Surgical menopause- what should I expect?

Hi Baker sorry you have so much on your plate at the moment. 

I am only 3 weeks into my surgical menopause so hopefully someone further down the line will come along soon. 

For me so far the main issue has been night sweats and insomnia. I haven't been sleeping too well since the diagnosis though. 

I do still feel llike me, I understand whst you mean though. 

Teeth OK so far! Tummy bloated from op but does seem to be going down. 

Good luck with your operation. 

Thanks so much Claracat for sharing your experiences.  I hope you continue to recover well from surgery and that your sleep improves. I've bought Cool Comfort pyjamas from  M and S in preparation for night sweats...I don't know if they will help but thought I would be prepared,  they had good reviews online from other women going through the menopause! 

I'll have to have a look at those!

Do you have a date yet for your surgery?

Hi, I'm sure we can all empathise with how you're feeling, diagnosis is such a shock. Low grade and early stage endometrial cancer is though as my consultant said "one of the best sorts to have". It is one of the most treatable and the majority of people who are diagnosed have a great chance of recovery so the chances of your children having their Mum for a long time to come are good. As for the surgical menopause, I went through that as a result of my surgery. It was many of the things people said, hot flushes, emotional ups and downs, itchy skin and aches and pains, but, none of it was unmanageable.....it is somehow easier to cope with those symptoms when you remind yourself that they are just part of the price you pay for having cancer taken away. 18 months later I think I can probably say that I feel better now than I did pre-surgery. I don't have constant bleeding to worry about and I no longer have symptoms caused by the anaemia which resulted. I still get occasional menopausal symptoms, but I still very much feel like me. Sending you lots of hugs and support xx.

No date yet for my surgery,  waiting to hear. The indication is that it will be within about 3 weeks.  

Thanks Teddysmum, your advice was really helpful and really positive to know that your symptoms have reduced over time.  

Hi

I’m a little bit older than you and am now 2 years on from stage 3 cancer.

I know it’s a cliche but everyone is different.  My advice is to push hard for an appointment at an NHS menopause clinic.  You may not get told about them but they do exist.  I got an appt about 6 weeks after surgery and it was a good move.  If you can’t have HRT there are other things you can try for hot flushes.  I take clonidine and it works really well.  They’ll also sort a decade scan to check bone density in a year or so.

Managing my weight is a challenge but that’s on the way back down now too but basically I finished chemo and ate everything!

Sex isn’t something that’s mentioned on here a lot but if it’s still an important part of your life I can confirm that your lady bits will still work but might need a bit of help from products like sylk.  

Mental health I didn’t struggle with so can’t comment here.  I got tired with being so hot in the night but got that under control pretty quickly with the help of the clonidine.

I can empathise with you, I was fuming about having an early menopause but it’s really not the end of the world, it’s just happening a bit earlier for us.  Benefit of menopause is no periods, I don’t miss mine at all considering how bad they were.

I hope this helps you a bit. 

X

I mean a dexa scan!

Thanks so much AmandaJane, I really appreciate you sharing your experiences.