I opted to keep my ovaries when I had my hysterectomy due to complications from Essure, a permanent birth control device that has since been pulled from the market; early ovarian failure had other plans for me. Everything I wish I knew then, and how it grew into this project, is in my story.
Weight gain, hormone fluctuations, and tearing up over a paper towel ad.
Turns out the surgery was just the beginning.
Welcome to your life after a hysterectomy.
Which path am I on?
Hysterectomy advice that ignores whether you kept your ovaries is guessing. A few quick questions, and you get your path: what changed in your body, what to keep an eye on, and what to read next.
Your answers never leave this page.
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Sources and assumptions
This tool sorts the site's content by what was removed. It doesn't diagnose anything, score anything, or store anything. The claims inside it come from:
- Women's Health Concern (British Menopause Society), surgical menopause factsheet, September 2025
- The Menopause Society, 2022 hormone therapy position statement (endorsed by the SOGC, Canada's society of obstetricians and gynaecologists)
- NICE guideline NG23, menopause, last updated April 2026
- NHS, hysterectomy considerations, reviewed October 2022
- Moorman et al. 2011, Obstetrics & Gynecology, ovarian function after hysterectomy with ovaries kept
- MyHealth Alberta (Healthwise), current as of May 2025
- Recovery ranges: RCOG recovering-well leaflets (June–August 2025), NHS (reviewed October 2022), and womenshealth.gov (February 2025)
Which claim comes from where. Immediate menopause after both ovaries are removed, and the testosterone drop: NHS, WHC/BMS (Sept 2025), The Menopause Society (2022). Hormone therapy at least until the average age of natural menopause: WHC/BMS for under-45s, The Menopause Society for premature and early menopause; NICE NG23 covers premature ovarian insufficiency under 40, and those age brackets are not interchangeable. Not usually suitable after hormone-dependent breast cancer: NHS. Ovarian failure at about 15% within four years with ovaries kept, against 8% without surgery: Moorman 2011, women aged 30 to 47, with the study's own caveat that it can't separate the surgery from the condition behind it. Menopause identified by symptoms over 45, hormone test considered between 40 and 45: NICE NG23. Sudden menopause symptoms as a call-your-doctor item: MyHealth Alberta (Healthwise), May 2025. Recovery ranges: womenshealth.gov at the quick end, RCOG and NHS at the slower end.
Where credible guidance disagrees, this tool shows the whole range rather than averaging. Where sources give different numbers for different countries, you get both, because your body doesn't care about jurisdiction.
This is general information. It isn't medical advice, and no quiz can diagnose anything. Your surgeon's instructions outrank everything on this page. If something feels wrong, that's reason enough to call your doctor.
What's on your mind?
The whole mess, sorted into eight piles. Start with the one that's on top.
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Mallory Milne
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Each medical claim on this site links to its source: a study, a clinical guideline, or a health authority, year included. Thin or mixed evidence gets called for what it is. None of it is medical advice, and your surgeon's instructions outrank anything you read here.
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