As some of you know, I have severe health anxiety especially about cancers. I have concerns about uterine and ovarian cancer. I feel like a completely hysterectomy would take care of all my fears. I will still fear breast cancer, but at least some of my fears would be gone. Do you think this is too extreme? What would you do?
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Your fear will change to another body part. You need therapy and medication. I’ve been where you are. Trust me. Once one thing is ruled out, something else would pop up with a new “symptom”.
ETA: unless you have a family history and your doctor is recommending a removal.
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I’m sorry, I take medication for anxiety; I know it can be so, so hard. But I do agree with @Mrs. Champagne that unless you have a family history suggesting you are more at risk for reproductive cancers, I’m not sure it will help your problems. A hysterectomy is major surgery, there are risks with any surgery, and removing your uterus also has long-term effects on your body. Of course, it’s worth it if you’re high-risk for certain cancers, or have other related health issues. But if not, I’m just not sure it’s worth it.
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I would not do it.... Your uterus and ovaries have tremendous hormonal importance and I think removing them would be a very difficult lifelong commitment to synthetically regulating those hormones. You'd have to be on medications which I feel like might be even more dangerous than the removal of them. Research hormone replacement therapy which I believe is part of it. The female body generally needs most of those parts to function comfortably.
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I’m agreeing with the others that your concerns would not be resolved by this surgery. If cancer is what your anxiety has chosen to focus on I feel fairly confident that your brain would switch to a different cancer, or maybe another illness altogether. I’m sorry this is so hard for you, I’ve seen through your posts how you struggle with this, but I really don’t think this surgery would help. I hope you’re able to find a combination of therapy and medication that will help calm your anxiety!
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I'm so sorry, but I can confidently say that it would not help your anxiety in any way. Your anxiety is not reality based, it doesn't happen because you have ovaries- it happens because you have a chemical imbalance in your brain.
Although this sounds extreme, I would liken such a choice to body disfiguration due to mental illness. It will not solve the problem of your anxiety.ETA: I saw on another post that you have a medical condition that might indicate removal would be best. I do not think you are in a position to make this decision at this time, and you/your doctors need to be more concerned about treating your anxiety so that you are capable of making such an important decision about your body.
Also- I'm so sorry you continue to struggle with this. Mental illness is as real and serious as any physical illness, and I wish you all the best in finding appropriate treatment.
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I’ve decided not to have the surgery and to instead improve my eating and exercise lifestyle to improve my overall health.
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6 comments