Hysterectomy and anxiety

[sicraw]

I had a partial hysterectomy (uterus and cervix - both ovaries remain) the end of February.  I was fine for the first 6 weeks and then after I would have occasional panic attacks, but not consistent.  I had bladder pain and a pretty intense side pain so went in to be checked.  No UTI, no infections in any of the organs and no stones or anything in the kidney or gallbladder.  At this time I was also taking zolpidem every night.  I read some stuff on zolpidem side effects and it appeared that after my surgery some of the rare side effects started cropping up.  I attributed my anxiety to that.  So I quit the zolpidem ct (which I probably shouldn't have) and did have a miserable few weeks, but a lot of the pains I was feeling went away.  Of course new pains showed up like a back ache, which I still have.  But the anxiety is out of control and I figured I have been off of zolpidem long enough (38 days) that I started wondering if it had something to do with my hysterectomy.  After reading peoples questions - I am wondering if that is now what I am dealing with.  I am sleeping really well, but will occasionally wake up drenched in sweat.  It is the day time hours that I am constantly anxious.  Everything just gives me anxiety.  I have never had it before my surgery, I am normally a pretty calm person never have extreme PMS or mood swings.  Not sure I am going through menopause as I am 50 and my sister started at 50 as well.  But I don't want to go on hormone therapy and risk cancer of any kind (I am little paranoid of cancer).  Is there anything out there that is natural that can help with the anxiety?  Have others dealt with this after surgery?  Just going nuts and need a little sanity check.

[old_before_my_time]

Oh yes! Anxiety, severe depression, insomnia, extreme irritability, memory loss, couldn't think or concentrate, no energy or desire to do anything or see anyone, etc. Your ovaries may have been negatively affected due to loss of blood flow and feedback with the uterus. The uterus also seems to play a role in mood to some degree. Quite a few women with whom I've connected complained of changes in mood or affect after their hysterectomies despite no classic menopausal symptoms. However, some women in natural menopause have anxiety.

There are some supplements that may help. Your local health food store would may be a good resource. If you are concerned about breast cancer, studies show that taking estrogen does not increase risk.