Last year in May I had to have my uterus and 1 ovary removed.
I started having pain again in my remaining ovary and headed off to the doc. It looks like my last ovary will be coming out due to edometriosis. Their plan is to put me into menopause using medication and then removing the ovary.
Has anyone been through something like this that can give me an idea of how this will affect my weight loss/gain?
Will the hormones they put me on for replacement make me gain ?
I am sure there is a link here somewhere but I haven't been able to find it as of yet (not for lack of trying).
I am pretty nervous now since I am only 32, but having to cope with menopause hit me quite harder than just the hysterectomy.
Thanks

Usually, it's hard to lose weight when a woman is in menopause. A woman often tends to gain weight in the abdomen, as the fat cells contain estrogen and the body is trying to hold on to the estrogen. Some people find relief with herbs, apple cider vinegar, and flax oil or virgin coconut oil.

Oh, Supermommy, I'm so sorry you're going through this.

I'm in menopause now--not surgically induced--and I have to say it's been no harder or easier to lose weight than before. I don't know how the hormones will affect you, but not all women have a hard time losing weight during or after menopause.

I am anticipating surgical menopause myself shortly. I am 36 and having a radical hyst. No HRT for me though. They are hoping to be able to leave at least one ovary but I won't know until post-op what I have "left."

Take care of yourself!!

Julie

Best of luck Supermommy and you'll be in my thoughts.

Oh, supermommy, I feel for you ...

I had surgery last year and am hoping to avoid any more....

endometriosis sucks the big one... (sorry, but there it is, it just does)

anyway, Dr. Phil's wife did a whole show on menopause and they had several women on, one or more had surgically induced menopause. They talked a lot about different herbs to help the body and I believe if you search his site it will give you some information. The things I know that help hormonally are vitex, flaxseed oil, black cohosh among others. There is a lot of info out there on the net about herbs that can ease the transition and also make it easier on your body if it is on hrt. My heart goes out to you and all other women struggling with this.

I cannot say it loud enough .Ask for a second opinion .Try to keep your remaining ovary.
Pene

Penelope,
I have been seen at a specialist clinic here in town for women.
They automatically do the second opinion work for you and must also present your case to an entire board before moving forward.
I honestly believe they had my best interest when they tried to save my ovary to begin with to prevent me having to deal with this. From what I am told by my doctor that an ovary can work as if it were 2, but mine just got sick .
I felt exactly like you did, I wanted to know if I had other choices. Thank you for the concern as well.

I could not believe how many women were going through this.

Supermommy, sorry for what you're going through. I know it's hard because I had a total hysto at age 30 because of endometriosis. Both of my ovaries were junk and were removed so I've been on HRT for 15 years. Trust me, you can lose on HRT.

It has been my experience that I've been able to do with a very low dose of premarin (estrogen) because my body had become used to dealing with low amounts due to malfunctioning ovaries. Disclaimer: I'm not in the medical professional and this is not medical advice, purely my own experience. Check with your doctor. You, too, may be able to get by on a low dose and avoid many of the problems associated with HRT but still have the benefits of it.

Good luck; you'll be in my thoughts.

Erin ,
I had no problem loosing weight while on Premarin. My hysterectomy was at age 40.
The only reason that I am so heavy is because I keep going off dieting.
While on a diabetic diet, I lost 2 ½ pounds a week, up to 60 pounds but I started going off course and gained it back.
I went on Atkins and only lost 29 pounds but at the same time I was experimenting with different type of HRt .
At one point I even quit it for three months, to extremely bad reaction but you see [The” nurse experiment” with HRT hit the news and my doctor freaked out and wanted me off HRT ]
I went on Estrace , That was O.K
I am now on Estrogel and I really don’t know if I will switch again .The best choice is to get on with a compound pharmacy that will make a personal prescription.
Ask your doctor about it .
Pene