My experience with hysterectomy and castration (oophorectomy – removal of the ovaries) began in October of 1975, long before information was easily available on the Internet, and in a time when any kind of warning about this surgery was virtually non-existent, and when a doctor’s recommendation was rarely questioned. With that said…
The trauma done to a woman’s life, from hysterectomy and castration, is not something any woman truly wants her friends and acquaintances to know about her. Many women solve this problem by insisting they don’t have any resulting problems. This, in turn, makes those of us who tell the ugly truth appear to be nothing but neurotic kooks.
In all fairness, some of these women may not be intentionally denying the truth. They may simply be uninformed about the numerous potential consequences of this surgery, even though they might be suffering from many of them. During the first 11 years, this was my experience. In spite of the fact that I was going from doctor to doctor, trying to find out “what’s wrong,” it never occurred to me that all of the seemingly unrelated problems I was living with had been caused by this destructive surgery.
Finally, I started learning the truth: I was stuck with this “disabled” existence for the rest of my life. At first, I was overwhelmed with anger at the gynecologist who had told me this surgery was absolutely necessary, without telling me I would be left with numerous, unfixable problems. Eventually, I put the anger on a shelf in my mind, and became determined to warn other women and the men who love them.
Hysterectomy and Castration Consequences: Sounding the Alarm
Fairly quickly, I discovered that my truthful warning was almost always met with indifference, disbelief and sometimes ridicule, even with family and friends. I also learned that this was a common reaction, experienced by many others, who also tried to share truthful warnings. I finally decided that, with rare exceptions, I would share the warning in a written pamphlet, and I would do so anonymously. Maybe this was cowardly of me, but it was the decision I made, partly because I needed to get on with my life, as best I could. I had a business to run, so I didn’t have the time or energy to “go public” or become a crusader.
And then, there was the medical establishment to contend with. They make billions from this surgery and its aftermath. Consequently, they work very hard to keep the general public uninformed, and they’ve done a very good job of it for decades. To make matters worse, any woman who seeks help for problems, following hysterectomy and castration, is told that the problems are all in her head, and she should see a psychiatrist. I know this from my own 11-year experience, as well as hearing it from many other victimized women.
If it were men having problems, after their sex organs had been amputated, they would be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the same respect is not extended to women. When it comes to women, in spite of the fact that we have been anatomically altered and psychologically shattered and sexually neutered, doctors tell us the resulting problems are all in our head. Sadly, this same destructive surgery and the same belittling attitude from doctors afterward still happens to hundreds of thousands of women each and every year. When will it end?
Hopefully, the next Generation Can Step Up
Quite often, I remind myself that it took women over 70 years of pleading and reasoning and persecution and suffering jail time before we were finally granted the right to vote. Some fights for justice and equal treatment take a long time. That’s reality.
Even though this fight must go on, there’s not too much I can do anymore. After 40 years of enduring the damaging consequences of hysterectomy and castration, my physical strength is almost completely gone, to the point that I can barely function. These days, I jokingly describe myself as a physically broken-down old mule with a sparkling personality and a sharp-as-ever mind. It helps if I can laugh about it.
I will never stop caring about the millions of uninformed, unsuspecting women who represent the next potential “crop” of victims, but I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. It’s time for me to leave this struggle in the hands of younger women, and hope they can finally succeed in putting a stop to this legal assault on women.
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THE HYSTERECTOMY RACKET HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER A CENTURY…
Fabricating cancer to trick women into radical hysterectomies is rife in the gynaecological industry in the Western World..
Doctors are the biggest scammers of all.. They scam the public into vaccines, dangerous drugs, radiation filled tests and unnecessary surgeries…
WHEN WILL THE GOOD DOCTORS WARN AND INFORM THE PATIENTS RATHER THAN PROTECT THE MEDICAL SCAMMERS….
Get embolized. Known as UFE. It works fantastic to shrink fibroids and resolve heavy bleeding. Get the best Interventional Radiologist you can find and avoid GYN surgeons as they only recommend hysterectomy even though this procedure, performed outside their specialty, has an 85% satisfaction rate. This fact is in medical journals and can be found on Medscape, a doctor’s website. They know and refuse to disclose due to revenues. Why else would this be omitted?
