Surgery in withdrawal, terrified!

[Milkshake]

Would be so grateful if anyone can offer any advice or information, feeling really desperate. I've been in protracted wd for over 2 and a half years now, following a cold turkey from Prozac 20mg daily which I took for 20 years. Hadn't a clue about weaning, neither had my GP. Reinstatement, a 4 day trial of Zoloft 50mg, 1 day Mirtazipine, caused severe adverse reactions. Then I was put on Lorazapam for 3 months, made things unbearable. I have been med free for a long while now, have seen slow slow progress, windows and waves. Still have lots of symptoms, inner vibrations, anxiety, extreme fatigue and weakness, inability to sleep more than a few hours, adrenalin rushes, blurred vision, DR, etc, etc. I was just about coping but now disaster has struck. Due to extreme dysfunctional bleeding since March, total hysterectomy is being suggested. After being so anti meds I am now having to take 15mg Progesterone daily to slow bleeding, this is spacing me out more and making my hair fall out! These hormones can't be used indefinitely. I have had tests, ultrasound, Pap smear, biopsy, dysfunctional bleeding and probable adenomyosis is diagnosed. Really needing some help here, has anyone had surgery in withdrawal? How on earth would the anaesthetic and pain meds affect you? What would be the safest drugs to have? I would so much appreciate some replies, very scared right now. Hugs. Xxxxxxx

[Iggy131313]

yay! you made it!! so glad your here. xxx

[Milkshake]

Love to you Iggy, keep going, it will get better and better, I know. This sure as hell is one test for us. Xxxxxx

[Sheila]

Welcome, Milkshake. Uy, it sounds like you have been going through a terrible ordeal.

My personal choice for me would be to try to preserve my uterus and avoid surgery, since I would think that the extreme bleeding and adenomyosis were temporary conditions caused by neuro-endocrinological chaos. I would probably try to manage the conditions with mega-dose supplements and possibly hormones. I feel I need to say this just to give you the option.

But, I am not a doctor, and it sounds like you have been in an extreme situation for a long time, and I fully support your choosing surgery. I do not know a lot about anesthesia and surgery-related meds. We do have one member who has researched this extensively, and you might try pm-ing her. But she is not well and may not be able to reply. That's Samsara.

I think what she did was have a meeting with the anesthesiologist before the surgery, and talk together about how to give her the lightest possible dose of all the surgery drugs including the anesthesia.

I think that they use lighter doses for surgery with elderly people and you can use that as an example when you talk to the doctors. Also, do not expect them to understand withdrawal, but you can tell them you have a form of “dysautonomia” and need the least medications possible.

Sending you healing energy!

[Luc]

Hello, Milkshake! Welcome to IAWP. Sheila has given you some great advice, especially about the anesthesiologist - there are indeed options of minimizing the impact of drugs during surgery (if you decided to have one of course). You just need to talk to them prior to it. Stay strong!

[stan]

hello Milkshake,

i will say a little as Sheila, verify with another profesional who is not runing after money, that you really need the hysterectomy, do keep in mind that psychotropics drugs create acute disease which do not exist and vanish with time; you were long time on drugs, 20 years, so it is normal to have incredible symptomes(some have diabetes during WD which goes away later, blood pressure)
in France doctor abuse excessive this surgery, many patient do not need to make it, but the doctors earn much money with surgery; there are some trials in France about;
a hysterectomy is much money for the doctor, the same in France with prostate surgery abuse

[Milkshake]

Thank you to everyone for taking time to write, I'm so delighted to find people that understand! At the moment trying to remain positive, push thoughts of the op to the back of my mind. We have three kids, trying to do my best for them and run the house, take them out, etc. This is very difficult when you are completely knackered, weak and hurt all over! Oh well, got to make the best of it. In my ignorance, just after the c/t, I was thinking I may have a low mood to contend with for a short while. Little did I know how this stuff affects almost every bodily function and alters brain chemistry. I ran a retail business full time before the descent into hell, now it takes me all my strength to get the kids ready and off to school. What's done is done, hey. The blow is that I was feeling a lot more stable last year, having windows of near normality. Then this dysfunctional bleeding began last September, for 3weeks. Nothing till Dec, then another 3 weeks. March, it just went crazy and wouldn't stop, hospitalised, housebound, etc. Yet hormone tests don't show menopause, I am 48. If only all this wasn't going on, on top of the other symptoms, I could just about cope. Still, got the kids out today, did what needed to be done. Sending lots of love to everyone , thank you for caring! Xxxxxxxxx

[Milkshake]

Oh, guess I'm trying to do as much with the kids as possible because I feel like a condemned person. Hoping to get through the summer holiday on the Norethisterone, but they cannot be taken for too long. Come September or thereabouts , something will probably have to be done. I have all the withdrawal fears, think I may die under anaesthetic or become so ill, totally unable to function. I've read stories of healthy people who have been knocked on their back by hysterctomy, permanently in pain afterwards. Yet nothing will stop this bleeding, it's every day. The tablets slow it. Lets make the most of today, however rough it is! Love. Xxxxxxx

[Sheila]

Awww, I’m so sorry your life has become a descent into hell because of Prozac w/d. And it is very disheartening when one becomes *less* stable as time goes on. Sometimes, this happens for reasons we cannot identify. But, let me ask you to think – did anything happen last August or September that was different? A big change in your life? Change in supplements?

A lot of women have haywire menstrual cycles because of w/d. Young women may stop menstruating, PMS can be extreme, etc. If you had a tendency to endometriosis before, it can become worse. I remember one woman’s hormone test said she was pregnant (not) one month, and then in menopause (not) the next.

Yeah, I don’t know much about progesterone, either, but I was going to caution you about that too. I think what I remember is that bio-identical cream rubbed on your abdomen in very small amounts is safest. Because we can stockpile progesterone if we keep taking it over time. Also, your liver is probably not breaking things down as usual, so it can build up in your system for that reason too.

So, let me ask you. Might it be possible to just live with the bleeding for awhile and not do anything about it? Get a lot of iron in your diet and just bleed? I have read of women with mystery bleeding with *no* exposure to meds, who just lived like that. It’s weird and inconvenient, but if it doesn’t hurt and you are otherwise healthy, why not?

[Luc]

Here are some links I have come across, Milskshake. If you find them useful, keep googling more on it:

http://www.theteamwork.com/health/20...therapies.html

http://books.google.pl/books?id=UREH...myosis&f=false

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8372144


In many sources, it is advised to go the "watchful waiting" way. The symptoms quite often eventually end on their own - your body is able to heal itself.

Apart from the things in the links above, our mind is a powerful weapon, too. Being in WD, especially a severe one, it's so difficult to believe, but, if I were you, I would also try doing positive affirmations every single day, starting with three times a day, be it even a minute. Close your eyes, visualize the process of healing taking place. Then add more minutes, and do it more often. We will be sending you the Healing Energies regularly as well.

Ps You need to also remember that the more you will be improving from WD, the stronger your body will be getting to heal itself on all possible levels.