Anyone ~50 years old, PRE-menopausal & had ovaries shut down?

I am 44 now, but was 43 when I had my ovaries removed to go onto an AI. I thought my life was going to fall completely apart from it....and surprisingly....I was good. Even on the AI, I'm doing well. When I started the AI....I also made a commitment to exercise for 30 minutes every day. I like to think that helps.

I don't know what the future holds, but as I sit here today, I'm very happy with my decision/treatment. Trust me when I tell you that I would have liked to have gone through menopause naturally. But I would have liked to not have gotten breast cancer, as well. I guess that's how I look at it for myself.

Research the SOFT trial if you haven't already. That kind of explains why oncologists like certain premenopausal women to be on AIs vs Tamoxifen. It's hard. You will come to the right decision as you research, talk to women who have gone through it, and think on it. Good luck to you!

Hi!

I was 47 when I began ovulation suppression (Zoladex) so I could take an AI (Aromasin). The average age of menopause is 51, so I took a Zoladex vacation last year when I was 52. Alas, my ovaries were still producing lots of estrogen so it was back to the Zoladex for me.

I'm not really sure how going through menopause naturally is much different than taking Zoladex + AI. Zoladex + AI gave me hot flashes which diminished with time. It also thinned out my bones so I'm now on Prolia to rebuild my bone density. Like anything that changes my hormonal situation (pregnancy, PMS, etc.) Zoladex + AI gave me mood swings, treated with Celexa.

I'll be starting Year 6 in February. It could be worse.

I'm in my early 50s. My first medical oncologist wanted me to do ovarian suppression and AI. She didn't explain the rationale why so I switched to another MO and started on tamoxifen after I finished radiation. My current MO and I discussed taking tamoxifen for two years and switching to an AI for another five years. I'm still having periods. They're shorter and irregular. I thought they would stop altogether once I started tamoxifen, but they haven't. My current MO left it up to me to decide if I wanted to take tamoxifen or do ovarian suppression + an AI.

I haven't had a lot of side effects from tamoxifen. I don't have joint pain and have minor hot flashes around my period. I take gabapentin so it might mitigate the hot flashes and I try to spin on my indoor bike 3 or 4x/week. I do have insomnia and my brain feels foggy.

Good luck making a decision.

That's a very interesting question, and a fair one. I hope someone comes along with some insight.

I was 43 and there was no talk of "getting off" the shots. It was proposed that I could do the shots and then at some point have the oopherectomy. I never liked the idea of the shots and so I just went straight to the surgery. Definitely wasn't the recommended route, but it worked well for me. I just felt that I wanted to get as much of the cancer's food out of my body as possible since I had 8mm in a node. If I was node negative, I would have probably felt differently.