Tubal reversal surgery can have more than one function. While most women use it to reverse their tubal ligations so they can get pregnant again, there are some women who seek it out in order to get relief. And that is not relief of any guilt feelings that some may experience upon having their tubes tied. No, it is relief of the symptoms of Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome.
What Is Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome?
Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome, or PTLS, is one of those nasty little things that happen to some women who get their fallopian tubes tied. There’s some argument as to its cause among those medical professionals who believe it exists. Perhaps the bad thing is that many medical professionals don’t believe it exists.
And that can make it hard on a woman who is suffering from several of the possible symptoms. You have excessive bleeding, longer duration bleeding, severe headaches, hot flashes, mood swings, terrible cramps bad enough to keep you in bed, and loss of libido.
Will Your Doctor Help You With Your PTLS Symptoms?
Going to your doctor to seek help won’t do you any good in so many cases. Why? Because you’re likely as not to have a doctor of the unbelieving persuasion who tells you anything from you just have to live with it to suggesting you seek a mental health professional to help you with your obviously overworked imagination. OK, I exaggerated a little with the last to make a point.
However, you might be lucky and have a doctor who will put you onto birth control pills to try and mediate your symptoms. Uh, didn’t you have a tubal ligation so you didn’t have to worry with taking pills? Sometimes they help. Sometimes not.
Or your doctor might suggest you are simply entering menopause early. Yeah, right! At 33 or even younger, you are entering menopause.
Even More Surgery to Get Rid of Your Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome
Then there’s the doctors who want to fix your Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome with surgery to remove your uterus and ovaries. Yes, we’re talking a hysterectomy here. In fact, women who have tubal ligation have a much higher chance of having a hysterectomy later than the normal population. Wow! Two surgeries to try to fix things. Too bad you don’t get two for the price of one.
Can a Tubal Reversal Help Your PTLS?
However, there is one thing you can try to relieve your PTLS and that is a tubal reversal. Since this is a tubal reversal, or more precisely a sterilization reversal, site you knew that was coming.
In one small study conducted by a leading tubal ligation reversal doctor with his patients, he found about 90% had relief from their post tubal ligation syndrome symptoms. You can find the news about the study here: http://press.tubal-reversal.net/2008/post-tubal-ligation-syndrome.html.
In another post we’ll put together a list of some of the most common tubal ligation side effects that make up Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome. In the meantime, if you are suffering from this syndrome, you may find your best option for relief lies with a tubal ligation reversal doctor.
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Questions to Ask Your Tubal Reversal Doctor to Pick the Best One for You
You have been looking for information on tubal reversal and now you need some information to help you make some decisions about a tubal ligation reversal doctor. So just what questions should you be asking and what data do you want to get from your potential tubal reversal doctor?
Tubal Ligation Reversal Doctor’s Experience
First and foremost would be the question for your tubal ligation reversal doctor of just how many of these reversal procedures he does every year. You might be surprised (but then again not) that just because a doctor tells you he can do the operation it does not mean he is very experienced in the procedure. Unless you have a tubal reversal clinic in your region, chances are a very experienced surgeon for this procedure will be hard to locate.
It should only stand to reason that a surgeon who does this type of tubal reversal surgery on an almost daily basis would be better at it than your local gynecologist or reproductive endocrinologist who does maybe, at most, a handful of these procedures a year…if that many. Unfortunately, this is all too often the case with doctors who do not specialize in this procedure.
You want to know exactly just what his level of experience is.
What Are the Success Rates for the Tubal Reversal Doctor
Next you want to know the success rate of this particular tubal ligation reversal doctor. Don’t let him/her put you off with the statistics from medical journals and studies. You need to know his personal statistics.
To be able to give you his personal success rates, the tubal reversal doctor you are considering will have to be collecting his own data. From this he can give you his personal success rates. If he has a website, can you find the statistics on there to review?
This leads to something else that will help you make a decision as well. If he collects data, then he does real follow ups other than just a check up in six weeks or so as to how you are recovering from the surgery. He will know who is getting pregnant after tubal reversal and will be able to point you to people who might be willing to talk to you about their own experiences with the surgeon and the operation.
Communication with Your Tubal Ligation Reversal Doctor
When you begin to talk to a particular doctor about having the tubal reversal surgery done, will you actually speak to him during the initial consult? Will the doctor himself review your records or will some nurse or other staff member review your records? Don’t you want the actual surgeon himself to look at your records and perform the initial consult?
Sometimes there are hidden potential problems that come up in a review of your tubal ligation records or during your initial discussion with the doctor. Sometimes it is even that there is no real information in your records which can lead to you needing a different approach to the surgery.
It’s good to be able to talk to your actual doctor prior to the surgery and to know who you will be talking to after wards.
Furthermore, are you getting your questions answered or brushed off with a “don’t worry” attitude? Is what will happen before, during and after the surgery being conveyed to you? Get your questions answered or look elsewhere.
Know All Your Tubal Reversal Costs
Make sure you know all the costs included by this doctor. Is the initial blood work or initial consult included in the quoted price? What extras do you need to take into account? Please see our article on tubal reversal cost for more items to check on.
How Does the Tubal Ligation Reversal Doctor Perform the Surgery
While this may not be as much of a concern to you as long as it gets done, how a surgeon performs the procedure does play into how successful the operation may be.
Ask your potential tubal ligation reversal doctor just what type of equipment does he use to perform the microsurgery. Does he use an actual surgical microscope or does he use some type of occular magnifying glasses? Furthermore, find out how many layers will be sutured in reconstructing your fallopian tubes. Will he use a stent to be sure there is no blockage after suturing is done or a fluid instead? What are his success rates using such? What are the potential complications?
Follow Up Care Provided by the Tubal Reversal Doctor
Lastly for our article, ask your tubal ligation reversal doctor what type of follow-up care is provided.
If you have problems conceiving, what type of help will you get as time goes on? What should you do when in such a case? Will he only provide the reversal and one check up visit?Heaven forbid, but if there is some type of problem with blockage after the surgery, will he provide another surgery free of charge to remove it if it has anything to do with the reversal surgery?
Although having a tubal reversal done is no guarantee of getting pregnant again, having a tubal reversal doctor who is truly interested in helping you better the odds can be worth paying more for and searching out.
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