HRT following hysterectomy? Advice please!?

I am 7 weeks post-op following an abdominal hysterectomy. Ovaries were removed at the same time so I have been thrust straight into the menopause. Prior to that I had none of the typical menopausal symptoms for my age - 50! However, now I am suffering with unpleasant night sweats which disturb my sleep greatly, along with depression and short term memory loss. I have read all the pros and cons for taking HRT with all the risks involved but I have no experience of knowing anyone who has ever taken it. I'm keen to hear people's opinions - good or bad - thanks.

had hysterectomy at 30-left with part of an ovary but when this stopped working i started hrt.i know what the risks are but would rather enjoy my life now & risk cancer in 20 years-i might get run overby a bus tomorrow & have missed out on life. I found oestrogen implants were great-done every 6 months or so by my gp.not had any for a year, feel great no problems & i was suffering before

I've heard good things about it from people who have taken it. I think it's supposed to be very effective at stopping all symptoms of the menopause, like those you're having now. But there is a slightly increased risk of breast cancer from it.
You'll just have to balance the risks and benefits to you. If your problems now are unbearable and ruining your quality of life, it's probably worth the increased risk; if not, then it's a harder decision.
What does your doctor recommend? They'll have lots of patients on HRT, so will have a good idea of how it might affect you.

Hi there i can only tell you from my mums experience she had her hysterectomy at 43 and had everything removed ....she was Not given HRT and according to the doctors caused her to have a mental breakdown she was hospitalised for a few months ..and we found out was due to her age and not being given HRT after ...please don't take this wrong but i would seriously talk to your doctor when you back for a check up x
best of luck

I had a hysterectomy in my 20's and used hrt until I got to the age where it might have really horrible side-effects. I smoke, and I don't intend to stop. At about 40 or so my doctor talked very seriously to me about my hrt. Due to the severity of taking it became worse than before, I chose to quit taking them. It's been difficult, but I guess the bottom line is to learn what side-effects are possible, and choose which one has the side-effects you can live with.
peace

I had a hysterectumy (or my hysterical rectom as I call it. Best thing I ever did) some 9 years ago. (now 48) Kept the ovaries but started meno' symptoms three years ago. Went through all the pro's and con's and decided that while I still can I will ( I ride horses and run) so do the HRT thing. I use a gel. It's fab. Don't use it every day...about every three at the moment. So long as it's man made not taken from mares I think it's fine to use it. Skin tone still good and still fit. Growing old disgracefully!!!

hi love, i had a hysterectomy 2 yrs ago , im nearly 50, oh boy what a shock that was, night sweats, aching bones, tears, daily hot flushes,tantrums, you name it i had it, well i started off taking hrt about 3 months after my operation, only a low dose to start with , it made no difference to any of my symptoms, the dose was doubbled and wow i woke up a new woman, then in the space of five weeks i found 3 seperate breast lump,s my mind went in to overdrive,all i,d read about hrt causing breast cancer came back to haunt me,i ended up having breast scan mammogram and a biopsy the results were possitive the hrt had been too strong for me , and as a result had caused benign breast cysts , so i stopped taking it and the horrid symptoms re appeared, worse than before, my consultant was brilliant he did not discharge me he saw me regularly, eventually he suggested hormone implants, these are inserted under lacal anaeatitic bit sore but my life was changed for the better again,, then just before christmas i was in the shower ,.and i found another breast lump.i again had to go to the breast clinic i had a scan and was told it was just breast tissue, i really could not get it in to my head that it was harmless, it seemed to be getting bigger and my breast constantly ached, 2 wks ago i again went for an appointment at the breast clinic, this time i wes given a scan a mammogram and another biopsy only yesterdayi got the results, ALL CLEAR again i was told the lump was caused by hormone,s as in my case replaced hormones, i am due to have the implants done again next month, iv already cancilled the appointment, i can,t keep going through the terrible fear of breast cancer, every few months, so im going to tryt to do without it, i will be buying red clover tablets from boots and taking anything that the lacal health food shop suggests ive gone to hell and back more than once, but other people seem to take hrt without any problems, what ever you decide to do and the decision must be yours,,i wish you all the luckin the world life without periods is heaven ,life without hormones, is hell xxxx

Hi - have any of you tried hormonal balancing creams? There are some VEGAN based and no mineral oil products that are showing great results and worth your time to check out! Email me at psbskin@yahoo.com if you want more information.

By the way, you are all scaring me since I am having a hysterectomy in 6 days! LOL!