Orchi and depression

[MaggieB]

I am scheduled for an orchi on Friday and my spouse says she has researched transsexual sites who say that I can expect to be depressed and lethargic for years afterwards. She is really against me doing this procedure but is going to help me with recovery. However, with a week to go she comes up with this chestnut. She likes to view me as mentally ill or depressed and has come up with several diagnoses for me in the past to explain my emotional state. She tried to get my therapists to go along with her diagnosis too. I had four of them and they all say I am trans.

A bit of background, I have been on HRT for around seven years and have considerably atrophied parts. I think that they are not producing much Testosterone so even if there is a change, I think it will be negligible. But since I haven't experienced it, I don't know.

I am asking the folks here if depression and lethargy are a certainty after an orchi? Your thoughts?

[Vexing]

Depression (or just feeling 'down') will result from the general anesthetic.
It's common to all surgeries where they put you under.
The effects can sometimes linger up to 6 months, but they will pass.

It's nothing to do with the having your testes removed.

[Ell]

I am scheduled for an orchi on Friday and my spouse says she has researched transsexual sites who say that I can expect to be depressed and lethargic for years afterwards. She is really against me doing this procedure but is going to help me with recovery. However, with a week to go she comes up with this chestnut. She likes to view me as mentally ill or depressed and has come up with several diagnoses for me in the past to explain my emotional state. She tried to get my therapists to go along with her diagnosis too. I had four of them and they all say I am trans.

A bit of background, I have been on HRT for around seven years and have considerably atrophied parts. I think that they are not producing much Testosterone so even if there is a change, I think it will be negligible. But since I haven't experienced it, I don't know.

I am asking the folks here if depression and lethargy are a certainty after an orchi? Your thoughts?

well gosh, after 7 years on HRT, does one even *need* an orchi? one could save that money for FFS or SRS, couldn't one?

as for your spouse bugging you about what flavor of mental case you may be, hm.
some members of my family also treat me like a mental patient, but not the ones who really care about me. only the ones who were never particularly fond of me in the first place, know what i mean?

-ell

[sarahb]

After having partial FFS in May, I noticed depression for about a month afterwards. I am expecting it again after FFS on Thursday as well for another month or so. It's something that comes with the territory of surgery, but I don't think it has anything specifically to do with the actual type of surgery you're having (orchi) as Vexing said.

[fae_reborn]

It's been three months since my own orchiectomy Maggie, and yes there is a bit of post-op depression as with any surgery.  However if you're on the right hormone levels post-op then I don't see any problem with you being lethargic.  I stayed on the same dosage post-op as I was on pre-op and haven't noticed any negative side effects, only positive ones.

Best of luck to you, and don't worry about what anyone says, including your spouse.  This is your body and you do what you have to. *hugs*

Jenn

[Sandy]

I am asking the folks here if depression and lethargy are a certainty after an orchi? Your thoughts?

I've had several surgical procedures, Maggie.  And I had a short period of depression following all of them.  This is a physical manifestation of the effects of anesthesia.  And for me, the depression lasted a very short period of time, at most a couple of weeks.

Having been clinically depressed most of my life, I can tell what type of depression it was and it was the result of anesthesia not the result of having my gonads removed.

If you recall, Maggie, I had an orchi about a year before I had my SRS because at that time I wasn't sure I was going to go through with a full SRS but I *needed* to do something permanent and irreversible about my gender.  And the orchi was absolutely the right thing for me to do.

Once the effect of the anesthesia lifted, I felt much calmer and more alive having done this.  I think you'll find much the same results.

Maggie, you and I have discussed at length the relationship you have with your spouse.  I am familiar with the background you have given me.  So that being said, could your spouse give us any indication of what sort of research she has done on "transsexual sites" to come up with the opinion that an orchi leaves the patient depressed for years and years?

