How long does surgical menopause last?

I haven't written in a long time and it is mostly because I have no idea what is happening to me. I just don't feel normal and I am not sure why. Yes I still have hot flashes but the Cymbalta definitely helps to lessen them as well as helps my bladder spasms. 

Here is the thing.. My nose, ears and mouth are completely dried up. My eyes perfectly fine and many tests that I have had came back negative for ANA/RA so no Sjogren’s syndrome, so I am completely confused and living in utter hell at the moment I would say. My inner ears are so itchy and sometimes its white and flaky which has never happened before. The other day I did notice almost a red ting to the ear wax. My mouth on the other hand, wow it just never ending thirst. I drink at least 4 liters of water a day and I just can't quench my thirst. I started to develop "Burning mouth syndrome" which I thought was from upping the Cymbalta but now I don't know what it is from. My nose has been dry the longest. It started when I was on the continuous BCP 2008 and it has never gone away. I have tried so many things and at one point I was told it was a tiny cyst and that was removed and now its the other nostril but it just seems dry and my nose NEVER runs even if I have cold.  

I have yet to take HRT because everything else is fine, I think. I am 38 and my hysterectomy was May 2014 so that is coming up to 2 yrs. I am utterly confused about this subject. I know that I am young and that I already have mild osteo in my jaw but am I setting myself up for more problems if I take it? My worry is heart disease mostly because it runs in my family and I have been having a lot of heart issues with anxiety which I truly think was brought on in 2007 when I was put on Lupron. I didn't think of it until now and it scares me to go on anything else which could increase my risk.

Seriously though, when does this end... When?  

If anyone has any suggestions or is going through the same thing I would be more than happy to hear from you :)

A Nightmare called Menopause

Just when I think things are starting to look up or at least level out I am hit with one disaster after another. After my surgery in May 2014 I had very little side effects of surgical menopause until August and since then things progressively got worse. I am still not on HRT because I can't determine what is causing what I am feeling. I don't know what to call these hot flashes other than temporary demonic possession of my upper body.

Besides the nightmare of Hot Flashes I have noticed many changes such as the elasticity of my skin all over my body has become more loose and saggy, I have gained about 10-15 lbs in a year but I am not sure if all of that is Menopause related or pain meds, Anti-depressants or wine. I started to get aging spots, if I had them before  I never noticed them before but now I do more so than ever. My breasts have gone up a size and that could be due to weight but I noticed my bra was not feeling comfortable at all before my surgery last year so it may have nothing to do with either. I have realized that my memory has turned to mush and I remember nothing. I used to be good remember numbers, names, even places where I parked.. I forget things so quickly it is scary.

I noticed that I have not had one cold sore, not one headache or migraine at all and that my head (mental stability) was clear and the only reason I am on Cymbalta is for the body & nerve pain from Fibro and major anxiety/panic. It sucks thought because Cymbalta has messed with my head a bit and wished that I could just be able to take something for the pain rather than my head but it seems this is how it works doesn't it? One med will help one problem but causes a flood of symptoms and its almost best coming off them...but then you do and its 1000x worse because you have forgotten the smaller things that it was helping but didn't notice.

Urinary symptoms have stayed the same however Cymbalta helps with the urethral/bladder spasms but I still feel something heavy pushing down like something is going to come out of my vagina. It is frustrating.

I still have yet to go on HRT as I am still crazy confused but I have decided I am going to ask for the patch to see if it helps a little with these flashes so I am crossing my fingers it helps.

I sit back and wonder how long I can take these symptoms for and although my surgery was for mental closure I really thought I could handle the side effects of Menopause with all that I have been through. Taking both my ovaries wasn't an easy decision and in the end I decided to side with my surgeon due to the fact I didn't want to have pain from the remaining ovary that was salvageable turn on me since that was the ovary that had the endometrioma in it and gave me the worse troubles as it would always stick to my bowels.  So a year later almost and here I am not sure what the right choice is/was. I still feel confused. I have no Endo pain so I should be happy but the side effects and hot flashes have really done a number on me for the last 6 months and this is why I wanted to document my journey because seriously you can say you are fine after surgery, a year later or even 5 yrs but I want to know 10 yrs from now how I am going to be so I can share. I can only hope this does not continue on for 10 yrs or more because I know mentally I could not handle it.

Come out come out where ever you are..............

It has been some time since I have posted. It has been a rough, rough, rough 5 months since my Endo surgery + hysterectomy. I battled all the emotions I never thought even existed. I was so low I could barely even function properly on a day to day basis. 

The first two weeks after surgery I had really bad hot and cold flashes. One of the hot flashes I had I thought I was having a stroke or an aneurysm it was so scary.  It just consumed me and it started from the waist up out of no where. I was not even hot, It was almost like something was taking over my body like some huge rush of something. It went all the way up to my head and again I still didn't feel hot I felt panicked, and I felt like my face was on fire but I wasn't feeling like it was a hot flash. I know that I am not explaining it quite well but it was something I can't explain. 

I had two cold flashes and I thank God they never happened again because I was not expecting those nor did I hear of them prior to all the research I had done. I would awake as if I was lying outside in the middle of winter with no clothes on. Nothing could get me warm. I tried multiple duvets with a heating blanket and it didn't even touch it. I felt this lasted longer than the hot flashes did. 

Here I am 5 months post op and I have about 5 hot flashes a day and I am so lucky because they really aren't as bad as they were or how bad they are for others. I am having overall major body pain and I have yet to start an HRT because I wanted to wait at least 6 months but I am even now thinking I want to hold off and not do it. I am still researching on what I want to do. 

At the beginning of August I awoke to my arms numb and swollen with severe pain. It has been two months and it took a good month for the swelling and numbness to go away and now I am left with tingling and numbness and awaiting a CT scan. I am not sure why this is happening. I thought possibly it could have been a side effect of surgery due to positioning when they are operating on you as I have heard of many people getting frozen shoulder after surgery so I still do even know what is going on. 

I should say that for me and my life, if its not one thing its another. 

Well I am all caught up for now... Oh ya, one more thing... I started a new job two weeks ago :)