41 and CAN'T Sleep after starting Hormone Therapy

[Ier]

Hello, I'm 41 and underwent a total hysterectomy 1 month ago. The Dr. started me on the patches right away. I just can't sleep! This is driving me nuts since I'm a teacher and need my rest. I look horrible and feel exhausted. Is that a side  effect of the patches? Yesterday I was desperate and removed it to see what happens for a week or so. What can I do? I am desperate and of course do not want to age early nor break a leg if tripping on the street. Help!

[ipurr2]

I too went through this after a complete hysterectomy...your hormones need some adjusting as well as your body in regards to adjusting to castration...this truly does change your endocrine system as all things are connected...so the signals from the body systems have now been messed with and now have to re-adjust and figure things out...for me...I ended up trying all the different bio-identical hrt...the progesterone made me depressed, the testosterone agitated...my body love estrogen and can't get enough of it, which is not surprising as estrogen affects more then just our female organs...it affects everything from our brain to our heart and everything else...in time things will settle down, but you need to find a dr. who specializes in hrt...and get all your hormones separate so you can adjust them just one at a time...allow a good 2-3 weeks before "tweaking" again because it takes that long to adjust to the change...then you can go from there...most critical for me was getting my estrogen up to a good level...good luck...it could be bumpy for a little while, but things will calm down in time.

[old_before_my_time]

Disrupted sleep was one of the first symptoms to manifest after my hysterectomy. Since you were started on the patch, I assume your ovaries were removed. Ovary removal is a severe trauma to the entire endocrine system. Estrogen can help mitigate some of the onslaught but it can take some trial and error to find the right product and dose. There are many options to try - patches, gels, pills, vaginal ring. I hope you find something to help you sleep and address any other symptoms that appear!