As a post operative woman, I feel I have done a fair amount of my own research about every procedure I have had and no where in any of my research have I found anything like the information she has said.  If you could ask her to name some of the sites she has looked at I would like to verify her information.

I can say that from personal experience, that having an orchi if you are a transsexual can be very fulfilling.

I think you'll be fine, hon!

-Sandy

[sarahb]

There are two cases I can think of that could cause long-term depression after having an orchi, that would not be due to just the anesthesia:

1) Regret: If you regret having the orchi then of course most people would follow a path to depression due to the permanent change.

2) Sadness: Sadness caused by lack of, or inability to get full SRS. If you have an orchi, but are of the mindset that you would rather have SRS yet can't for many years, then yes, I believe a certain level of depression may occur. I could see myself becoming somewhat depressed after having an orchi and not being able to get SRS. However, at the same time, it may be overruled by the fact that I at least got something done down there, or if you know all you want is an orchi and not full SRS then this would not be a problem either.

Aside from those, and/or any possible mental conditions prior to the orchi, I don't see why one would be depressed after having an orchi aside from the usual side affect of anesthesia.

[JENNIFER]

I do not wish to appear flippant in any way but I feel that if one loses one's nemesis ( testicles M to F or Breasts/ovaries etc F to M ) then is one not less likely to be depressed? 

I know myself that if I manage to have an Orchiectomy prior to SRS I would feel like dancing down the street for the wine merchant and a bottle of Champagne.  I hate the things, they get in the way and I cant get rid of them quickly enough .

I may be wrong but I truely feel this way.

[MaggieB]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I am going to do this under a local not a general so that part of it won't be a factor. The doctor I have selected has a very good rep for doing these in a way that is not painful but I know I will probably feel a bit of uncomfortable pulling.

Sandy, my spouse won't say where she gets any of her information for some reason and I think it is because she exaggerates or distorts it deliberately. If I had to guess, I would say it is on a mental health site that deals with depression. I suspect that there was a clinically depressed transwoman there who said something and my spouse made it into more than it was. She has a penchant for rather coldly mentioning things that will send shivers up the spine. I think she wants me to call it off because it will be a huge step towards me being fully female, something she is still furious about.   

As for why do an orchi after so long on HRT, I need to have the body that won't revert back to maleness even if I can't get hormones. Plus I still need to tuck and I hate the bulge.

Jennifer, I feel the same way!!!

[Sandy]

Sandy, my spouse won't say where she gets any of her information for some reason and I think it is because she exaggerates or distorts it deliberately. If I had to guess, I would say it is on a mental health site that deals with depression. I suspect that there was a clinically depressed transwoman there who said something and my spouse made it into more than it was. She has a penchant for rather coldly mentioning things that will send shivers up the spine. I think she wants me to call it off because it will be a huge step towards me being fully female, something she is still furious about.   

As for why do an orchi after so long on HRT, I need to have the body that won't revert back to maleness even if I can't get hormones. Plus I still need to tuck and I hate the bulge.

I kind of thought that may have been the case. As I recall she believed that transwomen were suffering the effects of andropause and that was the cause of their feelings.  I really thought she had gotten past all that.  You have my sympathies on that part of it.  I hope that one day she may support you as the person you really are and not some image of who she thinks you should be.

To any male that is not a transsexual, having anything like this done would be daunting.  Think of all the men who have testicular cancer who have an orchi.  They would probably be depressed for a long time afterward as well.  However, we are not dealing with cancer and they are not dealing with being transsexual.

Following your orchi, you'll still have to tuck, of course, but much less!

BTW: I really think it would be safe to put up some of your pictures.  You really are a beautiful woman.

