I'm just home from hospital having had a radical hysterectomy with ovary and lymph node removal last Tuesday. I'm 36 years of age so none of my friends have gone through menopause yet. Given that my main concern to date was having the cancer removed, I havent asked my medical team anything about menopause and nothing has been said to me about it to date. I am assuming because I had my ovaries removed that I will enter menopause soon, am I right? And if so, is there anything you would advise to prepare for it? How long after the surgery should I expect to start experiencing symptoms? Apologies for all the questions but I have just been so focused on the cancer that I am only starting to consider the side effects of the treatment now.
Thank you for your reply, my consultant hasnt as much as mentioned HRT and I left hospital without a prescription for any hormones so I might just contact my nurse and enquire about it.
My GP was actually way more useful when it came to HRT advice that the consultant was. I found the male doctors I saw after my surgery were very dismissive of the symptoms of meneopause. I was glad i had already got my prescription before my surgery!
You should see if there is a GP at your practice who specialises in meneopause and HRT. And although it was my original consultant who suggested HRT as an option it's been my GP who has given me the greatest support. I think the hospital just want you patched up and out the door xx
Hi Jeebers I was advised to start HRT by my consultant and found the book Menopause by Dr Louise Newson really helpful. I happened upon this on the TV programme Lorraine which was doing a feature on the menopause. Dr Newson is a GP specialising in the menopause. Apparently not all GPs are trained in the menopause which came as a surprise to me. The book sets out the pros & cons of all the different types of HRT & so made it much easier for me to decide on the best one for me & made my 10 minute Drs appointment run smoothly.
Thank you all for your replies really gave me the confidence to broach the subject with my GP although I didnt get very far tbh he basically told me firstly that I shouldn't be getting symptoms this early after surgery which I find strange tbh because everyone who has been through it has said symptoms start straight away but when I said this to him he said HRT is not an option for me at the moment until I finish all treatment as hormones make the cells grow so he wont consider it until a decision is made on whether I've to undergo radiation or until radiation is completed. So I'm 3 weeks no with little to no sleep because of the night sweats and although I'm trying to just get on with it I'm struggling as I'm not back with my consultant until the 11th May so I'm unable to discuss it with him until then. Although all your replies have reassured me that I'm not imagining all this so thank you.
