Our study indicated that although the mean score of depression decreased three months after hysterectomy (compared to before the operation), there was no statistically significant difference between the mean score of depression before hysterectomy and three months after the procedure.
Younger Women More Likely to Become Depressed After Hysterectomy. The investigated women showed an absolute risk increase of 6.6 percent for depression and 4.7 percent for anxiety. For women who had hysterectomies between ages 18 and 35, the risk of depression was higher, with absolute risk increase of 12 percent.
Hormonal changes
Depending on the type of hysterectomy, an individual may have one or both ovaries removed along with the uterus. Ovaries removal in women of childbearing age triggers immediate menopause, which causes mood changes due to a decrease in estrogen levels.
If you have a total or radical hysterectomy that removes your ovaries, your menopause will occur immediately after your operation, no matter what your age. If, however, you're left with one or both of your ovaries intact, you may experience menopause within five years of having the hysterectomy.
Since the uterus is a very important part of the body, its removal has physical and emotional consequences and it may lead to severe psychological reactions in women [3–5]. A psychological complication of hysterectomy includes depression [6], Anxiety [7], and stress [8].
Jelovsek (2006) stated that whether done before or after menopause, a hysterectomy could lead to stress disorders and psychological consequences in women (11). Furthermore, Cabness (2010) reported, in a qualitative study, that depression in a woman may increase following a hysterectomy, especially at younger ages (19).
You may be asked to see your GP who will check how well you're recovering. It can take about 6 to 8 weeks to fully recover after having an abdominal hysterectomy.
Menopause and hormonal changes.
If your ovaries are removed at the time of your hysterectomy your oestrogen production will cease and you will enter the menopause. This sudden change, with no gradual transition, can lead to mood swings, depression, crying spells, insomnia, and irritability in some women.
Hormone replacement therapy has been identified as the most effective treatment for menopause symptoms and is routinely recommended to help women recover hormone balance after hysterectomy. In particular, these medications are effective at relieving the following symptoms: Hot flashes and night sweats.
Symptoms of a Hormonal Imbalance
After a hysterectomy, the sudden withdrawal of certain hormones can take a toll on a woman's physical, mental and emotional well-being. Symptoms that are most common include hot flashes, mood swings, night sweats, sleeplessness, light bleeding and discharge, and vaginal dryness.
You will need to rest a lot after your hysterectomy. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep every night and if you are feeling especially tired, sleep for longer at night and/or take a short nap during the day. Make sure you follow a healthy, balanced diet to aid your recovery and increase your energy levels.
You Won't Necessarily Go Into Menopause
The myth about hysterectomy Streicher hears most often in her medical practice is that a woman will go into menopause afterward. You won't have periods, and can't get pregnant after your uterus is removed. But that doesn't necessarily mean menopause.
Your partner will have to take on a lot of household responsibility and child care after the surgery. You will both miss time at work. There could be financial strain from medical costs or missed work. There will be a lack of sexual intimacy during recovery.
About half the hysterectomy patients had headaches, dizziness, or insomnia postoperatively, whereas all these symptoms occurred much less often in the women who had had operations other than hysterectomy. Most of these symptoms can be attributed to endocrine imbalance.
The results showed that if the uterus alone was removed by surgery, short-term memory suffered in the short term, as assessed two months later. No memory loss was detected when the ovaries were removed along with the uterus. This suggested that the removal of the uterus had a unique impact on memory.
When your ovaries are removed (oophorectomy) during a hysterectomy, your estrogen levels drop. Estrogen therapy (ET) replaces some or all of the estrogen that your ovaries would be making until menopause. Without estrogen, you are at risk for weak bones later in life, which can lead to osteoporosis.
Genes associated with follicle growth were not significantly altered by vitamin D3. However, it increases expression of genes involved in the estrogen-biosynthesis. Further, estrogen concentrations in porcine granulosa cell-cultured media increased in response to vitamin D3.
It may take at least 4 to 6 weeks for you to feel completely better after your surgery. The first two weeks are most often the hardest. You may need to take pain medicine regularly. Most people are able to stop taking pain medicine and increase their activity level after two weeks.
(Removing the uterus itself won't impact your hormone levels, because the uterus doesn't make or store hormones.) The sudden loss of estrogen following ovary removal can trigger symptoms of early menopause like hot flashes, vaginal dryness, trouble sleeping, mood changes, and painful intercourse.
A hysterectomy is an invasive surgery so it naturally requires downtime and will come with some residual pain and discomfort. This will almost always extend a few weeks after the surgery but if you are still in extreme pain and discomfort at the 3-month mark we generally recommend to go see a specialist.
Fatigue is a common side-effect following any major surgery. You might feel exhausted for several weeks after having a hysterectomy. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, a hysterectomy is taxing on the body and a great deal of your energy is being used to aid the healing process.
Hysterectomy can impair some types of memory in the short term following the surgery, according to a rat study published in the Endocrine Society's journal Endocrinology. One in three women in the United States undergo a hysterectomy, or the surgical removal of the uterus, by age 60.