Anyone Had a Hysterectomy Due to Scar Tissue?

Updated on August 25, 2008
C.R. asks from Westerville, OH
14 answers

Hello,
I am 31 yrs. old and have just been told that the only cure for my pelvic pain caused by excessive scar tissue is a complete hysterectomy. The doctor says that it appears that my female organs are all banded by scar tissue adhering to my abdominal wall. I have 4 children (all C-section) and have had my tubes tied for 3 yrs, so I'm not worried about reproduction. My questions to anyone who was/is in the same situation are.. How did everything go? Did the surgery make the pain stop? What were the side effects, if any? Are you glad you did this? etc. etc. Any information/thoughts will help me. I just want to know that hysterectomy is the answer.

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So What Happened?

Well, the surgery is scheduled for November. I just can't stand the pain any longer and I don't want repeated surgeries. Thankfully, my doctor has been great about answering all of my questions. Of course, I'm still a bit scared, but nothing like before. Thank you all for your responses, they've been very helpful.

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M.G.

answers from Cleveland on

There will be side effects. The extend will depend on whether you have a full or partical hysterectomy. If you go into menopause at such a young age it puts you at risk for many health issues. Hormone replacement thereapy can cause cancer risks and there's also the threat of osteoprosis. This is serious stuff.

I think a second (or even third) opinion would be best. Get as MUCH info as you CAN! And as others have mention, if you have endometriosis then there are many other options that might help more than the hysterectomy.

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M.H.

answers from Fort Wayne on

C., I had the same situation as you. I had a partical hysterectomy (they left both overys) in Aug 01. I ended up loosing both of my overys later due to cysts. I would recommend if they can to leave at least one of your overys due to the hormone issues. It is great not having to deal with the little monthly visits from Aunt Flo, but without your overys it will send you into menipause and that isnt a good thing. It has been almost 7yrs now and I am still having hot flashes, night sweats ect due to the hormones. I chose not to take the hormone pills because they didn't seem to help much at all, and they also gives you a 50% chance of breast cancer so to me it didn't give me enough relief to take those chances. So I went off of them and just deal with the hot flashes ect. But there seems to be no end to them. The Dr's say that it could take more than 10 yrs to get over it. So it would be to your better intrest if you could keep at least one of your overys.
I hope this may help you some.
M.

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M.N.

answers from Columbus on

Crytal,

I'm sure about your questions about scar tissue, but my mother had to have a complete hysterectomy because her uterus detached from the uterine wall. Her uterus would move around and hit a nerve in her back and make her drop to her knees at any given time during the day. The pain was so immense for her that she stopped going anywhere, she didn't even want to leave the house to get groceries - so like in your case, she didn't really have a choice. It was either live with the pain or have the hysterectomy.

Well, even though she was in her 50's at the time she hadn't started menopause yet. After the hysterectomy she was thrown into menopause - no gradual process that most women experience. So you will have all the effects of menopause as a side effect of the hysterectomy. Make sure that you talk to your doctor about hormone replacements now so that you can find the right dosages of whatever you decide to take. It took my mom awhile to find the right dosage. She would feel dizzy from what she took and then stop taking it and then have the sever mood swings and hot flashes so start taking it again, until I told her to talk to her doctor to get it under control (my mom's a little bit stubborn :)

None of the menopausal side effects are necessarily bad, you just need to be aware of them so that you are not surprised by them. Also so you are taking active steps to control them.

Take care and God bless,

Mel

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

My mom had something similar. My brother was a c-section and then she had an eptopic pregnancy and was cut open in the same place, and then a hystorectomy for which she was cut open again. Last year they looked at some pain she was having and found that her ovaries, bladder, and bowels were all fused together with scar tissue. They went in, larposcoptically, and scrapped away a lot of the tissue. She is a teacher and was out for am month or so, but was ready to go back before they orriginally thought she'd be ready to, so that was good. The only thing I think you'd really have trouble with is lifting the 3-year-old. You can't lift anything heavy for a while so if you can wait until he's a bit older, it might help you some.
Good Luck!

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P.A.

answers from Columbus on

C., I had to have a hysterectomy at 29 it did stop the sever pain I was having.
But the surgery it self went fine but the side effects later were hard to deal with, trying to get the right hormone medication was the hard part. If I had to do over I would have tried to just deal with the pain.

