Prepare for a long read, folks. I don’t want to omit any details in case anyone needs this particular information. Two weeks ago today, I got a hysterectomy. I want to share my experience because in my search to prepare myself, I found few personal accounts to draw comfort or information from. I’ve done a lot of research over the last few years leading up to this. I was hell bent on trying to naturally treat my symptoms and have learned much about the female body and cycle in the process. I was able to lessen the severity of my suffering via several alternative methods but ultimately it wasn’t enough. I’ll address my theory as to why later on.

First off, a little personal background on my own biology. I’m 43, have three kids ranging from 5-11, and I’ve had heavy periods since I began menstruating at the age of 12. My best description of heavy for me would be the need to wear an overnight pad and a super tampon at once. The technical definition is filling a pad or tampon within an hour.

Fast forward to last year. I began to have inexplicable digestive issues. I’ve always been a healthy eater and never overweight. I eat my veggies and avoid foods that have proven problematic for me (dairy, soy, caffeine, nuts, eggs). My sensitivities tend to show up on my skin, via eczema (which I cured through the removal of dairy), mild psoriasis on my scalp (which I cured via the removal of eggs and nuts), and acne (which I cured via the removal of soy and caffeine). Some of you may check out at this point because changing your diet isn’t fun. Unfortunately, natural healing doesn’t involve many quick fixes. I have a mental image of my inflamed body that leaves me disturbed enough to maintain willpower on this front, and I typically feel really good when I make the right choices. I try hard not to have all of my fulfillment come in the form of food. Having said that, I’m not a total party pooper and love me the occasional good pizza or burger. Back to the digestive issues. I started having severe stomach pain if I ate more than one meal and one snack per day. My solution was to fast until 1:00, eat lunch and then have a snack at 4:00. If I ate too much or things just didn’t sit right, I was up all night with what felt like trapped gas. I’d wake in the morning in the same state and that would last until I ate lunch. I stopped being able to have bowel movements without a laxative. Using laxatives consistently is unnerving. They can wreak havoc on your stomach and cause a dependency. Given this, I limited my laxative use to twice per week, in the form of Smooth Move Tea, which meant I was only pooping 2x per week. I could tell that my BM’s were shaped weird, flat on one side. To me, this indicated that something was pressing on my rectum. 

My periods became heavier with frequent clots larger than the size of quarters (this is the threshold for abnormal). The clots were consistent every time I used the restroom and often in-between. The heavy clotting began three years prior to the indigestion. My research at the time led to “estrogen dominance.” This is a very common phenomenon that most women (and a lot of men) are experiencing, even menopausal women. High estrogen is caused by excess weight, crummy diet, and smoking. In addition, there are estrogens all over our environments- pesticides, hormones in meat, beauty products, cleaning products, plastics, soy, and our drinking water. Water has residual hormones from all the women who use hormonal birth control or hormone replacement therapy. When they urinate and flush, that water gets processed back into drinking water and the filtration process does not remove hormones. Gross. Estrogen dominance doesn’t necessarily mean that you have too much estrogen. It can also indicate that your estrogen and progesterone are out of balance. Estrogen and progesterone have an inverse relationship when imbalanced. When one is high, the other is low, and vice versa. There are multiple ways that our estrogens can result in that imbalance. You can have low estrogen and still be estrogen dominant because of lower progesterone levels (as is the case for many post-menopausal women). Excess estrogens feed all of our uterine abnormalities- clotting, fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, polyps, cysts, heavy periods, painful periods, etc.

There’s another really important cause of excess estrogen and low progesterone, and it’s something a lot of us experience all the time, especially during this pandemic! Stress. The adrenal glands not only create cortisol (the stress hormone) but also progesterone. When under stress, the body foregoes progesterone production in favor of cortisol production, so even if your estrogen levels were alright, the lowered progesterone will create estrogen dominance, because remember, it’s all about that balance! Note- this will disappoint many of you, but if you aren’t sleeping well and you’re a coffee drinker, you’re likely creating too much cortisol and thus estrogen dominance. Try decaf or discontinue coffee for one week per month. Caffeine builds up in our systems over time. Give it a minute to work its way out. Telltale caffeine issue- waking during the night and not being able to fall back asleep. It doesn’t matter if it’s one cup at 6 A.M. If you’re having sleep woes, listen to your body and be kind to it. Krill oil supplements can help with PMS and painful periods, in addition to restful sleep. Taking krill and magnesium together before bed can do wonders for a good night’s rest, estrogen dominance or not.

