Ladies: Complete Hysterectomy and Weight Gain

Hope you get some replies....I want to know too! I had a full hysterectomy, and bladder surgery, a little over 2 weeks ago. A little background: I just turned 47, have always been relatively thin, but after my last child was born, was up to 157 lbs, the most ever, at least 5 years. It all goes to my middle....about 4 years ago, and after being asked TWICE in the SAME summer if I was pregnant, I cut way back on my eating....mostly bread and cheeses, my weaknesses, and got down to 120-ish, and have been around there, ever since. I just started exercising about 8 weeks before my surgery, and would do elliptical or walking at least 30 mins a day, sometimes up to 45 mins. I got a FitBit about a week before my surgery, not BECAUSE of the surgery but just because since I've been exercising I wanted to keep track of how active I really am, and then joined myfitnesspal mostly to keep track of what I eat/calories eaten, before joining MFP I just kept track on a Pages document. I don't need to lose weight, but maintain where I am.

The whole hysterectomy/menopause/weight gain subject has me quite freaked out....I have had body image issues/disordered eating/weight obsessions for most of my life, except for the time when my kids were younger.....and gaining weight now just. cannot. happen....I am happy with my weight and how I look, at 47, than at any other time in my life. Truthfully, I cannot eat any better, or at least not much better, than I already do...my husband and I pretty much cook all of our food at home, using fresh produce whenever possible...rarely anything canned or frozen or prepackaged, nothing processed. (though I stick to that better than my husband, lol) I snack on fruits/veggies, no red meat, try to limit breads/cheeses, I don't drink soda...while I do have tea and coffee twice a day, the rest of the time I drink water....all in all, a good "diet".

And since my hysterectomy, especially since I'm still in the healing stage, I've been meticulous to keep my daily calorie intake close to what my fitbit says I burned...and have been starting to add in more walking the past couple days, along with about 3 mins. of elliptical starting today...want to up that soon but have to be careful.

As far as HRT...I don't go back to my doctor for 2 more weeks. I'm not sure what to do about HRT...he told me to wait until this followup visit to see how I was doing without HRT, and well, I"m doing great, so far. I have read SO much, probably the same things you're read, lol....for and against HRT.and heard both that it will help with weight gain, and CAUSE weight gain...and women saying they gained weight no matter what. But then, I think about older women that I have met that are NOT overweight, even though past menopause.

I probably didn't help answer much....but just wanted you to know that I"m in the same boat. Will shut up now

Hi
I had a complete hysterectomy in 1990. I am 54 years old - almost 55.

I have to tell you, I was put on premarin and wasn't told that I shouldn't be on it for a long period of time. I have been on all of these years until 2012 when my doctor wouldn't prescribe it because my Mom had breast cancer. Well, the hot flashes were incredible, so I had to seek out someone to put me back on and I did. However, I started to wean myself by going M - W - F and then was going to cut back even farther.

I have had weight problems since my surgery - don't know if be cause of my surgery or because I am hypothyroid and have been on synthroid for almost as many years.

Anyway, from my weigh in during my November drill until January of this year I put on more than 20 pounds! Since I am in the military I have to weigh a certain amount of weight. My husband and I decided I needed to try HRT - even though the cost is more than we can really afford. I went in for blood work February 7th and then went back on the 12th for my appointment with the doctor at the HRT clinic.
My labs showed that my estrogen and testosterone were below any marks on there scale - I was totally depleted.
They inserted some of the medicine and this week is the first time I lost 2.5 pounds. I also was put on a natural thyroid medicine.

All I can say is that your body needs the estrogen and more importantly the testosterone in order to lose weight. Up until doing the HRT I was getting so frustrated with how much I had been working out and eating healthy and not losing - but actually gaining weight.

I hope this helps somewhat. I will keep you posted of my results. I hope this wasn't just a mirage and I actually can begin to loose weight.:bigsmile:

Don't believe everything you read especially on the internet.

I had a total hysterectomy 4 years ago. I did not take, nor do I take hormone replacement now, due to my family history of cancer so I can't speak to the effect that HRT may have on weight gain post hysterectomy.

I read all kinds of terrible stories on the internet and my experience has been nothing but positive right from the initial surgery to post op to everything else after.

I did not gain weight. In fact, I lost weight.

I felt soooo miserable and sick before the surgery that I had no energy, ate poorly, didn't exercise etc. etc. 6 weeks after surgery I felt like a million bucks and was jumping to get back into the gym. I actually had a new lease on life.

I am a firm believer in positive thoughts and getting your head in the "right place" for these types of life events.

If you go into with a positive mindset you will come out with a positive mindset.

The other thing I did was prepared my body before surgery to be strong and in a position to heal quickly after. You may want to google some naturopathic supplements for surgery healing. I can't remember what I took but I healed quickly, had little pain and was good to go in no time.

I hope this helps.

One suggestion-- DO NOT weigh yourself for at least two weeks after surgery as they're going to pump you full of fluids and it's going to take a while for you to lose that water weight.

When I had my hysterectomy, I had a 6 pound fibroid removed. I got on the scale 3 days later and was heavier than I was preop. Talk about a downer! Two weeks later my weight was more normal.