I am scheduled for a hysterectomy on July 6th. I an 44yrs old. I have been avoiding hysterectomy for many years. I have had “female problems” since I was in my 20’s, with endometriosis and a retroverted uterus. Despite that, after 3yrs of trying and having given up, I had two children, back to back, 13 months apart, who will make 21 & 22 later this year. I had a tubal ligation after my 2nd child, thinking I did not want anymore children. I was 24. Within 10yrs I had come to regret that decision and my husband had always been opposed to it, but I made the decision based on unresolved marital issues at that time that I was very emotional about; and, being afraid of having more children if the marriage didn’t last financial concerns, and some difficulty during both pregnancies with toxemia, blood sugar issues, skin issues with a rare rash that occurs during pregnancy, preterm labor . . . It was an emotional decision not well-thought out long-term. At any rate, after my 2nd child was born, the endometriosis did not improve as I had hoped. I had horrible, painful long menstrual cycles, chronic pelvic pain, and also had a prolapsed uterus at that point. Back then, doctor’s performed uterine suspension surgery to lift and reposition the uterus, so I had an exploratory surgery that included a uterine suspension, removal of scar tissue and adhesions, and cysts from my ovaries. Now, 20yrs later, I have uterine fibroids tumours. I have known about the tumours about 3yrs now, and hoped they might improve but they have only gotten bigger and are causing extreme, severe bleeding during menstruation, anemia (that has now resolved with multivitamins and additional iron supplements) and chronic daily pain that has been debilitating and brought on depression. My uterus is greatly enlarged and distended and I look to be about 7months pregnant. 6 tumours are visible on ultrasound, the two largest being about 10cm each, one in my lower abdomen and the other in my back. They are described as the size of big oranges, down to hold ball size, and to be both inside and outside the uterus. The pressure on my bladder and colon causes the same issues that many women have during pregnancy, as well as is compressing veins that are causing improve circulation from the large vein that runs from my groin down my inner thighs and legs down to my feet and sometimes causes severe swelling in my legs and feet. Interestingly, despite all the symptoms and depression and chronic pain, my sex life with my husband is still fairly active, a few times a week, having found positions that do not cause pain despite my fibroids, and where I can still orgasm and help relieve pain actually. I have had doctor’s tell me since I was 25 that I needed a hysterectomy because of my chronic female issues. I have refused all this time, but now, with these 6 fibroids, it appears to be my only choice. I was wanting surgery to just remove the fibroids themselves, but was told the tumours are embedded too far inside the uterine walls and that since the tumours were both inside and outside the uterus, they would end up removing too much of my uterus for what was left to be “usable” even if I had a tubal ligation reversal as I want to do to try for that last ‘late in life baby’. After resisting, I finally have a pre op appointment with a Dr who is supposed to be a specialist and the only one who feels comfortable attempting to just remove the tumours and save my uterus, but can’t promise me anything. From the ultrasound, I am told my ovaries look “beautiful”. After reading all the information on this site about the issues following a hysterectomy, I am more scared then ever before to have one. I am starting to wonder if looking and feeling 7months pregnant and learning to live with the pain and discomfort from the tumours is worth it versus the issues involved after a hysterectomy. Everyone is saying that the uterus serves no other function than childbearing. That I am 44 with two kids in college, to be thankful for having experienced motherhood already and to just let my uterus go. That I will feel so much better when I no longer have a monthly cycle, and all the severe bleeding and clots and pain associated with my cycle are gone. That it is the only way to get rid of the fibroids for good and not have to worry about them growing back. That once you are done having children, and at 44 I am expected to be done, all having a uterus does is increase your chances for cancer to set in. And my best friend and both her sisters had hysterectomies, and so did my mother-in-law and her twin sister, and another dear friend. They all claim it is the best thing that ever happened to them. No complications, and it feels “liberating”, they feel “free” all their bleeding and severe cycles and pain associated with that gone. Everyone is encouraging me to just have the surgery, but just keep my ovaries. These women range in age from 40 – 67. I am so confused now. Disillusioned.
Mama Missy – I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Unfortunately, the temporary problem of fibroids and bleeding would be traded for a whole new set of permanent problems caused by hysterectomy. There are a lot of articles about hysterectomy on this site which can be found by using the search feature. It sounds like you’ve read some of them. The uterus and its ligaments have anatomical, skeletal, hormonal / endocrine and sexual functions. The ovaries oftentimes fail after the uterus is removed. Ovaries of intact women produce hormones their whole lives to keep all cells and organs healthy. Numerous medical studies have shown that female organ removal causes permanent and progressive harm. The latest one out of the Mayo Clinic shows that hysterectomy with ovarian “conservation” increases risk of heart disease and metabolic morbidity. There are a whole slew of increased health risks if the ovaries are removed or fail post hysterectomy. The non-profit HERS Foundation is a good resource for the after effects of hysterectomy.
I hope you can find a way to improve your health without the loss of any organs.
