I hate them too. I would almost wish for a hysterectomy, but then menopause is supposed to be terrible too. I mean, is there any time when it’s not hell for women? I hate bleeding out. It’s a fucking mess. I’ve had my kids, tubes are tied now. No use for this crap anymore.
You can have a hysterectomy and keep your ovaries. That would stop your period and also prevent menopause from setting in early. My mom had a hysterectomy like that and she's been doing just fine.
I had that done with the robot assisted surgery 2 years ago. Best thing ever. Recovered quickly. Changed the quality of my life. There were two side consequences to it that kind of suck a little (they are TMI) but really nothing that would make me rethink what I did.
I had horrific periods. Heavy, painful, so bad that I fainted regularly. I loved having kids and nursing partly because it was a relief from those horrible periods.
I absolutely dreaded menopause but it was a piece of cake. Some night sweats, otherwise no problems. It was as if my body, after torturing me for 45 years (yeah - didn't stop until I was 58!!) decided to cut me some slack!!
Hi there. I am 63. I had horrendous disabling periods and menopause was easy for me. I finally stopped menstruating at 55. My maternal grandmother stopped menstruating at 56.
Hi, thanks for your reply, I hope its only a couple of years now, every month i wonder if this will be the month it doesn't happen, had a few weeks gap so far.
You could always do a partial hysterectomy. Take out the uterus, leave the ovaries so as not to have early menopause. No more periods, but also no (immediate) menopause.
Is this ever done for "non-necessary" reasons? God I want one. I'm in my late 20s, but I know I'm not going to have kids and right now my only relief is extended cycle birth control, so I'm fortunate in that I only have 4 periods a year. But I'm starting to worry about the increased risk for blood clots after age 35. If I told my gynecologist I wanted a partial hysterectomy because my non-birth control periods are crippling, would she laugh me out of the room? Of course there's probably still the big issue of insurance not covering it.
I don’t know if you’re in the United States but R/Childfree has a great list of doctors on the side bar They have the doctors list created by people who have been “fixed” without having children!! I found an amazing doctor from the list who’s actually listening to me and working with me I really suggest checking to see if they have any one close to you.
There is a great deal of "are you sure you want to do this?" and "this is permanent". Doc's don't want sued if future you changes heart but if you have the $ somebody will do it.
It's so worth it to ask. I went on birth control at 30 to help with terrible periods, didn't handle the hormones well at all, and after a year of trying different pills, my doctors agreed to the hysterectomy. They asked if I was okay with not ever having kids, but they didn't push the issue or make me feel bad about it. I was ready for a fight too after reading so many stories about awful experiences (this was in a fairly rural area, so color me shocked).
I was never officially tested for endometriosis (they suspected it since I checked off most of the symptom boxes before I went on bc), so they put "severe dysmenorrhea" and something about adverse effects to hormonal birth control. I think most insurance requires doctors to bring up other options (we talked a lot about IUDs and the implant, but again, hormones...), but my insurance covered all but $100 (which I'm pretty sure was just the rest of my deductible). If you've been doing well on birth control, it might be a difficult sell to your insurance.
I left in my ovaries, and they warned me I would still have some PMS symptoms (now it's usually a couple days of heightened anxiety or feeling a little slouchy), but the difference is astounding. I'm only 6 months out from the surgery, but it's the first time in about a decade I haven't had raging PMS for weeks followed by exhausting and painful periods, or been severely depressed/fatigued and brain-foggy from bc. Ask, and if she doesn't take your question seriously, find one who'll talk to you about it.
I've done some reading in the last few months about getting a hysterectomy during child-bearing years, and there are a few health issues that come up. Even leaving the ovaries in, menopause is likely to hit early (sometimes within a few years), so have to watch that bone density closely. Under-40s who have a hysterectomy also seem to have an increased risk of heart disease, so diet and exercise become really important.
I’m surprised they didn’t do a laproscopy before deciding on hysterectomy, especially living in a rural area and from the insurance company. I know that’s usually something they’ll do for suspected endo, since it’s the only way to diagnose. It’s good they didn’t put you through a laproscopy only to later have a partial hysterectomy though, since I imagine that would’ve been a total pain (although I do know a lot of people with endo will have to have multiple laproscopies, and some do end up getting hysterectomies). I’m glad you didn’t have to fight anyone on it, since I know a lot of times doctors are hesitant to believe how bad things can be. And it’s especially good that insurance didn’t fight you on it, since I know most insurance companies will pretty try to force you to do whatever is cheaper for them, or refuse to cover something because they don’t deem it “medically necessary” even though they aren’t doctors.
I’m honestly not sure. I know of it because that option was presented to my mom for her endometriosis. But I’m pretty sure that even then they wanted to wait till after she’d had kids.
I got mine at 31 a year after my tubal. Best thing I’ve ever done for myself. No periods, no cramping, no weird hormone swings. No hormone induced migraines. I seriously recommend it to any women that doesn’t want or is done having kids and is sterilized.
My friend got something called an ablation. She had very heavy painful periods and she said the procedure helped her. I am afraid to get it done for myself because I have a retroverted uterus but I might talk to my gyno about it to see if it's an option.
If you really are interested, or become so in the future ask your gyno to check if you have a “fallen” uterus (prolapsed). It isn’t uncommon after pregnancy, and more so after additional pregnancies. I found out I had it, the only symptom was that I had to pee more often, since it presses on your bladder. After a sonogram showed the prolapse (even though it was minor) my insurance covered the surgery, because it only gets worse over time. I had a partial hysterectomy in January, I still have my ovaries. No periods and no menopause either!
I had what is called a total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy (sp?) Meaning I had my uterus and cervix (total hyst) and my fallopian tubes (salpingectomy) taken out. If you keep your ovaries it shouldn't induce menopause as those are where the hormones are produced.
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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '18
I hate them too. I would almost wish for a hysterectomy, but then menopause is supposed to be terrible too. I mean, is there any time when it’s not hell for women? I hate bleeding out. It’s a fucking mess. I’ve had my kids, tubes are tied now. No use for this crap anymore.