Signs of estrogen dominance are: 

Heavy, painful periods

Clotting

Bloating

Weight Gain

Fatigue

Hair Loss

Night Sweats

Anxiety

Brain Fog

Irritability

Decreased Sex Drive

Irregular Periods

Worsening PMS Symptoms

Difficulty Sleeping

Mood Swings

Whoa, right? Note, these are symptoms of many things, so don’t assume, see a doctor (holistic preferably), do your research, get a Dutch test, bloodwork, etc. My symptoms were heavy, painful periods, clotting, bloating, brain fog, fatigue, hair loss, decreased sex drive, and worsening PMS. Of course, being constipated causes a number of those. In addition, heavy periods can cause anemia, which I’ve struggled with since I was 12. That alone can cause fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, low blood pressure/dizziness, etc. It’s important to note that as counterintuitive as it may seem, anemia actually increases the flow of your cycle. You’d think your body would know to hang onto blood when you’re struggling with anemia, but it does the opposite. If you’re loopy, dizzy, and tired, get your iron levels checked. It’s a simple, inexpensive test any doctor can order.

When I determined that my clotting was due to estrogen dominance, I got to work trying to determine how to decrease those estrogen levels. I’d already removed all sources of environmental estrogens from my life years prior, aside from drinking water, because who’s going to invest in a whole house water filtration system that removes hormones? I did a lot of things but I’ll only list what worked. I began a supplement called DIM (dinndolylmethane). This is a compound naturally produced by the body when you digest cruciferous vegetables (think broccoli and brussel sprouts). DIM digests excess estrogens from the body. It does not take away the good estrogens or too much estrogen from your body. There are actually several types of estrogens, good and bad. DIM removes those excess, bad, environmental estrogens. With the amount of estrogens in our environments and modern diets, you’d need a hell of a lot of broccoli to do this naturally. I already ate a shit ton of broccoli on the regular and I was still passing large clots like nobody’s business. The first month I took DIM daily, by month’s end, I had zero clots in my next cycle. Impressive results. My breasts also got larger and perked up to their pre-breastfeeding state. Equally impressive. You’re already on Amazon, aren’t you? Before you start downing DIM like TicTacs with dreams of porn star boobs, let me share some must know details about it. First of all, our excess hormones and environmental hormones are excreted via our bowel movements. If you aren’t pooping daily when not on DIM, you likely already have a hormone imbalance. But when you’re turbocharged sloughing off excess estrogen, it’s imperative that you poop every day. If those feces don’t make their way out of your system in a timely fashion, you will re-uptake those hormones. Whaaaat? I know. Shitty, literally and figuratively. So, do not take DIM unless you can poo or are willing to figure out how to get things moving. Suggestions: buy a natural fiber drink supplement. I like Bellway. Drink half your body weight in water, in ounces. Example- if you weigh 100 pounds, drink 50 ounces. Add 8 ounces for each cup of coffee, tea, or workout. Add 2 tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds (use a coffee grinder, pre-ground are often rancid- read: inflammatory/unhealthy) to smoothies or coconut yogurt. Add a probiotic to your diet, kefir, and kombucha. Have a few tablespoons of sauerkraut or kimchi with your meals. Less red meat, more veggies and leafy greens, berries, chia seeds, healthy fats, etc. If you’re already doing all of these things and you’re still constipated, you need to see someone. That was me. I’ll go into what was going on soon. At the point in time when I first tried DIM, I was not constipated. I had one negative symptom from the DIM and that was tender breasts at the time of ovulation, for one week. This was something I’d never experienced before. It concerned me enough that I discontinued DIM after that month. I was worried that while fixing one problem, I may be inadvertently creating a different one. I’m still not 100% sure what caused this. Sore breasts can be a symptom of estrogen dominance, low progesterone, and high progesterone. As soon as I went off of DIM, my clotting returned. My breasts continued to be sore during ovulation but over time that dissipated, as in over the course of several months. When taking DIM it’s also important to take Calcium D Glucarate. This will help prevent you re-uptaking the sloughed off estrogen. Don’t skip it. I’ll share my favorite brands of these at the end of this article. (And, yes, my boobs have stayed 1 cup size larger and perky, even after discontinuing DIM).

