OK … considering a hysterectomy at 42

[Perriwinkles]

Right … so … I’ve been in pain all day with day 2 of my period. All my plans for the day had to be cancelled apart from meeting a friend which I powered through.

I’ve had painful periods since my first period. I remember crying at the kitchen table when I was 12 but was told to just deal with it! I took myself to the GP at age 17 and I went on the pill from age 17 to 33 and that calmed it down. Once I came off the pill, slowly but surely it all came back: the intense period pain in my back, abdomen and thighs, severe bloating (I look 5 months pregnant right now, no exaggeration) and fatigue.

I have had normal smears and an ultrasound that only showed ‘functional cysts’ which I’m told are normal. Sex has always been painful in all but the missionary position and I told the doctor this when getting a smear but she didn’t say much. I never got any pleasure out of PiV sex.

Basically … I’ve had it!

I’m so fed up …

I never got to have children and don’t plan to now & have made my peace with that.

Have any of you done this? I’m not in menopause. I still have regular periods despite some spotting before and after my period.

I’m giving a hysterectomy serious consideration as my quality of life is just gone for half the month. I get PMS for at least a week before the period to the point that I can’t trust my own decisions in that time and had post-menstrual depression as a teenager.

Would a GP entertain this? Do you know anyone who has done this? Any info? Thank you x

Yes best thing I ever did. Though it’s not without its side effects. I thought my doctor wouldn’t entertain it but surprisingly they just said yes that’s fine and I was shocked I didn’t have a fight on my hands as I was just over 30 at the time. They put me on injections for a year to see how my body and I coped with menopause and then they asked me if I still wanted to go ahead, which I did so they did it and it was the best thing, no more periods is so liberating!

Thanks @PearlFriday and @SquirryTheSquirrel if it was 13K it’d be out of the question! It’s still a lot of money but I can’t go on like this. I’ll see what my GP says and I may need to get a private appointment with a gynaecologist if I don’t move up the magical waiting list I’ve been on.

@Cocopogo

Thanks. HRT injections post-op, was it?

Sorry I think the injections were for the year beforehand? Did they stop your period? At this stage, I’d take anything to stop my periods!

I'd suggest you have endometriosis and adenomyosis, so a hysterectomy would 100% stop the adenomyosis.

Have you had a laparoscopic procedure by an endometriosis specialist, because it doesn't show on scans.

If the pill helped you in your 30s you could also try the mini pill to stop periods?

I think private would be your best option but maybe chat to your GP as I'm 46 and was told it's 3-4 month on the nhs waiting list, so maybe not as long as you think.

Just don't let them try zoledex, read up on the side effects, the coil and zoledex seem to be their favourite weapons of "go away" at the moment 🤦‍♀️

I'm 37 and had a hysterectomy last year. My periods were pretty much constant, heavy and painful. I had fibriods also. I wanted to avoid hormones as have been referred to breast clinic twice due to lumps. I tried the coil and it slipped and got stuck in my cervix, tried ablation but they couldn't get enough suction around cervix as it was a funny shape so had a vaginal hysterectomy on the NHS but in a private hospital last December. Best thing iv ever done. Recovery wasn't as bad as I thought. Couldn't do a great deal for a few weeks which was problematic especially as it was Xmas but DH was fantastic. Was discharged at 6 weeks post op and have never looked back. I do already have 3DC though which may have influenced the decision on their part to give me one so young.

Another one here who had to go privately. Severe endo, undiagnosed of course, and left to suffer for years.

Eventually I bit the bullet and went privately. Life after hysterectomy so much better. I was 44.

Oh and waiting list wise, I had my failed ablation in Feb 2020 and was booked straight in for hysterectomy when I was still in recovery room. It was initially for April 2020 but covid hit and still managed it by the end of the year. Not long at all.

@cantrememberagain

Thank you. This is all a bit upsetting. I heard about adenomyosis on the radio and I thought that I may well have that. I can’t believe the doctors just thought all the pain normal. Maybe I didn’t get across how bad the pain is.

I don’t want to use the coil as I really don’t want periods. My periods were painful even on the birth control pill—nothing like this but painful. I’ll enquire about the mini pill. I have PMDD and mood concerns so hopefully it’ll be ok for that…

Thanks for the warning regarding zoledex.

