what does a hysterectomy entail and how long does it take to recover?

[lizandlulu]

i am asking on bahalf of my mum. she is 53 and instead of her peroids tailing off, they have become heavier and more frequent. they are 2 weeks apart and lasting 3 weeks. bleeding heavily, not just a bit.
it is really getting her down and i said i would find out about how long it takes to recover after having a hysterectomy.
she has been to the doctors, although it was last year when her periods were not as bad, and they did some tests to rule anything else out. the doctor said there was nothing they could do short of having a hysterectomy, which she didnt want.
but now her periods are so heavy she feels drained and has started taking iron tablets.
if anyone has been in the same situation i would like to hear what has happened.

mum said it takes weeks to recover from one, but i would like to hear about others who have had it done.
thanks in advance.

Its a couple of months to recover from a hysterectomy and its not without risk either - a friend had to have 6 months off after hers.

Has your mum been offered a Mirena coil ? They are really effective for dealing with this sort of bleeding, especially around the menopause.

sorry for the delay, as far as i know she hasnt been offered anything like that. the doctors basically said there is nothing they can do.

what is a mirena coil?

some info here
Alternatives should be offered I think such as Endometrial Ablation

My mum had one done about 10 years ago
Recovery isn't that quick - she needed someone home with her for a week afterwards

There are alternatives to hysterectomy for heavy bleeding. Your mum could get the GP to refer her to a gynaecologist, and then she would be able to discuss the options with them. As far as I know they generally try to look at other treatments before doing hysterectomies for heavy bleeding now.

thank you. i do think hysterectomy is going to be the last resort, i didnt realise there was other options.
mum just keeps moaning about it but doesnt want to go back to the doctors.

i will show her this info and hopefully she can go back to them and ask about alternatives.

I have a couple of friends who have had hysterectomies. One has no regrets whatsoever and felt immediately better afterwards. The other did have bouts of depression afterwards. I suppose because it is immediate menopause rather than a gradual change. I have a Mirena coil - mainly because I had been having very heavy periods after DD2. I have found it to be very good, and although I do still have periods (for lots of women they stop completely), they are very light and completely manageable. There are also tablets which can be prescribed (????????? acid - can't remember the name). These can stop the bleeding. I did try them but had really bad side effects for me so stoppped taking them. Your Mum's GP doesn't sound very helpful or sympathetic - is there more than one GP in her practice? Might be worth asking a different one what they can suggest.

My mum had a hysterectomy aged about 56 IIRC. She said after 4 weeks you think 'ooh, now I feel better', then after 8 weeks, you think 'oh no, NOW I feel better' and so on, up to about 6 months. So it can take a long while to recover completely, but you don't necessarily feel awful all through the recovery stage, you just maybe don't realise how rough you were still feeling at each stage until it's gone past. If you know what I mean.

My mother had a hysterectomy last year as a part of an operation to repair her prolapse. She was 69 at the time.

Obviously my mother is a lot older than the OP's mother. She lives in very comfortable circumstances and has no responsibilities other than domestic ones (she and my father live alone and are in good health for their age).

It took her a good six months to recover, including six weeks when she was housebound.

she did go to the docs a few times last year and was refered to the hospital to have these tests. she a camera 'up there', sorry i dont know how else to put it! none of these alternatives were offered to her, which is why she hasnt been back since.

thank you for all of this, i will show her later when i get home.

I guess she needs to ask why the alternatives were not offered - maybe they are not suitable for some reason

How soon does she expect to get her menopause?

when i had mine done i was in hospital for 5 days,then i had a twelve week recovery time off work .I think it depends how they do the operation.I was cut but there is also the suction method which if suitable is a quicker recovery rate.Although i had to have that time off of work i actually felt normal again after only about 4 weeks.the operation takes roughly about an hour.

i forgot to add that i had an oopherectomy as well [ ovary removal] so i went into instant menopause.I didnt actually feel ill afterwards at all ,just very tired for a while and in the first couple of weeks sometimes a bit tearful.

SHE HAS BEEN IN HER MENOPAUSE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS I THINK. HOT SWEATS AND SUCH LIKE. WHICH IS WHY IT IS GETTING HER DOWN AS SHE THOUGHT THINGS WOULD GET BETTER, NOT WORSE. sorry about caps but im not writing it all again!!

she takes red clover tablets which eases her menopause symptoms.

her periods are every 20 days and has currently been bleeding heavily for 3 weeks with no sign of it slowing down.

Tranexamic acid (the one chopchop was trying to remember)didn't work for me at all, but the Mirena was marvellous. AF stopped altogether then restarted several months later and were hardly noticable.

The Mirena also tided me over the menopause...I've only ever had a couple of night sweats and no other symptoms at all.

If your mum's problems are caused by fibroids, if she can hang on in there till after the menopause they tend to shrink and no treatment may be necessary.

merlot ,it was fibroids that caused my problems ,but because they had already put me on hrt ,instead of shrinking ,one grew to the size of a grapefruit.But you have to remember also that the menopause can take a few years till its finally over.I personally do not regret having the operation ,but i have heard of one now where they can do something with the fibroids and leave the womb intact.