periods

[Cancerislame]

Hmmm.. I don't think I am in menopause...but only had 1 period since I started chemo...on 6.5 months. So now I think I should look up menopause. I have not had hot flashes though.

Jennifer

[jennyjojjr]

Anyone else out there with crohns colitis progressing to cancer?

[Jachut]

I'm not sure if mine came from chemo or radiation, but it did send me into menopause. I dont' know if it would be permanent or not, but I would think it likely.

Me too, not sure which caused it but it was instant and has been intense. Hot flashes, sleep distrbances, depression and moodiness, and a deep grief for the young woman that i was ( im 43, which in my opinion is way too young to seddenly join the ranks of the middle aged). Ive found menopause the mos traumatic art of treatment. It should be gradual and a natural progression into the next stage of life, giving you a chance to make the emotional transition.

[Gaelen]

I got to do menopause twice - once at 48, the second they started infusing Folfox, which put me into what the gynecologist called "chemically induced menopause." When I went into remission and went off chemo, my body FELT like it wanted to have a period again, and I had some traditional PMS symptoms, but no actual periods.

The second time was actual menopause, after the hysterectomy that was part of my 2008 surgery for recurrence. Just as intense as the first time, although this time it's permanent. The hot flashes do go away with time and patience. The sleep disturbances and changes in metabolism, aggravated by chemo treatments, seem to persist longer.

Me too, not sure which caused it but it was instant and has been intense. Hot flashes, sleep distrbances, depression and moodiness, and a deep grief for the young woman that i was ( im 43, which in my opinion is way too young to seddenly join the ranks of the middle aged). Ive found menopause the mos traumatic art of treatment. It should be gradual and a natural progression into the next stage of life, giving you a chance to make the emotional transition.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jachut, unless you're from that rare line of Siberian women who live to be over 110, age 43 IS middle-aged. In the US/UK the average life expectancy of women is around 80. In fact, that puts age 43 damn near the exact mid-point for most women in western countries. For women in some less developed countries, 43 is OLD AGE. Even in this country, it's not uncommon anymore to meet 43-year-old grandmothers.

The phenomenon of peri-menopause (the 10 years prior to and post the actual ceasing of menstruation) is being studied more and more. Women begin experiencing hormonal changes (decreases in estrogen) as far as 10 YEARS in advance of full menopause. That means at 43, you were likely already experiencing "gradual and natural progression into the next stage of life." I know that even though at 48, I was still actively menstruating, I was already experiencing some peri-menopausal physical and emotional changes.

My mom didn't go into menopause until almost 50 - but my sister went into complete menopause around 43 or 43. My period was actually due the week I started infusions - it never came. Not only can actual menopause onset vary between women in families, but peri-menopause takes different tolls on different women. I was experiencing changes, and I know my mom did, before actual menopause. My sister experienced few/no physical changes and went almost immediately into menopause - the youngest of all of us, and her pre-menopause time frame was the shortest. Not everyone gets 10 years to come to grips with menopause.

I was already experiencing shorter, but more intense, periods, and had been for about three years (since 45.) My estrogen levels were tested and were dropping. But there was nothing gradual about the natural perimenopause process as I experienced it prior to chemo - I went from normal to shorter, more intense periods in literally ONE month, and developed painful side effects like cramping and extreme breast sensitivity literally overnight. So I wouldn't mourn the "natural" process of menopause...for me, my body's changes into peri-menopause were just as dramatic in nearly as short a time as chemo-induced menopause or the actual hysterectomy.

I know many of us still think of ourselves as the 20-somethings we used to be. It's tough to recognize that we're in fact getting older (although if you hang around enough people under 20, that truth will be brought home to you pretty fast!) It's ok to mourn that passage of time - but it's unavoidable. Age 43 in western countries is the prime of life - of middle age. But at 43, nobody is (physically) a kid - or a "young woman" anymore (except in ratio to a 100 year old woman.)

There's absolutely an element of grief whenever your body changes. But a counselor once told me it helped her to grieve for loss, while looking to the changes in your life for their possibilities. It's a bit different perspective, but it can help get you past grieving for the young woman you haven't been for the last 20 years.

[Jachut]

Gee, i dont quite know how to take that?

Im sorry, all logic aside, I wasnt ready to fast forward ten years. Im in better shape physically than i was in my twenties and was deeply shocked by my diagnosis and the effects it had on my life. I think my emotions are quite valid. Im sure you meant no offence, but sometimes we dont really need the cold hard facts.

