No more periods?

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laurissa
laurissa Member Posts: 773
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I haven't had a period since August and I'm not complaining. Will I start again since I'm finished with chemo or is it history? I was very regular and pre-menopausal. I wonder how chemo affects the ovaries to make it stop like that.

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  • Sher43009
    Sher43009 Member Posts: 602 Member
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    Mine also stopped in Sept.
    Mine also stopped in Sept. after I had it 5 times that month! I finished chemo Oct. 7th and it hasn't started up again. Like you before my cancer I was perimenopausal. Chemo often destroys ovarian function so we may not get it again. I also have to go on Tamoxefin so that should keep it from coming back.
  • taleena
    taleena Member Posts: 1,612 Member
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    I don't know how it
    I don't know how it works...personally, the injections I'm on have stopped them for me too... not quite sure how I feel about it...

    I hope someone can answer that for you.

    ♥ & hugs,

    ~T
  • newbiefromcananda
    newbiefromcananda Member Posts: 234
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    Hi Laurissa
    I missed the last one (last month) as well..I am not sure about it coming back... I will be ok if not lol but I wish the hot flashes would go away as well :) xoxoxo Lisa
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
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    Hi Laurissa
    I missed the last one (last month) as well..I am not sure about it coming back... I will be ok if not lol but I wish the hot flashes would go away as well :) xoxoxo Lisa

    I think the chemo stops
    I think the chemo stops them. They will probably return eventually. I read on here where this has happened to others. Ask your oncologist and let us know. Good luck!

    Sue :)
  • elm3544
    elm3544 Member Posts: 748
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    I have heard of some younger
    I have heard of some younger women having their's come back, while others of the same age did not. My Dr told me the chemo would force me into what he called early menopause and the periods will not come back. Fine with me. I'm 48 so it wouldn't have been much longer anyway for me. Just hate the hot flashes!
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
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    elm3544 said:

    I have heard of some younger
    I have heard of some younger women having their's come back, while others of the same age did not. My Dr told me the chemo would force me into what he called early menopause and the periods will not come back. Fine with me. I'm 48 so it wouldn't have been much longer anyway for me. Just hate the hot flashes!

    Periods
    I started my chemo March 10th and had one 3/10 and then again in April and have not had one since. I finished chemo on 7/23. I am still on Herceptin.
    My oncologist said 1/3 will get them back after chemo finishes and then 1/3 will get them back before a year and then 1/3 will never get them again.

    I am 45 and I'm ok with not ever having a period again.

    Margo
  • Megan M
    Megan M Member Posts: 3,000
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    Periods
    I started my chemo March 10th and had one 3/10 and then again in April and have not had one since. I finished chemo on 7/23. I am still on Herceptin.
    My oncologist said 1/3 will get them back after chemo finishes and then 1/3 will get them back before a year and then 1/3 will never get them again.

    I am 45 and I'm ok with not ever having a period again.

    Margo

    I think for some, their
    I think for some, their period comes back and then with others, it doesn't. The chemo does stop it as far as I know.

    Megan
  • aztec45
    aztec45 Member Posts: 757
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    I Agree
    I agree with everyone. I think it is a mixed bag. I started my first chemo treatment in July. Three weeks following that, I started getting hot flashes and was told the chemo has sent me into menopause. As far as I know, my periods won't return but I may experience spotting. I am glad that I no longer have periods as mine were quite painful and heavy. But, I don't like the fact that the chemo took something from me without me having a choice in the matter. Just possessive I guess.

    P
  • Bella Luna
    Bella Luna Member Posts: 1,578 Member
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    My flow has stopped too.
    My flow has stopped too. Started chemo in September, flow stopped in October. My personal summers started in November. As far as I see it, it's part of the process. It helps to know this phase was a possibility. It's as real as can be to me.

