Mentally exhausted regarding hysterectomy

[LittleMissFuckUp]

After ongoing issues with heavy/irregular bleeding, countless scans and blood tests and just generally having my life dictated and ruined by my period, the gynaecologist has informed me the best course of action is looking to be a hysterectomy.

I'm 33! Yes, I've already "completed my family" but how on earth do you wrap your head around something like a hysterectomy in year early thirties?

Has anyone been in a similar position and have any advice? Even if it's just to give my head a wobble because the outcome is going to make my quality of life so much better so really I should just not even be thinking conflicting thoughts..

Sorry.
And thank you.

Not me, but my mum had one age 35 and she says (in her 70s) that it's the best thing she ever did.

Just make sure you get HRT oestrogen sorted out before you agree to the surgery, you need a patch stuck on the moment you come out of surgery.

Sorry I meant to say I hope you are OK and you gave some support to help you make the decision.

Not in my 30's but 50's. Had no choice, I was riddled with cancer. However, not having my ovaries and fucked up womb to worry about, is good!

Best of luck. I think there is a good FB page called Hyster Sisters. Might be worth a look ? 🙂

Mum was 53 and having full hysterectomy due to shadow seen in 2009 after polyps caused heavy bleeding. Completed family and sterilised in early 80’s to prevent carrying any more difficult pregnancies. Mum never went on hrt, after hysterectomy, seems ok.

Thank you all. I think this is what's worrying me, everywhere seems to be experiences of women a decade or more older than me.

I'll definitely look up that Facebook group @Enigma52 and @Droolylabradors thank you, I'm a single mum with a lovely, but emotionally distant family so all of it fall on me to do the processing and "talking it out" to myself isn't quite the same haha

@LittleMissFuckUp@LittleMissFuckUp I know how you feel, I ended up contacting a therapist as I've just had gynae surgery and needed to talk it through with someone.

Good luck.

Hi OP, I had a partial hysterectomy last year - one week before my 34th birthday (my ovaries were not removed).
Our family is also complete but it's absolutely been a shock to go through in my early 30s. I'd asked to have my left ovary removed as it's caused me so much pain, however the surgeon decided not to remove it. I'm due to have surgery again in 2 weeks (9 months after the hysterectomy) to remove the ovary as I'm still in severe pain. This has caused my mental health to suffer.
I will say it's been wonderful no longer worrying about periods and my pelvic pain has decreased for that reason. But I haven't processed it all and I would highly recommend you seek some professional help pre and post surgery.
Please take care of yourself during recovery and don't push yourself to bounce back quickly. It's a big op and you may feel pretty rough afterwards. Definitely chat to your surgeon/gynae about any concerns and your options regarding hormones. Sending best wishes.

Best thing I ever did . Yes I too had wobbles regarding family and so forth , I knew I didn't want anymore children , like you the decision is final once going ahead with the procedure.
Very natural to feel like you do.
I joined forums with women who were going through the same , this helped me very much .
I have to say it was a game changer , no more heavy periods , anaemia , continuous changing of sanitary towels and of course packing extra clothes .
I still have my ovaries smear every 5 years . Best thing for me . Thinking of you .

My mum had a hysterectomy at 68 (yes, sixty eight) and felt bereft, it's a very peculiar feeling. Be kind to yourself!

I had an abdominal hysterectomy when I was 36. I am now 70. I didn't have any children but me and DH had already decided we did not want any.

I had 1 ovary removed and was told I would most likely go through early menopause. I actually went through a very very easy one when I was in my 50's.

I was only in hospital 1 night. I got up the morning after the op and had a shower and walked along the corridor so my consultant said I was well enough to go home which I was more than happy about. I was private too so it was not a matter of the NHS wanting the bed.

I went for a walk every day and went back to work after 5 weeks. I think being pretty young helped a lot with my recovery.

I had a hysterectomy when I was 30 due to endometriosis. The plan was originally to leave both my ovaries but on opening me up one was too badly damaged and was removed and the other was treated with diathermy. A year later that was was removed too as it was causing a lot of pain still and I started HRT. Once I recovered the relief was immense and I really felt I regained my life! I had one DS and had had a miscarriage after him but failed to conceive after that probably due to the endo according to my gynaecologist. I would have loved another baby but honestly the problems I was experiencing made it hard to be a good mother to the one child I had. For me and my family it was definitely the best decision I could have made and I have never regretted it.

I'm in my 60s and just recovering from one and I've felt very odd about it. The hystersisters FB page is full of young women going through this and you'd probably get lots of support there. Do try to explore it all before going ahead though - I think this op can mess with your head a bit.

@LittleMissFuckUp I know what you mean about women older than you - I also had a hysterectomy (at 48, so I am one of those women!) but I honestly wish I had done it a decade sooner. I had fibroids which went a bit mad in perimenopause and it all got worse and worse. I am now 18 months with no bleeding and I feel like a totally new person. Literally years younger, it was taking so much out of me. Wish I had pushed to get sorted sooner and not "wasted" those years being exhausted and run down. I hope that helps - I'd say go for it!

The advice I was given was no HRT until six weeks post surgery, so the instant menopause was unfun for a few weeks, but manageable. (Just seen you had some advice above saying get straight on it, above.)

But also, the advice here (West Mids) was if you're under 45, keep your ovaries, so no need for HRT.

Thank you. Honestly, thank you so much.

They've put me on the pill in the meantime and I'm convinced it's made me borderline depressed. Just crying over every little thing at the moment!

Appreciate that you've all taken time out to reassure me that feeling this way is normal. Unfortunately felt like I had to tell the ex-husband because I'll need him to step in and have the kids out of our normal routine and he's actually being nice which is another curveball because that man does nothing for anyone unless there's something in it for him.

I was just 40 when I had a total hysterectomy (over 25 years ago now!) and honestly it was the best thing I ever did! No more worries over pain, flooding, working out dates as to wether I could go out or not, it was just relief from day one.
Although I was told I would need up to 6 weeks to get over it I felt better straight away, I hadn’t realised the pain I had taken as normal for so many years before.
I was also put on HRT (oestrogen only) whilst in hospital and am still actually on it, I feel good and apparently my bone strength is excellent so see no reason to come off it.
If your family is complete I would say go for it without a doubt.

I am 41 and had a hysterectomy (including ovaries) 3 months ago due to fibroids and endometriosis.

I feel free as my period was running my life and causing so much anxiety. I was bleeding very heavily and frequently. I used to dread going out as needed to know where the toilet was all of the time. I had started to use a mooncup and that had improved things to some degree but I was needing to empty it every hour and needed toilets with sinks inside the cubicle. It was horribly.

I love not having the worry.

my surgical menopause symptoms are very manageable and I’ve started HRT now.

I had one at 42 so I am older but it was an emergency and I couldn’t believe i was going to have it, I thought i was too young even tho I am not really

it is psychologically difficult, you go through a lot of emotions and I found but helpful to write a journal

physically I have never felt better, my mood is completely steady and obvs no period horror

good luck

I had one at 33 due to complications at delivery of DC3. Ovaries left in. I had horrendous periods so it has been a blessing in disguise despite the birth trauma. I haven't needed HRT yet, ovaries still functioning a decade later although slowing down now.

Look up the Hysterectomy Sisters UK page on Facebook. It's really helpful and there are younger women on there too.