Post Op Fatigue

[MCMCyn]

I had my SRS four months ago. I fully expected and understood being unusually tired the first month or two while healing. Granted healing could be up to a year and things are healing wonderfully. But I still can not shake the lack of energy and no matter how much sleep I get, I'm still extremely exhausted.

Could this be the testosterone loss or the metabolism change? Could it be still from surgery and healing? 

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks in advance.

[NicholeW.]

It could well be that you're not getting enough E. Very often endos and GPs prescribe Post-doses that are similar to what post-menopausal women experience.

And what are the complaints of post-menopausal women? About the same as yours. Do some research and approach your doc when you've done it. See about that possibility. You just reached your maturity. Why go straight over the hill?

[lisagurl]

Depending on the doctor who did the SRS and the drugs before and after and the healing process, It can take a long time to recover. 6-12 months is not uncommon. Have you had blood tests to correct your hormone levels?

[MCMCyn]

I had my annual physical just last month and my hormone levels were fine.

[lisagurl]

Now you need some physical exercise to get back in shape after several months of relaxation. Start walking and get your weight into the prescribed range. Do not forget healthy eating and vitamins to expel all the pain drugs. Also talk to doctor about the issue.

[Ell]

Now you need some physical exercise to get back in shape after several months of relaxation. Start walking and get your weight into the prescribed range. Do not forget healthy eating and vitamins to expel all the pain drugs. Also talk to doctor about the issue.

Lisagurl, that is surprisingly thoughtful. for a Borg.

[Mnemosyne]

I was tired for a couple of weeks after but things picked up after that. I find that walking and drinking a lot of water helps (then you get to do a lot of walking to the bathroom!).

I take my estradiol each AM along with a multi-vitamin and occasionally a fish oil supplement.

YMMV and good luck!

[Beyond]

I had my annual physical just last month and my hormone levels were fine.

Did they tell you it was fine or have you seen the actual labwork.  Sorry, but years on the internet have taught me that some doctors are not to be trusted.

I also agree with Nichole, we need more E than natal women.

[NicholeW.]

I had my annual physical just last month and my hormone levels were fine.

Did they tell you it was fine or have you seen the actual labwork.  Sorry, but years on the internet have taught me that some doctors are not to be trusted.

I also agree with Nichole, we need more E than natal women.

It's not that I don't trust the doctors, I just think that they almost universally base their ideas and evaluations on the levels experienced by natal women at particular time frames and given the production of estrogen from ovaries and adrenals and other sources within natally female physical bodies.

That's the invariable reason why like 99% of all endos and GPs drop post-ops almost immediately to post-menopausal doses of estrogen to maintain a post-menopausal level.

Post-ops normally have anywhere from 1-10 years with high levels of estrogen in our systems. Natally physical women have on the order of 40-50 years of same. Of course there are variations. Of course there are no longitudinal studies that cover more than 2-3 years I have ever seen.

But, when you read consistently about post-op women who complain of symptoms that sound very much like those of over 70 natal women, then one wonders at the doctors and what they are considering "fine' and 'normal.'

Docs tend to be conservative with dosages for anyone anyhow. There are lots of issues of malpractice and investigations of 'pill-pushing.' Fact is there is very little info for docs to go on. Just imo, but imo they consistently under-prescribe estrogen for post-ops and tell us we are 'fine' when we feel aenemic, tried, anxious and listless in general.

I think its a good idea for any of us to use resources like trans.health and other sites where there is some access to studies, opinions in peer-reviewed journals and the like rather than simply taking an under-informed and overly-cautious Endo/Gp at her/his word.

Post-op seems no different to me than pre-op. You educate, advocate and evaluate for yourself with your docs. Just my opinion. Everyone will have one.

Nichole

[Keira]

Low E levels, like low T level leaves you energy less.
Unless you've been on E for 30 years, there's no reason
to drop the dosage.

[MCMCyn]

Yes I saw the numbers and everything was in line. I had more bloodwork done and both the thyroid and blood count numbers were perfect. I'm going to have the hormone levels rechecked this week.

[NicholeW.]

Cyn, it's not that the levels aren't normal. It's that "they are normal for whom?" If your doc is prescribing for you as if you were a sixty or fifty-five years old natal female w/ ovaries, which is exactly what most do, then that "normal" probably isn't your "normal." It's a range "normal" for natal women your age.

In this regard it's a matter of ourselves and doing the research we need to do. For most docs we are living in that territory where their training and intuition and the results they look for indicate that: "Here be dragons."

Best of luck in feeling better and livelier.

Hugs,

Nichole

[LynnER]

they used to prescribe pre ops allot of hormones...

then they started giving us AA's <for the most part> and reduced the over all E we were taking.

KK, that makes sense. NOW your on lower E to begin with, and now your post op, they again reduce the amount of E your taking further....

If your on AA's shouldn't the levels pre and post op be pretty close <I know they wont actually be identical but hey... it sounds like common sense>

It could also partly be a vitamin or mineral deficiency causing your lack of energy...

[kirakero]

The most helpful thing I found to getting my energy back was moving.  A couple weeks after surgery I went to the Philly Trans-health conference.  Even though the train brought me pretty close, I still ended up walking close to a mile a day for both days I went.  I was slightly irritated from the skin rubbing, but my energy levels were awesome.  As long as you take it easy, I think walking is a great way to get back in step.

The other thing that has mostly made its way out of my routine is protein drinks.  I was drinking two a day for a month after surgery.  This included Ensure and Arginaid.

Lastly, I started back on my estrogen on my 10th post-op day, and this helped pick me up a little, but not as much as moving around.

[Blanche]

I've been quite tired since my GRS.  The long flight has made it all worse; I try to move around my flat, walk around but I'm not getting any more energetic.  I hear this is quite normal and fretting about it will only worsen it.

[gothique11]

I just pushed my self to walk and I got pretty pretty fast. Amazing, concidering when I was in Montreal I couldn't walk much, or even sit (lots of pain). I was uber tired, etc.

Now I'm doing really good. The first month was probably the hardest and I had to take it easy, but try to walk around as much as I could. I went for a walk almost every day. It also helped that I had a friend from the UK down and we'd go to the mall, walk around, and do all sorts of things. I don't have a car, so walking is what I do. It got better every week.

I'm now to the point of running and dancing.

Others took much longer. I known people to take 2-3 months before they had much energy, some even longer. It really varies person to person. I got a lot of jelousy thrown at me because a week after I got back from Montreal I went out to gothy night and danced a song and a half... not even a month post-op. I was very tired after that song and a half. Now I can dance most of the night. I keep getting other post-ops saying, "How are you moving like that? How are you walking around all the time? How come you're healed so fast?"

I swear, walking helps you heal quickly. You can just do some every day, and do more each day. Just take it easy, but make a goal. 5-10 for a week every day, 20-30 the next week, etc, etc.

The most I've walked so far was 40 blocks on Monday, because I missed the night bus and walked home. I think it just took over an hour and included a hill.

I also walked a lot before surgery, so I think that played into things somehow.