Is this menopause???Advice from those who are there

moogie, it sure is possible than you are starting menopause.  My girlfriend and a couple of her sisters started at 36!  That's pretty young.  The average is certainly older but it does happen for *whatever* reason.  How old was your mother or aunts, etc.? 

Night sweats.  Yeah.  That's a symptom.  I'm sure there will be lots of ladies chiming in here.

Tina

Hi Moogie,

It sure sounds like you are peri-menopausal.  I started that around age 48.  I stayed in perimenopause until I had a total abdominal hysterectomy including ovaries and tubes last November at 49.  I was dx at 49 in March of 2006 with BC.  The perimenopause started with some extremely heavy periods and then light spotting for 6 weeks at a time.  The hot flashes also started around the same time.  I had problems with endometriosis for years and I don't know if that contributed to the early menopause.  You might want to check with you gyn to confirm.

Good luck.

I was forced into menopause at 42 because of chemo. I had the night sweats, all of it. Then I started cycling again. So now I'm on this on-again off-again cycle of menopause and periods. I was in hot flash mode and menopause since Feb. when all of a sudden I started spotting. I thought about it and realized I hadn't had hot flashes in a while! So it seems I cycle through the winter months, and menopause through the summer months (for the past 2+ years). Each time I think I'm done with it, it starts up again. I'm 44 now, soon to be 45 (in Jan.) so I hope it finally comes to some kind of conclusion soon. It's rough to go through menopause time after time! But you'll survive.

Night sweats and hot flashes!  Are we women lucky?

I agree with Anne - it sounds like peri-menopause to me.  This is the pre-menopausal period which can be short for some women or can go on for as long as 10 years for others.  I was about 44 when I started.  I still had periods, but they went from being regular to being totally irregular.  Sometimes I'd skip 4 months, then I'd get 3 periods, each two weeks apart.  This went on for almost 5 years.  I used to joke that when I was feeling cranky, I never knew if I was cranky because of PMS, or if I was just cranky.  I had no idea when I'd get my period. 

And I did get nightsweats through that whole time (and continue to now that I've been menopausal for a couple of years).  Sometimes they'd ease off for months at a time, but then they'd come back.  I was lucky that I never got hot flashes, although when I'm going through a period with night sweats, usually they start up at around 7 or 8 at night.  I learned to layer my bedding so that it's easy to throw everything off when I'm hot, then add back a layer at a time as I start to cool off and sometimes even feel cold from all the sweat on my body. 

Another suggestion I've heard, but haven't done myself, is keeping lots of room fans and small personal fans around. 

sounds like menopause to me.  my chemo-induced menopause hotflashes were exactly as you've described.  they've continued post-chemo and post-ooph.  I can't get to a comfortable temperature at night trying to sleep..i sleep with a fan directed right at me and i kick the covers on and off all night... i've bought a small fan that sits on my desk at work.  as i'm typing this, it's on high.

Hi Moogie:



Sorry to hear this



and my symptoms were v. similar

to Joan's above

started in my 40...'s

then, when it became worse



I took HRT.. COULD not sleep

sweating all the time

mood swings, it was awful..



after of course into the 50's

was DX... and immediately taken off HRT

I even went off it, only to go back on to it

again, due to these symptoms



Many others do not realize

the effects it has on women



Best to you



(P.S. I owe you an e mail

and am way behind) getting to mail

soon



You take care now





Sierra



PS.. I still have them

Peri-Men symptoms started for me at age 40. I was dx w/bc at 42. I did 4 rounds of a/c chemo and that was it for me.

My last period was at 42 yo in Feb 2005. I started with 2 yrs of Tamox and am now on aromasin. I have tested post menopausal since the switch a lil over a yr ago. My gyn kept telling me I was too young to be in menopause, but I started at age 10! I mean , how many eggs can we really have. I thought 32 yrs of a really regular cycle was enough, although they disagreed.

You know your body and the blood test can tell the truth. Hot flashes and night sweats are sure signs. When you have them, you know what they are, because they are like no other feeling before.

Good luck, have them draw blood again, If you are ER+, you want that menopause and maybe some drug to stop any further hormone productions.

Hi, I just had a bilat with Diep and am experiencing night sweats/hot flashes as well. It started in the hospital right after surgery. I thought it was a side effect of surgery, but both my doctors said no. Now, I'm not so sure. Is it just coincidence that I'm going into perimenopause right after surgery or what? No chemo. Very interesting to read your message. Let me know if you've found anything else out. It's been pure terror at night since I've been recovering and don't know what's wrong with me.

ps. i'm 46 will be 47 in nov.

Thanks Shirlann,

I'll google the cool pillow and see what it's all about. I thought about being put back on the pill because my oncologist said now that I don't have breast tissue I could consider it, but I'm with you - the less stuff I'm taking the better off I'll be. I'll probably tough it out too - it sure sucks though .

I was really interested in what you had to say, Newbie and Shirlann. I had a very reliable, 28 day cycle before I had my mastectomy in April this year. (I turned 50 in Feb this year). Since then, my periods have gone haywire! None for 2 months, then a really light one, then none for a couple of months and the most recent one has been going for 3 weeks! Very tiresome!

Also, in the weeks after my surgery, I had occasional hot flashes - nothing too severe but they were obvious. I asked my doctor's advice the other day and she said that any big emotional or physical stress can unset your hormonal balance and, at 50, I suppose it was going to happen soon anyway. It's just interesting how suddenly this has happened and immediately after my mastectomy.

gb