-Sandy

[Vexing]

No offense, but your spouse sounds like a complete cow.
Why are you still with her? (if you don't mind me asking)

[MaggieB]

Sandy,
Thanks, you are remembering correctly. One of my challenges is to learn how to live with a woman who is dealing with massive anger over living with me now that I am full time. I have the unfortunate situation that in spite of more hurts than words can express, I still love that woman and want a relationship. I also stay because I don't have an income large enough to live on my own now. My business was going well but it now is not growing which is no surprise in this economy. If I could leave, I'd still hesitate because it would be a real hardship on her financially. 
Maybe if my novel sells, I could have more options but I am only getting the proof copy this week.
It would be sometime perhaps months before I could know if it is going to sell. So I stay...

Now that all could change in a heartbeat if I met the right person but at my age and status, not too likely. 

I'll put a photo up. I'm blushing...

[Vexing]

I understand. Money makes things difficult in a lot of situations - and makes us do things we would rather not do.
Lovely photo; you look very happy and very feminine 

[Sheila]

Maggie, I had an orchi after being on hormones for about 5 or 6 years. I thought, like Sandy, that would be all I needed. I just wanted to stop some of the pills I was taking to reduce the testosterone. It worked, but the orchi was not what I wanted. I still had a penis and that is what I wanted gone. I had the orchi and it was two years later that I had my GRS. In that time, I don't remember any depression. Then again, I have been depressed all my life anyway, so I really didn't know any different. I was suicidal but admitting to myself that I was female and not male really helped me get over the tendancies of trying to commit suicide. I think for some, an orchi is all you need. We are all different and we all need different needs.

[Sandy]

I'll put a photo up. I'm blushing...

You are such a beautiful woman.  You should be proud!

-Sandy

[HelenW]

My orchiectomy was done in December of 2007.  I had a radical inguinal orchiectomy done, under general anesthesia.  I lost my job about a month and a half later.  Whatever post-op depression I may have had was mixed up in my depression over having to find work only 4 months after going full time.

It didn't last though.

While I would rather have saved the money for a future SRS, I'm pleased that I had it done.  The depression, if it was caused by the orchi, was short lived and quite mild compared to how I felt when I started transition.  Now, a year later, I am fine, have good energy levels and only get depressed when I too deeply consider that last detail of transition that I haven't had the funds to take care of yet.

hugs & smiles
Emelye

[Kim6]

I am scheduled for an orchi on Friday and my spouse says she has researched transsexual sites who say that I can expect to be depressed and lethargic for years afterwards. She is really against me doing this procedure but is going to help me with recovery. However, with a week to go she comes up with this chestnut. She likes to view me as mentally ill or depressed and has come up with several diagnoses for me in the past to explain my emotional state. She tried to get my therapists to go along with her diagnosis too. I had four of them and they all say I am trans.

A bit of background, I have been on HRT for around seven years and have considerably atrophied parts. I think that they are not producing much Testosterone so even if there is a change, I think it will be negligible. But since I haven't experienced it, I don't know.

I am asking the folks here if depression and lethargy are a certainty after an orchi? Your thoughts?

My experience was that being on estrogen and anti-androgens made me feel Right for the first time I could remember and the surgery that also involved removal of testes only sealed the deal.  You might feel depressed afterwards if you forget to take your estrogen for a while and it is possible as Vexing stated that the surgical process and anesthesia might cause some temporary depression.

[Kim6]

No offense, but your spouse sounds like a complete cow.
Why are you still with her? (if you don't mind me asking)

Not a bad question to be asking.

[Jody]

 About the only thing I can think to add is umm your own weather Gage. Any thing she diagnosis is the opposite and the more negative the prognosis she comes up with the better the real results.
If this is close to your own thinking please let me know. If not than no offense intended.

[vanna]

I am asking the folks here if depression and lethargy are a certainty after an orchi? Your thoughts?

My experience was that being on estrogen and anti-androgens made me feel Right for the first time I could remember and the surgery that also involved removal of testes only sealed the deal.  You might feel depressed afterwards if you forget to take your estrogen for a while and it is possible as Vexing stated that the surgical process and anesthesia might cause some temporary depression.

Pretty spot on for me too