Back to a year ago, right after COVID started and our lives got turned upside down. This is when my stomach issues and constipation began. I can now look at this and recognize that stress was the likely cause of my initial onset of symptoms, stress that caused more severe estrogen dominance than I already was experiencing. It’s interesting to note that I have a number of friends whose periods became outrageous as soon as COVID began. All stress, causing those adrenal glands to make cortisol instead of our beloved progesterone. I honestly enjoyed lockdown and have felt blessed to have this time with my children, but that doesn’t mean that toggling back and forth between their different school curriculums and my various businesses wasn’t stressful. Stress can be part of a happy life too. If you’re a mom, you’re stressed. And if you aren’t, congratulations. Write a book and tell us your superpower. I’m a smartass and also estrogen dominant. Anyway, the digestion issues had me self-diagnosing. My assumption was that I was growing uterine fibroids that were pressing on my rectum, causing the trapped gas and infrequent BM’s. Sounds logical, right? I decided to finally go to the doctor and get some confirmation. At this point, I’d eliminated gluten and sugar from my diet as well. I was hungry people. And nothing was helping. I was very anemic, dizzy every time I stood up, crazy low blood pressure (90 on a good day), brain foggy, exhausted, etc. My supplements were mass quantities of iron (which, BTW, totally don’t help in the constipation department), vitamin c, b12, magnesium (hoping to help me poo and sleep), zinc, DIM, Calcium D Glucarate, vitamin d, krill oil, and laxatives. I still felt like shit. I got an ultrasound which revealed adenomyosis. This is caused by….wait for it… estrogen dominance. No to fibroids, but yes to two uterine polyps. Adenomyosis is the name for a condition where the blood cells that grow inside of your uterus (the ones that produce the blood you lose during your cycle) start growing in your actual uterine muscle. They continue to produce blood within that muscle, which pools up in there, thickening your uterine muscle and creating even more blood loss. In addition, when you have polyps or other things growing inside your uterus, it can’t contract down efficiently and you end up with more blood loss during your cycles, clotting, etc. Adenomyosis may create an enlarged uterus, but not always. Some people will have no symptoms. In my case, it was enlarged. That was coupled with a tilted uterus (which you can be born with or can happen during childbirth, it can also self correct, who knew?) and it was indeed pressing upon my rectum. Follow your intuition people, do your research, and don’t take no for an answer. I had to go to four doctors to get down to business about this stuff. Adenomyosis, unlike fibroids, endometriosis, polyps, and cysts, is not curable via lifestyle changes because the blood cells are already growing where they don’t belong. I may have been able to reduce the swelling, but let’s face it, I’d done literally everything, given up all the things. The only thing left to do would’ve been to desert my family and move to an ashram. The stress of three kids under one roof during a time that you can’t let them outside to play because the neighbors might get COVID on them, is not taking leave no matter how much I meditate or do yoga, and who wants to do any of that when you have a belly full of week old shit?

Doctor number four listened to me, heard my interventions, heard my desperation, heard my aversion to taking any birth control (this is the number one traditional treatment for all things uterine and is known to cause breast cancer- no thanks), heard that I wasn’t interested in ablation (because 50% of women ultimately need a hysterectomy after undergoing it), heard my crazy diet and symptoms, and recommended a hysterectomy ASAP. My anemia levels, despite constant supplementation, were getting lower and lower. I just couldn’t keep up with the blood loss. Severe anemia is hard on your organs. It’s a lack of oxygen to all of your body, including your brain. I was going on 30+ years of this ailment. We both decided that the time for being a naturalist had passed, and we should get that lil’ bitch of a uterus out. Of course, I was nervous, not about the surgery, but about whether or not this would fix my digestive issues. I wouldn’t know for sure until it was said and done. I was terrified that I’d be altering my body forever and it wouldn’t be worth it, scared that I would have no idea what to try next if this didn’t work.

It’s been two weeks, as of today. I had laparoscopic surgery and retained my ovaries. This means my body will still produce the necessary hormones, and I will not enter menopause from the hysterectomy. I had three very small incisions, which I already can barely see. My uterus, fallopian tubes, and cervix were removed. Recent research shows that there is a reduced instance of ovarian cancer when the fallopian tubes are also taken. Keeping the cervix is unnecessary and creates more healing because they have to sever it. My vagina was sewn shut at the top and stitched in place to prevent future prolapse, via the scar tissue the stitches will create. Sex will be the same, orgasms will be the same. I’ve had an orgasm but no sex since the surgery (can’t do that until 6 weeks post op)… the orgasm was same as it ever was- all good, friends. 

