Symptoms of menopause after removal of the uterus

Radical intervention for hysterectomy (amputation of the uterus) is now quite common. Statistics say that about a third of women over 45 years of age have undergone this operation to a greater or lesser extent.

Many women soon after the extirpation of the uterus begin to feel the symptoms of an advancing menopause. After the absence of only the uterus deprives the ovaries of the main blood flow from the branches of the uterine artery, and the lack of blood supply gradually leads to the degeneration of the organ. According to observations, even in cases of the removal of only the uterus, the menopause occurs in women who have been operated on this for five to seven years before the natural. And after hysterovarioectomy, which is conducted much less often, the first signs of the so-called surgical menopause are felt practically in the first days after the operation.

Surgical menopause, as a rule, is more severe than natural, when the work of the ovaries is gradually curtailed. Radical changes in the hormonal background caused by a sharp cessation of hormone production are most acute in patients of fertile age. With any volume of the operation, the level of sex hormones is significantly reduced the very next day after the amputation of one or several reproductive organs. And after bilateral removal of the ovaries and uterus against a background of severe estrogen deficiency, the patient develops postavariectomy syndrome - a combination of psycho-neurological, vegetative-vascular and metabolic-endocrine pathologies.

The severity of manifestation of menopausal symptoms depends on the condition of the female body and the bouquet of concomitant diseases. It can be guessed that total hysterovarioectomy is not shown to absolutely healthy women, so the vast majority of those who undergo surgery suffer a severe climacteric.

The very first and most characteristic symptom is the tides. Surgical menopause occurs instantly, therefore, and the symptomatology of menopause is more pronounced and intense. Tides are manifested by a sudden increase in the temperature of the upper body and intense sweating, usually accompanied by reddening of the skin of the face and neck. This is often accompanied by a jump in blood pressure. Quite quickly, the state of heat recedes and is replaced by chills. Tides can appear at a frequency of up to 50 times during the day. At night, women often wake up in a sweating bed and are forced to completely change clothes and change bed linens. This condition can last from three to five years. Only a fifth of women manage to get rid of hot flashes and night sweats quickly enough - within a year. Disorders of the autonomic nervous system are manifested by migraine-like pains and dizziness, palpitations, numbness of limbs. Complaints to such symptoms are expressed by more than half of the operated women.

Hormonal changes contribute to fatigue and reduced performance. Ovaries produce not only female sex hormones, but androgens. Their deficiency increases the symptoms of surgical menopause.

All these symptoms can not but affect the psychoemotional state. Mental changes are manifested in the form of increased excitability, irritability, tearfulness. The woman is disturbed by sleep, appetite, sexual attraction, there is uncertainty about herself and her future, anxiety, feeling of emptiness. This condition is often complicated by severe depressive disorders.

Hormonal changes often cause vaginal dryness and itching, a recognized symptom of estrogen deficiency, which leads to insufficient moistening of the mucosa and a decrease in its thickness. Sexual contact is accompanied by pain, which can further exacerbate the depressed mood of a woman.

Insufficient estrogens have an effect on cognitive abilities, adversely affecting memory and learning ability. And anxiety, fear, insomnia, irritability are aggravated by forgetfulness and confusion.

Somewhat later, there are other changes in the body. Their symptoms become noticeable not immediately, however, in most cases in the surgical menopause, the changes in metabolism do not keep you waiting, and lead to a lack of development and assimilation by the bone tissue of calcium. These changes take place very quickly after the operation, for a year the bones become more fragile. According to studies, bone loss during the first postoperative year may reach 17%. Osteoporosis leads to an increase in the likelihood of fractures, so patients after the operation are prescribed preventive therapy with calcium and vitamin D.

Deficiency of female sex hormones affects the work of the cardiovascular system, increases the risk of atherosclerosis, infect, stroke.

There may be problems with the urinary organs, more than half of patients with distant genitalia suffer from incontinence, painful urination, frequent infectious and inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract,

The lack of estrogens also affects the appearance of a woman. Reduces the production of natural collagen and elastin, moistening of the skin becomes insufficiently intensive, a network of wrinkles appears, the quality of hair and nails deteriorates - they become brittle and dull.

The onset of menopause marks the beginning of the aging process of the body, and the introduction of the female body in this process artificially and dramatically - exacerbates its unpleasant symptoms. To compensate for hormonal deficiency and smoothing the symptoms of surgical menopause, hormone replacement therapy is recommended for women.