Hysterectomy and back pain

Hi nightingale19, it sounds like you have concerns about your back pain, i am i right?

i do suffer lower back pain that can radiate upwards, now wheather it’s because of the surgery i don’t know, only because I have other underlying conditions and also I have suffer with disc problems in the past and I know how painful this can be, is it worse due to the hysterectomy i am unsure. The only thing i was told was how your calcium levels can be effected and become lower and this can cause weakness in the bones, my oncologist would prefer I take calcium supplements but due to renal problems i don’t absorb it as-well as I should do and it could make my renal issues worse. 

Hi Nightingale19, yes, I had a total hysterectomy on Sept 16th 2020 and I've now been suffering with intense back for over a month, especially around the sacrum and in the lower back.

To be honest I remember I had some dull, minor back pain back in April, I'd say it started on the quiet last spring. Back then I had very heavy, painful periods due to what was diagnosed as adenomyosis* and I thought the backpain was just part of my period pain. Since I had hysterectomy though the pain has been shooting up and all the pills I'm taking (Paracetamol, Naproxen, Morphine, Amitriptyline) are giving me little relief...

MRI, CT scans, PET scans say that everything is fine in my back, they did not detect anything sinister in the bones so this pain remains a mistery. Before the hysterectomy and the "adenomyosis" problem I was the fittest lady in the world, no underlying conditions, slender, healthy eating etc.

I've got a face to face appointment with a physio on Nov 10th, I'm crossing my fingers.

So have you managed to fix your back issues and understand the root cause? I hope you're doing better now.

Val

*as you can read on my profile, the adenomyosis turned out to be or possibly degenerated into low grade endometrial stromal sarcoma, stage 4b with metastases

Hello nightingale19,

I just wanted to pop on and say..I am also 40 and diagnosed.  Fit, healthy ,slim, all the things you don't expect by trying to be as healthy as possible.

I am new to this site too but there are some good people here that have been at different stages that seem lovely.

I really hope you get a handle on the pain soon xxx

Thank you Birdie22. What have you been diagnosed with? I hope you're not pain and it's curable

Stage 1 endometrial cancer. Found within polyps. Due to have surgery in less than a month all being well.

Just getting myself as strong as I can be from a nutritional and internal stance  between now , then and after too.

Xx

Birdie22, best of luck, actually you're very lucky already because I think that, since you're stage 1, it's curable.
Look forward to your surgery day, it's going to be a liberation, no reason to be scared. Bring some entertainment (good books, magazines, mobile phone,  laptop etc) and your fave snacks for the after surgery and you'll be absolutely fine, believe me, oncology nurses will take very good care of you and keep you super pampered, they're great.

Can I ask you how did you manage to get diagnosed so promptly?

When I went to my GP (aged 38) and I complained about my period that was becoming painful and heavier she totally dismissed me and said that as I was getting older it was normal for my period to change. And she even discouraged me from seeing a private consultant because "If you have no symptoms it's very difficult to diagnose a disease". (I said my period had become more painful, is pain not a symptom??)! I waited several precious months before going back to the GP and DEMAND once again a gynae referral, silly me...

Hi Nightingale19,

I had my surgery on the 20th October and have been killed with back pain since. 

after reading all the comment here it would appear it’s quite normal xx

im 42, and I did have slight back pain prior to the operation but nothing like what I am experiencing now xx

i hope it gets better for you real soon xx

Donna xxx

Nightingale 19, from what I'm reading online it seems that quite a few ladies experience back pain after hysterectomy and usually it's got nothing to do with spine disease. It seems this surgery has bad effects on abdominal and pelvic muscles. I read that core training or stabilization focused on the abdominal and trunk muscles is advised.

This perhaps explains why I've got a lot of lower back pain but MRI, CT scan and PET scan did not detect anything wrong.

On Nov 10th I'll ask my physio if we can look into the muscles and fascia and what exercices exactly I should do to alleviate the pain

Hello, Yes I have got a good book to take with me and some healthy snacks too.

I have suffered with terrible long heavy periods what feels like forever ...I really cannot remember. They tried me on medication to stump the flow which didn't work. I had them a referral to the Gynae department at hospital where I had a scan which showed a polyp and a cyst. Nothing was done as it was the start of covid. Left it over the summer and then followed it up as clinic's were opening again. Had an appointment for a hysteroscopy where polyps were removed and nothing looked odd..I was told see you in 4 months....

And then I had a letter not long after for a fast track appointment , which then I knew something was up.

Had a follow up one week to be told the team had already discussed my case and my appointment to see the Oncology team was in...that was a week later and surgery due about a month after all being well.

I'm reading and researching in the time I have to get my internals as strong as they can be to get this....excuse my French...by the balls!

Xxx

Birdie22, again, I think you are very lucky or possibly I just chose the wrong hospital/had bad juju.

In Feb 2020 my uterus was twice the normal size due to "adenomyosis" when I had my first biopsy and they just grabbed some tissues from the cervix area. They saw several polyps but couldn't grab any because "I was awake" (THEY recommended local anaesthesia 'cause the waiting list was much longer for total anaesthesia which was my initial choice!).
In other words they had a huge room to explore and they just stood on the threshold. Hysteroscopy result: all fine and dandy. Then Covid happened and of course they cancelled all "elective" surgery. I had the belly of a kangaroo, perennially in pain and loosing blood and I was treated like I was trying to get a nose job.

When finally I had a dermoid cyst removed in June 2020 and a proper biopsy (= they grabbed a whole polyp and the material at its base) they discovered I had cancer... stage 4b, with lots of metastases, incurable...