family.

I gave up drinking around 15months after hysterectomy so I would say the hysterectomy and the HRT actually made it easier to stop drinking as it helped improve my moods and emotional state.

Having a full hysterectomy, so being on HRT, means I don’t have the violent mood swings I used to have before starting HRT.

Its absolutely normal to look for answers in grief. It's difficult to reconcile death. It's likely that your wife's addiction was complex and multi factorial. A combination of things which culminated in her passing. I hope in timethat you are able to accept what has happened and that sometimes there is only the situation to blame.

I would also like to understand if women who have had a full hysterectomy still have hormonal fluctuations and mood swings?

I can’t answer for your wife but women who have had a full hysterectomy can very much have hormonal fluctuations and mood swings. There’s a multitude of factors that will influence this including their age, how close to menopause they are, how ‘full’ the hysterectomy was. If it included ovaries they will absolutely be slammed straight into menopause which is not fun, if ovaries were not removed those ovaries will no longer function as they should and will cause hormonal fluctuations. HRT is fantastic but not a universal panacea removing all menopausal symptoms and depending on the reason for the hysterectomy they may not be able to go onto HRT. Some women don’t react well to HRT.

A hysterectomy can be a very emotional event that causes or increases mood swings (especially if their partners don't understand its physical and emotional impact or support them). It can also be a huge relief.

Hysterectomy has lasting physical impacts most of which are not well researched, these affect different women to different extents. Some can be in left experiencing physical pain whereas others may be free of pain for the first time in their adult life.

You didn’t ask for sympathy but I will offer it nonetheless, this has clearly been a difficult time and whilst you may better understand the impact of hysterectomies, menopause and causes of alcoholism from responses to your questions there are no definitive answers

I did give up last year at 48, when I was definitely menopausal. I had been a heavy drinker for years though before and it had escalated in the time since Covid. I put it down to lockdown/wfh/stress of the pandemic but it may well have been meno.

Hi CWidower …my periods stopped at 47 and I am now 57 and recently started HRT for extreme anxiety and other hormone related health issues.
My GP said oestrogen levels keep dropping as you go through the menopause and now the lack of it is starting to cause problems for me. It’s now 3 months on and the anxiety has lessened but I still have health anxiety (didn’t have it before) and I am starting CBT counselling soon.
Your wife may have been struggling with anxiety and coupled with other underlying worries from the past or present may have become overwhelmed and used alcohol to self medicate. I hope you are ok