Peri-menopausal Ladies - Anyone remove ovaries?

Renschwa

Hi ladies,

just curious if any of you removed your ovaries as part of treatment? Do you feel like you did the right thing? I’m in the peri- menopausal irregular period time of life (age 45, women in my family usually go through menopause by 50). I wouldn’t miss my periods and if it helps keep cancer at bay- tempting.

How bad is the surgery/recovery?

Thanks ladies!

CBK

The surgery is nothing! I was out shopping the next day and didn’t take one pain pill. There was no pain ! I think almost everyone has it done laparoscopically now !

The aftermath is terrible. At least in my case it was! I would never have done it, if not for my markers! It was so difficult with loss of estrogen after that surgery! Constant hot flashes, joint pain, dizziness, snapping joints, a general dryness in the whole body. I’m still fighting it. It aged me overnight. Worst part of my treatment combined with Arimidex!

Candilea

I second CBK on the ease of the surgery and recovery. No problems for me as well. I did mine while I was undergoing radiation, even.

I have not (yet?) had the extreme side effects that CBK has, though. I was already having hot flashes after chemo, and those have actually decreased a little bit now, only 4-5 a day. Some joint pain after sitting, but it goes away once I'm walking.

It does give me some peace of mind, cutting the estrogen down so much. I do worry about effects in the future (effects on bone and heart), but overall I am glad I did it.

LaughingGull

Surgery and recovery very easy, I was also out shopping the next day.
I was diagnosed at 47 and got my ovaries removed at 48. I was also in perimenopause, with periods every three weeks, constant pain/cysts in my left ovary and I had one episode of bleeding the year prior of being diagnosed with BC that scared me sh*tless.

I never looked back. I am glad I did it. Yes I aged, everything is very dry (vaginal dryness is the worst) and although I have some stiffness when I get up, and the occasional (in my case mild) hot flushes, life is great. I am very active and didn't gain weight.

It was great to be young with shiny hair, but you know what? I was aging anyway, and perimenopause in my experience was a horror show. Your ovaries won't keep you young forever if you are already close to 50 -they will shut down eventually AND you will have to go through perimenopause.

I made the decision after consulting with my MO, an onco gynecologist, and a second-opinion MO at Sloan who said it was a good idea to be veryaggressive attacking the hormonal component of my cancer, and that in my shoes she would do the same.

Best of luck with your decision.

Renschwa

thank you ladies, seems like it is something to st lleast explore and ask questions about at my appointments.

mocame

I am 50 and debated having the surgery or not. I had a recurrence 11 years after my first dx. I was still having regular periods and after my 2nd dx, went through radiation and then started Zoladex injections and Arimidex at the end of November, beginning of December. I haven't had many SEs on Zoladex and Arimidex except for a little moodiness in the beginning, hot flashes/night sweats, and now bone loss. I decided to talk to a gyno surgeon about the possibility of having an OOPH. He said the side effects of each were about the same except he has had some patients that said their SEs actually got better after the surgery. He also said having the ovaries removed and the AI were more effective of getting the hormones down than the Zoladex injection and AI. My MO and the gyno surgeon both told me there is no benefit to me keeping the ovaries. So, after talking to all my doctors and to other women that have had their ovaries removed, I have decided to go ahead and have the surgery. I have it scheduled for March. I will have the surgery on a Tuesday and they said I should be back to work the following Monday. I have a desk job. This was something I went back and forth about. But now that the decision is made, I feel really good about it. Best of luck on your decision.

Renschwa

mocame, thanks for the info! Hope all goes well with surgery! Come back and let us know how you are doing!

LillyIsHere

I had oophorectomy yesterday. Anesthesia is still lingering but I am glad it is over and I don't need injections to shut the ovaries anymore. Good luck mocame.

Willcare

I'm hoping you lovely ladies can help clarify some things for me. I just started on Tamoxifen in December. My MO mentioned that I should also look at doing either ovary suppression or ovary removal. I am probably only a couple years away from natural menopause. How/why/when is the determination made to go ahead with one of these treatments? As with everything else, there is so much conflicting information on both (pros vs cons) I have not been given any genetics testing so I don't know if I'm at a greater risk for ovarian cancer.

Peregrinelady

It is not just for ovarian cancer risk that the ovaries are removed. Oopherectomy is also performed to lessen the amount of estrogen in your body that could be feeding stray cancer cells. My breast surgeon recommended it because she said that ovarian cancer is harder to find until it is too late. I did not test positive for BRCA but my genetic counselor said there is obviously something going on since both my sister and father and uncle all passed from cancer. I believe in general that the risk is quite low, but this is something you should discuss with your gynecologist, as well. Even after oopherectomy, your body still produces estrogen through the adrenal glands. That is why an AI is still recommended.

AliceKo

CBK, thank you for sharing your experience. My Oncologist says it is easy, not problem, no side effects. "Just be done with it". I don' believe her.

AliceKo

Laughing Gul, hows the bone density? I hear in just a few years your bones are like swiss cheese, full of holes. They would compare it to someone who is very old (lets say 80), but biologically could be 40.

JRNJ

I'm planning on doing it after radiation in April or May. Why take another drug to suppress them with same or more side effects that might not work? Sloan recommended Lupron and AI, but my MO is ok with removal. Laughinggull, interesting that your Sloan Dr had different opinion. Drs are starting to skip tamoxifen as AIs tested better in trials. Especially for ilc. I'm currently experiencing extreme hot and cold flashes from chemo putting me into menopause. It's probably going to happen regardless of which option chosen. Dr thinks Aromasin has less side effects than Arimidex.