Question about going off HRT before Surgery.

[Rachel Bellefountaine]

In 3 weeks I'll have to stop taking my HRT in preparation for surgery and I know that it will probably put me through an emotional roller coaster, but will it be long enough of a withdrawal to reverse any of the physical improvements that HRT has had on my body? If so which things are most likely to regress, and will the fact that I'm having my testosterone poison factories removed slow any of that down? Been a bit worried about this so I thought i'd ask.

[Ms Grace]

Speaking in part from experience, when I stopped HRT some years ago, did upset my stomach and I started lactating, but that was the most noticeable physical reaction. Did stop after a week or so. Didn't suddenly sprout body hair, hair didn't all fall out in clumps, no acne onset and getting wood was months and months away. In other words, took a fair while before the testosterone really kicked back in.

What I'm curious about having to stop HRT, for people who have pellets inserted it's not simply a matter of stopping the daily dose. Does the pellet have to be removed three weeks prior to surgery?

[mrs izzy]

The short 3 week time should not effect you that much.

You might see a little extra body hair then normal. (what happened to me)

Emotions is the other story. Some react to the T some do not.

Thing is the T level will fall of in about the same amount of time after your SRS and get things back to dead normal. You will start back up your E once you are back home per Dr. Brassards instructions. Fallow up with your Endo to make there adjustments.

Some report migraines. Some report Morning W.

Anyway it is all done for your health so you might have some dysphoria over the lack of HRT but it is such a short time i think you will be fine.

Isabell

[mrs izzy]

What I'm curious about having to stop HRT, for people who have pellets inserted it's not simply a matter of stopping the daily dose. Does the pellet have to be removed three weeks prior to surgery?

I think for these they know far enough in advance when there date is and make adjustments before hand.

Isabell

[Zumbagirl]

I do injections and have had to stop hormones each time I hopped on the operating table. Since I do weekly injections, maybe I am lucky in that it (the estrogen) sticks around longer I don't know, but I was okay. The only time I wasn't okay was immediately after SRS. I had major league hot flashes which went away as soon as I started on my estrogen again. Since I take injections, that would have meant taking needles across the border. I did not want my estrogen vial or my needles confiscated by an overly zealous border guard, so I left them home. That meant 3 weeks off before srs, and about 3 weeks afterwards. I have to be honest, I didn't see any difference. In all honesty after I was post-op for a day or 2, none of any this (being off hormones)mattered in the least bit at all.

All in all what I noticed was this. When I had FFS and had to be off hormones, I noticed more facial hair afterwards and that required more electro which wasn't fun on a newly operated on face. After SRS, I noticed nothing. I did notice an additional growth spurt a few months after surgery and I seemed to "fill out". Maybe it's all psychological because of the surgery, or it was real. Beats me, I didn't bother measuring anything. I just felt like I was still changing. When I had BA surgery, it was like nothing at all. I felt like I could have quit hormones and it wouldn't have mattered. My endo tells me that the hormones are important, so I believe him, but it didn't seem to bother me in the least. I didn't feel different one way or the other.

Hope that helps!

[calico]

I'll tell you my experience with the whole abstinence of hormones. By 3rd week I was having some emotional issues for sure in fact I had to walk away from a few people and take a breather, after srs apparently I was having some additional issues, major hot flash's and some panic type attacks so my surgeon said to get some patches to get my hormones  back up. I asked about the whole going off and he said that was mainly for pill and that patches and injectables/implant don't cause clotting / and are less likely for dvt.  I will say the hot flash's definitely were the worse thing,  bout 3 days back at the hotel I started feeling like I was freezing real bad, so bad that I turned the ac off, and was double covered up with blankets,  and was having cold sweats as well,  this was in Thailand in march/April,  and it definitely wasn't even near cool outside it was like 110 degrees,  this is when, well the nurse who made the room visits came in and saw what was happening to me and immediately called the Dr. And that was when she said he wanted me to get some patches, and well I was lucky because another person who was there had someone with them, and the nurse asked if they could get them for me,  and  that made me very grateful, about a day and a half I was feeling much better. 

As far as losing any of what I had,  didn't really notice and loss,  I did see some thickness of let hair come back but that was it. 

[Jenna Marie]

I didn't have any issues with things "reverting" except that my penis rebounded to its original length/thickness (which was pretty horrible at the time but did give the doctor more to work with). I had some hot flashes in the hospital after GRS, and that was probably the worst of it.  Oh, and my wife said I got that "man smell" back for a couple weeks, but that was only noticeable to someone like her who was cuddling with me and really familiar with the way it was before.

Having the T factories removed means your development will probably speed up afterward, too.

[Mirian]

My experience with this regard was really bad. I was asked to suspend EVERYTHING (both estrongens and
AA) one month before SRS to minimize risk of blood clottings. That was 11 years ago. I now heard doctors are more permissive and don't ask for suspension of at least estradiol, if it's bioidentical. But after few days I remember well how I started feeling bad. I really felt as I was turning into another person. First I started experiencing issues with thermal regulation and sweat, then fat increased crazily in my scalp and face skin. Then uncomfortable sexual thoughts came back, almost obsessively, and at the end I developed a strong pain in my left "factory", a pain getting stronger and stronger until affecting all my left pelvis and groin area. I remember that this pain was so severe that at the end I almost lost any fear I had of my surgery, I just wanted them to do everything they wanted with my body and their scalpels in order to quit my pain forever !!! (And it was so, then of course other kind of pains and discomforts came into play after surgery, but that is normal) However all the other hormonal withdrawal symptoms above actually persisted for some time after SRS, until I finally was able to get my HRT again. So a pain added to the pain.
But I think we all react differently at the end...

BTW: no doctor was ever able to explain me the cause of that pain. I just remember I started feeling similar withdrawal symptoms recently, when I changed endo and she switched me from the lethal Yasmin I was taking since 10 years to bioidetical estradiol only, including slight pain in the left pelvis/groin area, but that is another story I already discussed here and somewhere else.

I'm not entitled to give you any medical advices of course, but if I were you I would ask your surgeons if you can at least keep taking some bioidentical form of Estradiol, and expecially not underdosed.

[Vicky]

Dr. Bowers allows a reduced dose of even oral E up to the day of surgery.  Her "reduced dose" was twice what my endo has me on!!     I did have to get off the Spiro two weeks before surgery however, and my major issue was that I got grouchy and short triggered which did not help in getting last minute medical issues worked out.  (I put the wrong date on some records to be shared with Dr. B, and had to re do the stuff).  At 18 hours post op, and a reduction in some swelling, I got my E restarted at Dr. B's level which was heaven!  I have since gone back down to the level my endo wants, dang it.