@Crazysheep

Good for you. I Cannot imagine what almost constant periods are like! Hell on earth! Great you’re relieved from that now.

@AmandaHoldensLips

Thanks. The bit about life being better makes such sense. Only half the month is ok right now. At least I have half the month though compared to some who seem to bleed most of the month.

Yeah I think I may have undiagnosed endo and I think my mother may have had it too. She has had a hysterectomy but for other reasons as it was post menopause. That’s another reason I’d like to have it now. Why go through all this & then need one at 60 for medical reasons!

@Perriwinkles thankyou. It was absolutely awful. I honestly felt I hit it lucky as both my GP and Gynae consultant were woman and understood. I may be totally wrong about this but my very close friend had similar problems at the same time and had male GP and Gynae and was fobbed off until she went private.

@Crazysheep

Thanks re waiting list. I’d much rather go public as I really don’t have that kind of money to spare. I’d prioritise it though if I had to. Maybe once I finally get the consultation with the gynaecologist things will move faster from there.

@Crazysheep

That’s terrible about your friend! I told one male GP about my period pain about 10 years ago and he googled dysmenorrhea in front of me. He got the word wrong a few times too! I was too polite to say, ‘it’s dysmenorrhea’ to him!

Sorry you are dealing with so much pain and discomfort, OP. I have severe endometriosis and it took 11 long years for it to be diagnosed. The GPs treated my period pain as completely normal. It was only when I had suspected appendicitis that they bothered to investigate.

I took Provera instead of the pill and it worked very well for me. My period stopped, which was life-changing.

It’s an absolute travesty that women’s health problems are fobbed off like you have been. When you see a gynae, I’d recommend taking someone with you for support if possible.

I’ve had lifelong horrendous period pain and deep pain during sex. Been to the GP many times and gynae who fobbed me off. Now after not being able to conceive I have been referred to a fertility specialist gynaecologist who cannot understand why I’ve never been properly investigated before. He strongly suspects I have endometriosis.

At the minimum I would request a laparoscopy for a proper diagnosis and to give you more information about the best next step. You need to know if the endo is on multiple organs and if so, need different specialists to remove it.

Yes, I had hysterectomy and oopherectomy at 38 due to painful periods (endo) and horrific PMS symptoms. Best decision I’ve ever made. Very straightforward operation done keyhole. Fully recovered and back to work within 3 weeks. Started hrt straight away so no menopausal symptoms. Feel better than I have in years. Sex life better than ever.

Took me 10 yrs to get a hysterectomy.

After my 3rd child I bled continually for three years without a break. The GP didn't believe me and examined me every week for 6 weeks until it was decided that I was in fact bleeding all the time. (The examination was in order to do a smear test - couldn't obtain a 'clean' sample.)

I was on iron tablets frequently because of anaemia.

Was mainly fobbed off with mefanamic acid - which resulted in chronic gastritis.

Had ablation which didn't work.

Looked significantly pregnant before I had the operation - it was fibroids.

That was 14 yrs ago - just going through menopause now.

'Women's' problems appear to be significantly dismissed.

I think doctors either don't believe a word you're saying - or don't care.

Ten years - I was asking for a hysterectomy?

@Perriwinkles no Prostap, it stops your hormones/periods etc, like chemical hysterectomy

@PearlFriday

£13k????

I just googled how much is a private hysterectomy beacon clinic dublin and it said €5000

If someone has endo with bowel involvement it can easily run to 13k, you’d need a bowel surgeon too.

@fairyannie it must depend on your GP etc. Mine had never seen me before about my periods and referred me on first visit to gynae, gynae agreed straight away to op and started prostap that day.

[quote Cocopogo]@fairyannie it must depend on your GP etc. Mine had never seen me before about my periods and referred me on first visit to gynae, gynae agreed straight away to op and started prostap that day.[/quote]
My problems started 24 yrs ago. Maybe that had something to do with it 🙄

@Createdjustforthis ah, ok, that makes sense. So 5,000 is the basic hysterectomy that you'd get if you had no reason to be getting one!

I had mine at the same age.
Yeats of painful heavy periods and several polyp removals.
They left my ovaries.

So happy it's gone!

@Createdjustforthis

Yes the woman in news article had chronic endo which is why she wanted a hysteroscopy so that would explain how hers cost so much money