A. It is always a challenge to go through menopause at such an early age. However, if you were having night
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Sweating - absent 3 years ago, it is possible that the ovary that was just removed wasn’t producing as much estrogen as ovaries normally do and your symptoms might not worsen. Some women decide to go on low dose estrogen to help them with symptoms and estrogen can even help improve sex drive. Ask your doctor if that is a good thing for you to do. Testosterone is also available if sex drive gets low. Low dosages of testosterone are usually very helpful for low sex drive if your values are low and estrogen doesn’t work. Foods like soy and flaxseed can also be helpful. You can look for recipes and more info about alternatives to estrogen in my book The Soy Solution for Menopause from Simon and Schuster or on Amazon.com.
You also need to be aware that young women lose bone most rapidly in the first few years after menopause. Ask your doctor to do a bone density and get another one in the next year or two to be sure you aren’t losing calcium from your bones. Take a calcium supplement, about 1,000 to 1,200mg daily.
The good news is that things are likely not to get much more difficult than they are in the first few months after your hysterectomy was complete. If they do, discuss it with your doctor who should be able to help you. In the meantime, tell your male friends not to laugh at you. You’re going to be just fine.
Machelle M. Seibel, MD