A quick description of the surgery recovery. I had it on a Thursday, no reactions to anesthesia or pain meds (oxycodone). I used oxy on days 1 and 2. It was a goddamn dream. I slept away the pain. I stayed the night and went home the next morning (highly recommend this if you have needy little ones at home, I’ve still got an intermittent co-sleeper/snuggle buddy and didn’t want to get inadvertently kicked in the stomach). I chose to discontinue all pain meds on day 3 because I was anxious to see if I could go potty without a laxative. Day 3 and 4 were uncomfortable due to being med free and there was painful pressure in my pelvic region when I walked around or sat up. On day 5, I woke and had turned a major corner. I felt like I hadn’t even had surgery and my energy levels were stellar. I didn’t need to lay down or nap and had no pain. Note that I’m a weirdo and have a high pain tolerance. I take really good care of myself, coupled with an anti inflammatory diet and a can do attitude, so no guarantee that your recovery will mimic mine. I did notice that if I was too active, bending etc, I would have light bleeding. If that happened, I’d go lay down for an hour. Fast forward to week 2- I feel great and would never know I had surgery. You can’t lift things over 10 pounds, vacuum, or workout until 6 weeks post op. I resumed all normal activities, outside of those, after day 5. I’ll go back to work, doing hair, on week 3.

Here’s my take away. Please advocate for yourself. Before you get your uterus taken out, try a lil self-love. Know that even without your uterus, you can still be estrogen dominant and have some of the aforementioned symptoms. If your ovaries are in there, you still need to aim for balanced hormones. Remove those estrogens, take the DIM, and clean up your diet. I believe that if I hadn’t had adenomyosis (which I’m convinced I was born with due to the type of bleeding I’ve had from the onset), I could’ve healed my way out of this. I did have success, via supplements and diet, with lengthening my cycle. For a moment there it was 25 days with 7 days of bleeding. I was able to push it to 28 days (like clockwork) via the use of DIM and a curcumin/ginger supplement. Ginger has been shown to reduce flow by up to 40% if taken during your period. I can attest to this. My periods went from 7-9 days to 5, with only 2 of them being crazy heavy. That was allll ginger and curcumin. Everyone has different ideas about what constitutes a heavy flow based upon their own experiences. I personally was soaking a tampon and pad combo every hour for those 2 heavy days and having accidents during the night if I didn’t get up to change my tampon and pad/use the restroom at least 5 or 6 times per night. If your flow has changed significantly, go get checked out and take ginger with DIM, even if you aren’t having a technically heavy period.

Post op success: I’ve pooped every damn day since I had that surgery! Every morning like clockwork, which is how I used to be in the good ole’ days. Zero laxatives necessary. I can eat three meals per day again with no indigestion or trapped gas sensations! I can sleep all night without stomach pain keeping me up. I had lower back pain when I used to sleep on my tum. I now know that it’s because my uterus was pressing on my back. That’s gone. My iron levels will take a few months to raise… who even knows how I’ll feel then! I’m currently not experiencing what would’ve been another Godforsaken period right now. I can leave the house without shooting pains down my thighs, feeling like my uterus is going to fall out, or having to wear all black to camouflage an accident.

Sometimes you have to know when to just do the damn thing. I’m not a quitter but the idea of another decade of this had me throwing in the towel on trying to fix it myself. Heavy periods, long periods, painful periods, irregular periods, etc, are all indicative of hormonal imbalances. Our hormones have such a huge impact on our daily moods and bodily functions. Please have the self-love to do yourself right and know when you’ve done all you can. I follow a lot of holistic M.D.’s on social media and the guilt over feeling like I’d failed kept me from seeking help sooner. I still believe in natural remedies. Try those first and then do what needs to be done if they aren’t effective enough.

Angi

Note: I have zero medical training. Please talk to your physician prior to trying any of these things.

Fave Supplements:

DIM- Pure Essence Labs Breast D. It has Calcium D Glucarate in it already.

Vitamin D

Magnesium Threonate

Krill Oil

Vitannica Iron Extra (avoid supplements with folic acid- stick with methylated folate- google MTHFR for the reason why). This iron has methylated b12 and vit c in it already. They are necessary for absorption. Note: Do not take iron with caffeine or calcium, they block it’s absorption. Do not take iron if you are not diagnosed anemic. It is dangerous to have too much iron in your system.

Ginger/Curcumin combo pill