Medical workers call me hysterical because I tell the truth on what happened to me. They love calling me names, destroying my character and saying I need psychiatric help so the truth of criminal doctors who deliberately trick healthy women into these barbaric surgical atrocities against women will continue to be performed at alarming rates as they bring in billions of dollars to the greedy, corrupt system at the expense of women’s health and well-being. If one single person had told me of the long-term damage done by these surgeries, I wouldn’t have been caught dead near a gynecologist, let alone a hospital…
Yes, it is barbaric and evil mutilation of a woman, but so profitable to the gynecologist and hospital. Teaching hospitals are the most dangerous because lying to women and removing their reproductive organs is required for residents to graduate. Each resident must destroy the live of 75 to 100 women. The students need “practice” and live women are used as lab animals. They actually believe they are doing the woman a favor. Men, of course, are spared the “favor” of having their testicles and prostates removed and penis shortened. Ten per cent of men will get prostate cancer and under two per cent of women will develop reproductive cancer. It is evil to turn women into the disabled and in constant pain with weakened immune systems and more likely to actually get cancer in other parts of their bodies. Women need their hormones and ovaries and the uterus protects against heart disease with the hormone prostacyclin. I ask myself why medicine has become so evil for women? I struggle every day to live. I am disabled and in constant pain. I live on Advil and cannot sleep. And every day I regret my mutilation and believing the liars wearing white lab coats. I never had cancer. Beware doctors who give false clinical to get the interpretation they want from testng. I apologize to my body for not having protected it. I ask God’s forgiveness for having been tricked by lying gynecologists. Bottom line is that the medical butchers do not feel your pain nor do they care. I believe that in the end, God will judge these evil doctors and they will suffer greatly. They bring a curse upon themselves and their families. It has been years and I am still trying to get a copy of the consent for surgery that I was not allowed to touch or read. I was mentally impaired by a date rape drug given to me. Drugging a woman to obtain consent is a felony and is assault and battery and punishable by prison time and a large fine. Informed consent is impossible when the patient is sedated. If you are going to sue, do it right away. Don’t expect the doctors to have a conscience.
I am crying out for help. I had a total hysterectomy in 2012. The doctor
was only suppose to take my uterus, but he took everything. I am suffering from numerous physical problems. How ever it is this dark cloud hanging over me that is unbearable. Is it suicide if everything that makes you who you are is dead and the only thing that keeps you alive is being a prisoner in your own body. I am unable to function. I sit in a catatonic state. I can not imagine having to endure this HELL any longer. I almost scream sometimes, “it is physical, not mental”. Doctors don’t even know how to treat you, so they write you off as if you have some mental defect. Its a damn doctor that did this to me and he did it for the money, what a bastard. He killed me. I’m not going to heal from this, the end of this misery comes when you die. This is not fair to my children!!!!!!!! it is a struggle not to hate the person that did this to me. Then to know that he did it for the money without any consideration of how I am affected. He is not a doctor, he is a monster. Is there anything I can do? any medication that will alleviate this pain. I ask God, why did you let this happen to me? am I a horrible person? getting what I deserve. Don’t you love me? It is said “God will not put more on you than you can handle. I cant handle this any longer. I pray every night that God will just let me die. Then my heart breaks for my children. They still need me, however, they need the person I was, not the person I have become. This is not how I want to be remembered.
Dear Chris – It breaks my heart to hear the desperation in your “cry for help.” I remember how it was to feel like that. I am so sorry to tell you that there is no miracle cure. Once the organs have been amputated, the damage is done, and there’s o way to fix it.
Many years ago, I came to the conclusion that the only way I would survive this “disabled” existence was to SUCK IT UP AND LIVE BRAVE. This has been my motto ever since. It’s the one secret weapon I can share with you.
I truly believe that half the battle is attitude. It’s not always easy, but you CAN survive, and you can have a good life. I wish you the best.
I really feel sorry for you ! Your story is almost same like mine . I feel like doctors just want to make money, they don’t care about us, ours emotions, ours sex live , they just don’t care . And will lie to patient that everything will be alright after surgery . I had suicide thought …. I felt so lonely , nobody could understand my concerns and my stress about my life after hysterectomy.
I wish you well and be strong for your children !
Same betrayal happened to me by a female gynecologist and a resident getting credit for mutilation by davinci robot in a teaching hospital like the University of Chicage Medicine, the most dangerous place for an intact woman to be. To graduate each resident must destroy and mutilate 100 women gutting them of their sex reproductive hormone secreting organs. I was given a strong date rape drug gabapentin like strong Xanax that I was told was only to help me relax. There was no informed consent of life after the horrible mutilation they had planned for me that I never consented to. Something was read to me super fast that my impaired and slowed mind could not comprehend. I had been promised I could read the consent, but that did not happen. One of them started reading and I stopped her saying that is all wrong and did not sign anything. I foolishly assumed my wishes would be honored and they saw me as more than a piece of meat. I was severely gutted in a radical hysterectomy that left me with nerve pain, disabled and needing canes and a power chair. The more they remove, the more money they and the hospital makes. I said only the uterus can be removed, but the ovaries and everything else stays. If I had known that the uterus and ovaries depend on the same blood supply and that four ligaments that hold the pelvis together with the uterus would be severed and pelvis spread and stress my spine and hip joints, I would have stumbled off the gurney and escaped. Without estrogen, discs of the vertebrae degenerate causing nerve pain and only a narcotic can relieve the pain, which they refuse to give because there is too much paperwork involved. I think most gynecologists are evil and greedy. Bottom line is they don’t care. I am sorry what happened to you and pray that this evil barbaric surgery stops. These gynecologists will one day answer to God for their lies and bullying and horrible mutilations and destruction of women. This surgery was invented by men in their envy of women and their uterus that enabled them to give life. The uterus is called the second heart and secretes a hormone prostacyclin that protects the heart and brain. The uterus communicates with the ovaries. The equivalent surgery is not done on men of removing their testicles and gonads, prostate, and shortening the penis to prevent the small risk of cancer. Stay strong. You are still you although damaged and lacking hormones. You still have an important purpose in life.