[Gaelen]

Gee, i dont quite know how to take that?

Please take it as it was intended - the sincere perspective of a woman who's gone through this.

Im sorry, all logic aside, I wasnt ready to fast forward ten years. Im in better shape physically than i was in my twenties and was deeply shocked by my diagnosis and the effects it had on my life. I think my emotions are quite valid.

Jachut, I didn't say your emotions weren't valid, and it's unfortunate that you interpreted my post that way. My point was that at 43, you aren't necessarily being fast-forwarded 10 years - even though it can feel that way sometimes. But early, non-gradual menopause happens to healthy non-cancer patients, too - all the time, and yes, at 43. At 48, I was one of only three of the two-dozen 40-50 yo women with whom I worked who wasn't in full menopause (and wasn't already coloring my hair to cover gray.)

Like you I was also in great physical shape - I'd had an industrial toxicity physical 4 months before my dx and had textbook perfect bloodwork and results. And I think most of us would agree we were shocked by our dx. Many continue to be shocked and/or dismayed by this disease's effects on our lives. I know it can seem like small comfort, but Jachut, you're not alone.

Im sure you meant no offence, but sometimes we dont really need the cold hard facts.

There's also the chance that by hearing the "cold hard facts," it'll be a little easier for someone to come to terms with what they're going through, when they recognize their experience is shared by other women, including healthy ones.

At some point, I hope you can become more at peace with the flow of your life. Be well.

[debb]

I totally agree, Jachut, 43 is too young for menopause. I still grieve over that part of my life. It's one more reason I hate this cancer. Chemo did not put me into menopause, but when I had a recurrence in my ovaries and both were removed....then, hello menopause! When menopause comes naturally, it comes gradually, no matter what our age. But for us it was instant, and devastating. It affects us physically and mentally and sexually, all while we are trying to cope with our diagnosis. And it confuses our symptoms: am I feeling (tired, depressed, fat, etc) due to cancer or menopause? It's all really hard, and we get blindsided with menopause, just as we got blindsided by cancer.

[jennyjojjr]

Hmmm, I am not sure what there is to miss here. No more horrible cramps, no more bleeding like a stuck pig, no more anemia from blood loss...good riddance I thought, until they came back last month.

[fritts44]

I agree, Debb and Jachut. Before I was diagnosed, I assumed my fatigue was due to peri-menopause. I made an appointment with an Ob/Gyn who specializes in bio-identical hormones. He did a blood test & told me that my hormone levels showed that I was no even near menopause (at 43). Unfortunately, the pelvic exam also resulted in a mass being found, that sent me to an MRI which showed the tumor on the colon.

I laugh now at how naive I was during the first meeting with the radiation oncologist:

Doc: "Have you started menopause?"
Me: "NO! In fact, my hormone levels last month showed that I was no where near menopause!" I was so proud.
Doc: "Well, I'm about to put you there".
Me: "oh"

I still don't know if this is the end of it, or if I'll get normal again, only to have to go through normal menopause later. Frankly, I'm hoping I won't have to go through this twice!

Lee F.

[hollyholly]

Mine are irregular! I'm 25 years old and I'm on FOLFOX ...9 down, 3 to go! I don't think I missed a period but I'm not good at keeping track. I had light bleeding for a few days, followed by a few days of super heavy bleeding. I also just completed iron infusions for anemia. I'm hoping with everything that I have that my fertility won't be ruined by this treatment. Can't wait to start a family! My fiance and I have 20 embryos saved just in case!

[fritts44]

Just to give you an idea of how chemo can mess with your hormones, my Dr's appt was this morning and he showed me my blood test results side-by-side with my pre-chemo blood results. My estrogen went from 133 pre-chemo to 7 now

Everything else was whacked, too -- Vit D, Vit b12, don't even remember it all. He made a long list of supplements for me & gave me a Rx for both estrogen & progesterone. Said the hot flashes should stop within 48 hrs (which surprised me that they would work that fast). He did say that the level of hormones was not enough to restart my periods. So, if I can get rid of hot flashes without my period, I may have just found a silver lining from chemo!

Lee F

[beary22071]

I wish my periods would have stopped in fact when I was on the Avastin regimend I had to start taking the pill cause everytime I got chemo I had my period. That sucked every two weeks Since I started taking the pill they have been back to normal.