menopause

shanthichalasani1966

i am in chemopause  after my second chemo.from one and half years i did not get periods.now iam 44 yrs old.i don't know whether i get or not ! did any one experienced the same?any body got their periods back at my age ? any how iam facing lot of problems due to menopause !

edwh001

Hi my periods stopped after my third chemo treatment in 2006 at 43, I'm going on 4 years of tamox now and still no periods hopefully it will never come back, good luck

shanthichalasani1966

Thank God !!they are back today after 2 years exactly.my periods are back today.they are stopped after my second chemo in september 2008 and came back in september 2010.really i faced lot of problems due to menopause from 2 yrs,that horrible hot flashes,gaining of weight,heart risk etc.even my oncologyst was not sure about this.really from last 20 days my nipples are paining and erecting continuosly.even i posted a question in discussion boards regarding this.now i understood that is because of pre menstruction.iam now 44 yrs. did any body get back at my age?

any how now i can avoid that extra calcium in take in my diet !!

marlenet

I have not had mine since Feb of 2009..Chemo days... I was 45...

shanthichalasani1966

i think you are under hormonal treatment as you are er+/pr+.under hormonal treatment periods will not return at least for 5 yrs .

marlenet

My onco said I may-may not get it back.  He said it can come back any time. Yes I am on tamoxifen. 

juli0212

I also was chemo-induced into menopause after being totally non-pre-menopausal in 1996 at age 47.  I now show on blood tests for past 2 years that I'm totally post-menopausal.  Hence a change from 3 1/2 years of tamoxifen (Feb 2007) to just this week of Aromasin.  No periods, but ironically a period every single day on cytoxin/adriamycin...no period *BANG* the first day of Taxol/Gemzar...and no period since.  Hot flashes/night sweats/weight gain immediately and hasn't gone away at all yet.  Yes, I believe being ER+ and being on hormonal anti-cancer treatments affect menopause/bc patients.   We can only 'go with the flow' .... so to speak, lol.

~juli

lago

I'm 49. Before I even told my oncologist I felt I had just started full blown menopause she told me chemo would stop my periods and they wouldn't come back. (Periods have been a few days late the last few months and I have had a few night sweats I think plus some mood swings). She is recommending Armidex for my hormone therapy right off the bat. Never mentioned anything about starting Tamoxifen.

I should be starting chemo next month after I heal from surgery. I'm expecting one more cycle.

To be honest I am not upset. My only concern is my bones. I'm a think white girl with family history and tested low for vitamin D last year. Osteoporosis poster child.

juli0212

lago:  I now have an almost 10% bone density loss, and have taken tamoxifen for 3 1/2 years, now switched to aromasin just this week.  My primary doc is researching the bone drugs (biphosphonates) as my endocrinologist thinks my bone loss is no big deal.  I am also very vitamin d deficient, so am self-dosing with 4,000ius of vitamin d3 a day.  I hope you are getting advice about your risk for osteopenia/osteoporosis and vitamin d deficiency.  There is a vitamin d thread on here you might want to check out...very informative.  SOOOO many of us have the same issues.  (I also have daily chronic migraines, hyper-parathyroidism, hypo-thyroidism, had a parathyroidectomy in 2002, and have high parathyroid again, normal calcium, so no calcium for me).  I wish you the best~~~juli

lago

I was on precription D last fall. Got high enough to take over the counter D. I informed my oncologist about my concerns (and that my mom had it but is being treated with HRT which is not an option for us). She is going to order a bone scan.

Before my surgery I was exercising both aerobic and strenght training so hopefully that has helped.

-----------------------------------

update 1.8.11

Bone scan showed I have slight osteopenia. Was put on Calcium supplements. New blood test for D showed I was slightly above high normal now. My doctor is ok with that though.

juli0212

Prescription vitamin d is D2, not what our body needs.  (I just went thru 12 weeks of the D2 treatment, and my D3 is at 13, VERY deficient)...I am going to go up to taking 5,000ius of Vitamin D3 (my primary doc agrees, endocrinologist was very dismissive).  A dexa scan is a better tool for bone density, and we all get bone scans yearly anyway to check for metastatic cancer.  This just my own .02 from my own (lengthy) experience with d deficiency and bone density loss.  Yes, weight training is great for bone strength, unfortunately I cannot do exertion exercises (daily migraines), so good for you on that one!  GOOD LUCK to you!   ~juli

shanthichalasani1966

again they are missing ! last month i got my periods after 2 yrs of chemo.but this month i did not get till now ! iam really confused ?my family history of menopause is 50 yrs.now iam 44 yrs.if my hormones came back again why they are missing?or it will take some time to regularise? my follow up reports were all normal !

annie1623

Hi My name is Anne I have been thrown in to menopause and yes its no fun having extremely hot flashes that last for ever (more like a hot shower) and so far nothing can control them have tried effexor and cataopress and vitamin E and the flashes still keep coming thick and fast. Do you know of anything to help cool things down I also live in a hot climate in Queensland Australia.

LouLou40

I am nearly 2 yrs since I went into Chemopause at the age of 40. I had to stop Arimidex due to osteoporosis after a year, not on any hormone therapy now.

My Onc originally thought at 40 there was a good chance my period would return, now he thinks my menopause will be permanent as that's what my blood tests indicate. 

weety

Hi LouLou,

I'm just curious as to why you didn't do anything for the osteo other than stopping the arimidex.  I know we've "met" before on this board, and I thought you were given zometa???  Did your osteo still progress despite the zometa?  What are your oncs thoughts on not addressing the estrogen part of your HER2 cancer?  All 3 of the oncs I've seen say that I need some kind of hormonal suppression, even though only weakly estrogen dependent.  Boy, I'd sure like to hear that I don't need it!!!

lago

LouLou I'm also curios as to why no biophofates for bone loss. Do you have a health issue that would prevent you from taking these?