    I hope Tamoxifen doesn't make matters worse with hotflashes. Will keep fingers crossed. Good luck with your treatment plan.
    BL
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
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    Chemo pushed me into
    Chemo pushed me into menopause also. The onc said a year with no periods is considered menopause. I started spotting and he took a blood test which confirmed menopause and sent me to GYN. This is when he switched me off Tamoxifen to Aromasin. Don't know why it causes menopause in some and not others.
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
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    Marcia527 said:

    Chemo pushed me into
    Chemo pushed me into menopause also. The onc said a year with no periods is considered menopause. I started spotting and he took a blood test which confirmed menopause and sent me to GYN. This is when he switched me off Tamoxifen to Aromasin. Don't know why it causes menopause in some and not others.

    I was told the first time
    I was told the first time around the closer you are to menopause the more likely. My first time I got my period back during chemo (CMF) this tine i got it after my first AC and not since. I would be suprised if I got it back but one never knows.
  • e_hope
    e_hope Member Posts: 370
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    no one knows if
    No one knows if your cycle will start again. At least that was what I was told. I haven't had a period since may. What I have read is that it is likely if you are over 35 your cycle will stop all together and if you under it will come back.

    LOL, quite personally I'm not complaining.. other than the hot flashes. My skin looks the best it ever has. I even told my dermotolgist, gee who knew chemo and menopause was the fix i needed to clear up my face..
  • pgrace35
    pgrace35 Member Posts: 122
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    No period either
    My period stopped after my first chemo treatment and it's now 8 weeks since my last treatment onto rads, not sure how long your ovaries shut down for. But my oncologist told me we will need to address it when I'm done with rads because my cancer was estrogen fed and my ovaries need to be shut down all together, whether it "resumes" shortly after radiaton,not too sure of that.
  • lisamnovak
    lisamnovak Member Posts: 27
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    Me too
    My doctor told me that for 70% it comes back. I am 42, so, mine could come back or not. It just depends. Ask your doctor.
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
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    On purpose...
    My med onc told me that chemo would put me into "chemically induced menopause" (his exact words). Which it did, as it was supposed to.
  • susie09
    susie09 Member Posts: 2,930
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    On purpose...
    My med onc told me that chemo would put me into "chemically induced menopause" (his exact words). Which it did, as it was supposed to.

    Chemo normally will stop
    Chemo normally will stop your periods. So, I think it is very normal if yours has stopped.
  • Taina
    Taina Member Posts: 166
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    Chemo affects everything...
    Hello, Laurissa...
    chemo affects everything...
    my oncologist said i may get my periods back.
    chemo takes you to early menopause...
    He said some ladies may or may not get there periods back...
    I'm on Tamoxifen now....
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
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    Taina said:

    Chemo affects everything...
    Hello, Laurissa...
    chemo affects everything...
    my oncologist said i may get my periods back.
    chemo takes you to early menopause...
    He said some ladies may or may not get there periods back...
    I'm on Tamoxifen now....

    I am just afraid he will put
    I am just afraid he will put me on lupron which i am afraid will realy mess me up. i know tamoxifen then arimedex. i am so sensative to meds all this scares me. but I try to take one thing at a time.
  • CatintheHat
    CatintheHat Member Posts: 4
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    carkris said:

    I am just afraid he will put
    I am just afraid he will put me on lupron which i am afraid will realy mess me up. i know tamoxifen then arimedex. i am so sensative to meds all this scares me. but I try to take one thing at a time.

    Periods, Chemo and Tamoxifen
    Hello to all,

    I am celebrating being off chemo for 1 year now. I started chemo in Sept 2008 and ended in Jan 2009. I had a period in Sept, they quit in Oct and have never come back. My onc said that since I was 47 when this started I would most likely not get them back and since my cancer was estrogen born she wanted me to go into menapause. My sister, who is 34 went with me to some of my onc visits and she asked what would happen at her age and my onc said that since she was still young and not close to menapause that her periods would stop during chemo but would come back. I have been on tamoxifen for 7 months and the hot flashes are still with me although they are starting to be less severe. I'm told that I will have them as long as I'm on the meds ugh!! I will see my onc in Feb and since I will have not had a period for a year and my GYN says I am officially in menapause she may switch me to arimedex. I too am very sensitive to meds so I don't know how I will react.

    Before I was diagnosed with bc I couldn't wait until my periods stopped, but when they were forced to end by chemo I was upset about it because my body wouldn't be taking the natural course to menapause, but it has been a year since I had one and am glad now.