Had Bilateral Oophorectomy. Severe Hot Flashes. Have Heart Surgery. Over Weight And Legs Hurt. What To Do?

Posted on Wed, 2 Oct 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 2 Oct 2013 Answered on

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I had a bilateral oophorectomy XXXXXXX 2011- and a removal of my lining of the uterus, I am 51_ severe hot flashed- drink 4-6 hugn bottles of cold water, my social life is gone~ I continue to have left side pain, I weigh 106 and 5 foot tall- I have coronary heart disease , open heart surgery 3 bypasses , and also pad! They will NOT give me estrogen, I had a heart attack in march this year and they stented the bypass that did survive for 13 years! my legs continue to hurt and I have 2 stent ( one in each leg) I own a business but have not been back! it is humiliating to go any where because I cont to get dehydrated, people look at me as if I am terminally ill! now I am a fat PIG, 1 weigh 138- more than I ever weighed in my life! I am embarrassed to go places and carry a little fan at all times... I feel 100~ I want my metabolism back and my legs to quit hurting... I want estrogen and I am ticked because they promised , my quality of life SUCKS~ finally my cardiologist said he would tell them he will allow the estrogen but the GYN has to prescribe and he said NO.... HELP ` I WANT A OVARY TRANSPLANTED BACK IN MY BODY noW... one was working and he claims because I was 50"the warranty was expiring.. I dis agree because I know people older than me that it hasn't expired.. I would rather have a shorter life and go back to the life I loved... on top of this my digestive system is now SLOWWWW .. please tell me your opinion...yes I take bralinta, Toprol, insorbid, and a new cholesterol med and Effexor{ not sure if it is making me fat! but I can drink water and gain weight - I was a size 0-2 and now I am wearing 30 waist in jeans! I eat healthy and never over eat! if I go some where ,people claim they are freezing, my hair is wet and pouring sweat{they look at me like I am terminal... I want my life back
please respond , I can sleep and I am very stressed out living like this and not being able to go anywhere any more.. I am fed up and yes I am depressed for the dr promising hormones and then changed his mind after my surgery.

Answered by Dr. Chetna Jain (7 hours later)

it's very hard to tolerate menopause. these symptoms may last for upto 5 yrs . it's already 2.5 yrs since you had removal of both ovaries. Since estrogen can't be taken you may try taking isoflavones which are safe and mimic estrogen. they are available over the counter . regular yoga and meditation helps a lot. with time things will fall into place. waist size 30 is no big deal. half of all population is much larger than this. please ignore weight and focus on life style changes as you are too stressed and too young to have cardiac stents. try using TED stockings to make your legs comfortable . it will be good to consult a psychologist to get rid of stress. I understand that you want an immediate relief but in the absence of any the aforesaid will work good. may I suggest that you read - A monk who sold his Ferrari . best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar