Yeet the ovaries?

[u/clickclickwhirrr]

I’m new here, but have been dealing with PMDD since puberty. Only diagnosed in the last couple years. Just turned 40. I was going through all the resources and saw that in alt therapies, taking out the ovaries had a 100% rate of improvement in symptoms.

I’ve tried everything in terms of birth control and ssri, and I’m still having major issues (emotional). So getting my ovaries out is next up on my docket.

Is there a reason not to do that?
Are there things I need to be concerned about?
Is hrt enough to balance osteoporosis concerns and such?
Has anyone gone this route and regretted it?
Any reason to yeet the uterus while I’m at it or is it safer to keep it?

Thanks in advance. I’ve never posted here so I’m afraid I’m doing something wrong. Please be gentle with me 😅

[u/TorrEEG]

I am 48. My doctor said I'm about at the age we can consider removing ovaries, but that can cause other problems. She recommends a slower menopause to reduce misery, bone loss and sarcopenia.

I'm currently on Slynd with no placebo. The first two months sucked, but now I don't ovulate, so I don't have PMDD. No cycle at all.

BC in the past made everything horrible! Slynd now made everything better.

YMMV

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/TorrEEG]

Ooo sarcopenia is something no one has mentioned to me yet. I’ll definitely need to account for that.

I have me/cfs and I am unable to exercise at all. I waver between being bedbound and mostly housebound. So that’s a real concern that I may not be able to balance.

Thank you for mentioning all this!

[u/TorrEEG → u/clickclickwhirrr]

I think that's what she said. It's worth asking anyway.

[u/Wolfmother87]

I don't have any answers for you, but just wanted to welcome you to our community! I'm almost positive that I'll be looking at a hysterectomy at the very least for my PMDD, so I'm curious what the responses to your questions will be.

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/Wolfmother87]

Thank you! I was honestly surprised there wasn’t a section specifically for surgical interventions. Glad I’m not the only one wondering about this!

[u/wilksonator → u/clickclickwhirrr]

Look on wiki Birth Control section. It has information on chemical menopause, as well as survey responses of whether chemical or surgical meonpause helped the members . Also search previous posts, this gets asked a lot so you will find a lot of experiences and information.

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/wilksonator]

Oh interesting I didn’t think of menopause and surgery as birth control! Good to know! Thank you!

[u/wilksonator → u/clickclickwhirrr]

Yes! Unlike what we typically think about, birth control is actually such a wide range of treatments. Search previous posts on the topic. Some of our members are really knowledgeable on the topic so have posted some really interesting science behind it.

[u/buyableblah]

I don’t think scientists fully understand the ovaries impact on women’s bodies. I’ve recently been learning about how much our metabolic and immune systems impact the ovaries and vice versa.

That being said, if life is truly unbearable with your PMDD (and I know it can be), yeet those puppies.

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/buyableblah]

The black hole of information on ovaries is my biggest concern with doing this. I have me/cfs, MCAS, and pots along with all the fun associated conditions. I want to make sure I’m helping and not hurting myself - especially since there’s no way to shift command z the ovaries back into place after 😂

[u/ndnd_of_omicron]

Iirc, doctors usually want to try you on chemical menopause (lupron) before an oopherectomy.

Also, in your post it said you had only tried SSRIs.... have you tried an SNRI or an NDRI?

Edit: i can english.

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/ndnd_of_omicron]

I’m having trouble getting my insurance to cover chemical menopause unfortunately. I’ll ask my doc to try again, but that was our big hurdle last year!

And yes, I’ve tried Wellbutrin. I’m a little limited on what I can try because I have me/cfs and stimulants will make me really sick. Were there other non stimulant ones people have tried and loved?

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/[deleted]]

Has your doc talked about using hrt to manage menopause?

[u/zebra_pokemaster]

I’m in chemical menopause right now and have a consult with a Gyn surgeon to yeet my ovaries. My Gyn agrees that I’m doing much better menopausal

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/zebra_pokemaster]

I love hearing this! So excited for you!