K.P.

answers from Portland on

I have'nt personally had experience with this but my mother in law had the exact same problem only by the sound of it hers was worse she also had organs being stuck to each other by scar tissue he colon was stuck to her uterus and her bladder was stuck to her abdominal wall and something else i can't remember but she used to bleed really heavy clots the size of her fist No joke..anyway my point is that she went to have a hysterectomy and they were only able to due a partial due to all the scar tissue but she no longer is in pain nor does she bleed...Check into it as much as you can before hand but i think if the pain is bad enough that it bothers you than you should probably do it on the other hand recovery sucks!!!(my mom had a hysterectomy in 2000). Good luck with your decision..wish i could help more...

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E.W.

answers from Dayton on

I would get a second opinion. My mother was told the same the thing and she went for a second opinion. The Dr. was able to come up with other options for her. She did have surgery, but not a complete hysterectomy. They went in and did a partial and they cut of the blood supply to the rest of scar tissue. She's doing tons better and has been doing so for over a year. She's a completely different person now. She doesn't have any pain. :-) Her second Dr. told her not to have all of her ovaries removed. Even a sliver of one will provide enough hormones to prevent early menopause and the need for HRT. Good luck and I hope my answer helps. ~ E.

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D.O.

answers from Cleveland on

I'm 48 and just had a complete hysterectomy in April using the DaVinci Robotics Technique. I have had endometriosis for 20 years, ovarian cysts, and 11 uterine fibroids! My daughter are adopted, so reproduction was not an issue....and now I wish I had done this 10 years ago! I feel better than ever!And I was back to work in 3 weeks! You'll be surprised to discover how much chronic pain you've put up with once its gone! I take a daily estrogen tablet and have not had any menopause symptoms.....for me, this was definitely the right answer! Good Luck!

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C.B.

answers from Cleveland on

If the scar tissue and adhesions are due to endometriosis, get a second opinion. I suffer from stage IV endo and have tried to look into many different options to control my pain. With endo, a hysterectomy (especially a complete one) is hardly ever a cure as the disease comes back with HRT. If it is endo, then I would suggest contacting the Endometriosis Association (http://www.endometriosisassn.org/) for more info.

If it's not endo, I still suggest a second opinion and more research. 31 is awfully young to have to go on HRT for the rest of your life.

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L.K.

answers from Columbus on

has he mentioned just trying to remove scar tissue?or is it such that this cant be done

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T.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

I had Endometriosis, and a pre-cancerous tumor. Scar tissue made it very difficult to get pregnant. After I had my boys, everything was taken out.
If I had known then, what I know now, I would have never have done it. There are products that will take care of the scar tissue and make a hysterectomy unnecessary, like GDU. www.danielchapterone.com

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L.H.

answers from Cleveland on

C.,
I just had a complete hysterectomy in Dec. due to scar tissue and severe endo. Let me tell you, it was the best thing that I have ever done. I feel so much better. All of my pain is gone and I finally have the energy that I had been lacking for so many years. Just a few words: keep on top of your pain and follow the dr's orders to a tee. Make sure that you have some help and you should be fine. SInce they took everything I do now take Premarin everyday for the hot flashes, that began w/in 24 hours after having my surgery. I spent 3 1/2 days in the hospital and it took a good 6-8 weeks to start doing all of my "normal" routines.
Best of luck and please feel free to email if you have any further questions.
L.

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E.W.

answers from Cleveland on

Before any surgery get a second opinion. My sister in law had a hysterectomy due to endometriosis. They left one ovary to make sure she did not go through severe menopause. I know a woman who was young like you and had a total hyst. and it was real hard on her. DO your homework and get another opinion.

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L.M.

answers from Cleveland on

Hi C., I had the exact same problem, but I had a partial hysterectomy about 1 1/2 years ago and I haven't had any problems. I had c-sections too and that's why I got the scar tissue. The only thing that happened that scared me was I had a period about 3 months ago, but the doctor said not to worry because it happens to some people, but if it keeps happening and I don't like it then he could do some kind of procedure where he would burn it to make it stop. Other then that, I haven't had any problems. I don't feel the pain that I used to have although I do have some, but that's because I also have fibromyalgia so I'm always in pain, but at least that pain is gone. Good luck! I hope everything works out for you.

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