Dear Sharon – Sorry to be so slow in responding. The past couple of weeks, I’ve been dealing with another serous health issue; even in the hospital for a few days.
I just now noticed your comments. It appears you have a good attitude toward everything. Years ago, I decided the only thing I could do was to “suck it up and live brave.” I also searched for natural products that might help some of the problems. Check out my “Confessions Of A Castrated Woman” article. It’s part of my survival approach.
Even though it ain’t easy, you can survive! I’ve done it for 40 years. I wish you the best.
I really feel your pain and anger. In simple words–I want my body back. My depression went from moderate to severe. What they don’t tell us is that problems increase exponentially as time goes by. Life is almost unbearable sometimes.
Yes, we are looked upon as “whiners”; even by other women! That hurts most of all. I often wonder if I can live the rest of my life in this alien body and so try to find things that might help to bear with the shell of a woman I now am. I received no instructions on pelvic floor exercises, no discussion of any estrogen replacement (I found an herbal mix after discussing this with my pain management doctor which has helped somewhat)–I was just left with the usual 3 month follow up.
Really the only thing we can do now is to help other women make INFORMED choices. When asked why they have to remove ALL our female organs, most doctors reply “because it’s always been done that way. It’s the ‘gold standard’ of treatment”. To that I quote Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (worked on UNIVAC and inventor of COBOL programming) who said:
“The most damaging phrase in the language is: `It’s always been done that way.”
I had no idea women who have undergone oophorectomies have similar experiences to men who have undergone orchiectomies. Although it was medically necessary to have testicles removed, I didn’t quite understand what the effects of being castrated would be. Through complications and then medical insurance problems I did not have access to testosterone replacement therapy for some time after the operation. The effects were depression, hot flashes, weight gain, muscle loss, total loss of libido. For 18 months I was essentially a Eunuch (incapable of desire, erections, etc.) Eventually, HRT, became possible and I began the slow climb to being a man again. But, I won’t forget the “eunuch months”.
Please be careful using synthetic HRT long-term. Both my sister and sister-in-law both developed HRT related breast cancer as told by an oncologist at the best cancer hospital in Melbourne… Before Birth Control Pills, HRT and Mammograms breast cancer was 1 in 40 according to Dr Mendelsohn. After those products were introduced it is now 1 in 8.. Please research the truth…
Dear WS – I share your frustration in trying to sound the alarm about the life-long consequences of hysterectomy and castration. It never ceases to amaze me that women tend to believe anyone and everyone except those of us who care enough to warn them. However, my Sweetheart reminded me that if only two of every hundred women who read our warnings are saved from the misery we know to be true, it will have been worth our efforts.
Staying positive can help a woman survive the numerous after effects, but it can never fix or eliminate them. They simply have to be endured – a crappy situation, I agree!
Your articles are wonderfully researched and detailed. I encourage any woman searching for information to read every one of them.
A very poignantly written article! My anger at having been tricked into this surgery is still there after 10 years, albeit at a lower level. I doubt it will ever completely dissipate since the effects are 24×7 and new ones continue to crop up.
There was a point when I realized I had to accept this and make the best of a crappy situation. But, like you, I can and will continue to warn other women. I have been accused of not being positive enough as if that would have prevented the fall-out from this destructive surgery. This is from women who encourage others to have their parts removed versus encouraging them to seek treatments that will preserve their vital organs. I don’t get that mentality!
I have also written about hysterectomy and oophorectomy here on HormonesMatter. My articles can be found here https://www.hormonesmatter.com/author/ws/.
Thank you VERY MUCH !!!! ! I did not had good feelings about going under total hysterectomy for fibroid . I saw 3 doctors and none of them even consider to have different approach since I am 50 y.o. Your website encourage me to do more researches , be strong and find a doctor who respect my wish to keep my uterus. Thank you for your website !