Trouble Losing Weight After Hysterectomy

SteelersChick43

Ladies who have had a complete hysterectomy and have been successful at losing weight, what is some advice. I am struggling as I have gained over 45lbs and exercising 5 days a week is not working at all. It has been a little over a year since my surgery.

dboiczyk

I've been through this. If ovaries were removed, this procedure throws off thyroid, adrenal, estrogen and progesterone hormones. Doctors only replace estrogen with synthetic unnatural drugs and leave everything else out of balance - MISERABLE! You won't find help there. Consult with a Holistic APRN that prescribes Bioidentical Hormone Replacement and Get off pharmaceutical hormones. There are some out of pocket costs for Functional labs and compounded pharmacy prescriptions but so worth it. Low thyroid increases Cortisol release and layers on the Teddy Bear weight. You may need thyroid replacement to optimize thyroid to lower cortisol. Read The Adrenal Thyroid Solution book by Aviva Romm MD. Evaluate your diet and nutrition. Cortisol can be tamed by maintaining blood sugar. (Eat lean clean protein with every meal throughout the day. Eliminate sugar. Don't let your blood sugar spike or crash. This increases cortisol and weight gain. Another good book. JJ Virgin's Sugar Impact.

kshama2001

While I agree with a lot of the above, including the value of bioidentical HR vs synthetic, female hormones being out of whack is not *directly* going to cause a 45 pound weight gain.

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

BarbaraHelen2013

I had a total hysterectomy, including ovaries about 8 years ago now. I was then 52, now 60. I was put on conjugated oestrogen which the doctor seemed willing to prescribe forever but I weaned myself off it very very slowly a few years ago.

I can honestly say I didn’t put any weight on due to this - beyond a couple of pounds in the first few weeks due to diminished activity while healing whilst eating at maintenance to promote quicker recovery. I’m now the healthy weight I was in my 20’s & 30’s.

Everyone is different but just wanted to speak up for those of us who had no ill effects in the medium to long term.

privy95

I had a total hysterectomy more than a year ago. I did gain about 10 lbs since then. Went to the top of my maintenance and then up 5 more. But it wasn’t because of surgery. It was because I wasn’t eating well. I was allowing little snacks, licks, bites, tastes, bigger portions at mealtime, etc. Plus, I quit walking because I was so tired after surgery snd “needed recovery time.”

I will say the drastic hormonal change made me emotionally struggle which is a trigger for overeating for me. But it is not the hormones or emotions or anything else that made me gain the weight. I used all those things as excuses to eat what I wanted and to sit on the couch instead of exercise.

I’m now headed back down which is hard because I am in a normal weight range for my height. These ten pounds will be slow. It is hard. The surgery affects so many things. But do not allow yourself to believe it is the surgery’s fault you are gaining or can’t lose. If you believe that lie you will not be successful because you will think it is out of your control! You can do this!