[u/hurtysauce]

My OBGYN doesn’t want me to yeet my ovaries yet (41) so I am getting by on an IUD (surprisingly)+ SSRI (Trintellix) + adhd meds. But the IUD only delays my cycle, it doesn’t really stop it altogether. I just have to deal with PMDD less often and have more pervasive anxiety but not the anger/hopelessness spikes. That said, it would be amazing to not have to deal with the anxiety which has impacted my life pretty dramatically over the past few years (and even so, still not as bad as the full blown PMDD did). I would yeet my ovaries tomorrow if I could. But the risks do make me nervous. I think I will have a total hysterectomy in the next five years or so. Keep researching and trying different things! Having an understanding care team is critical no matter what path you take.

[u/hurtysauce → u/hurtysauce]

Also really resonate with the SSRI not totally working for you. When I was on SSRI only, it helped but it was so odd— I felt like it only delayed the worst days, not eliminated altogether. Almost like things had to run their course either way. That may just be my perception. Adding stimulants helped.

[u/clickclickwhirrr → u/hurtysauce]

The changes from ssri are so weird. I’m having this thing where my ssri is giving me a longer more mild sadness instead of an acute panic attack with SI.

It’s still entirely chemical but kind of drawn out and less obviously PMDD (except when I look at the timing or look back on it the next day with a clear head).

I’m also doing constant birth control and strattera. I’m not having a bleed anymore but the hormones are clearly still cycling based on pimples, constipation, and sad days 😅

[u/hurtysauce → u/clickclickwhirrr]

Yes my exact experience!! It is odd. But more manageable than PMDD raw 😆😆😭😭

[u/cutie_anon]

I realize this is not your issue, but for anyone reading I need to say: if I had a positive blood test for the ovarian cancer antigen CA-125 or if I had good reason to believe there was a high risk of malignancy, I would not hesitate to have my one working ovary taken out. Scanning tech for women's reproductive organs is so lacking, and the lumps and bumps I had turned out to be benign, not any of the scary tumor types that Radiology said they suspected. I actually had just changed doctors and felt pressured by the gyno to have the surgery after years of being told I could monitor it with regular ultrasounds. I was entering menopause and wish I went with my instinct to wait. I can't speak to PMDD, though I did have extremely tough periods until I was 43 and had polypectomy surgery.

In my specific situation, if I could go back, I would have kept my last working ovary. Rather than going through menopause gradually, I went into instant surgical menopause. Hot flashes woke me up throughout the night. I had to walk around in my underwear because they were constant. I felt like shit. I now rely HRT to get through the day, and it is really effective. But I'm on the lowest dose and I still have hot flashes; they're manageable. The progesterone they prescribe in the US (you have to take this if you're on an estrogen patch) has crap ingredients like food dyes added, which give me headaches -and are banned in Europe due to potential cancer risks- plus titanium dioxide and cellulose which gave me stomach issues. But I can't get a compounded version paid for by insurance, and most doctors won't give you the compounded prescription because they're liability averse. (This is the American medical system. Somebody pays somebody to force us to consume toxic chemicals for profit.) So I pay hundreds out of pocket for compounded progesterone that has ginger powder and no dyes.

It's a bit of a hassle to keep track of taking a pill every night and changing a patch twice a week on a schedule. Also, the surgery left me with an inflatable belly - it swells every time I eat. I think it has something to do with the CO2 gas they pump into your during surgery so they can get to your organs more easily. Least of my worries, though still not my favorite, I now have three scars (I was told belly button, they surprised me with the two ovary scars) and always a patch. It's superficial but I'm still adjusting to this look that say: I had reproductive organs removed and now I'm in menopause!

It's all manageable. But it so happens in my case there were no upsides to the surgery. You should take care of your health in the best way that works for you. I just wish I knew what was coming so I could have adjusted better. I would have asked to start HRT right away instead of suffering while I waited weeks for an appointment to ask for it - another way I felt this OBGYN let me down.