Menopause after treatment

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CrystalW
CrystalW Member Posts: 31
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Ok..Is there anyone out there that can tell me if they have found any kind of relief from menopause symptoms without the use of hormones? I need something nautural. My old girls have finally decided to shut down at the ripe old age of 45 and the symptoms are comming on in full force again. While I was going thru treatment 7 years ago I just suffered through them but after two years the overies decided to start working again, so the symptoms deminished. Now I guess they have given up the ghost and here we are again...I would appreciate any suggestions or ideas...Keep up the fight...Love to you all

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  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #2
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    I drink a glass of cold
    I drink a glass of cold water and have a pocket fan (like they use in the flamenco dances) handy. Sorry, I can't be of more help, but my oncologist warned me not to take anything over the counter for it either because it's made with soy products which produce more estrogen. Hugs, Lili
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #3
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    Hi, CrystalW
    I'm new here, been about a week. Nice to meet you, though sorry for the reason. Wow, you were very young for breast cancer.

    Like for Lili, my oncologist strongly discourages even over-the-counter remedies. No soy anything. And, of course, no estrogen - not even topical. Besides a glass of really cold water & a hand-held fan (both good ideas)...

    This might seem kinda weird, but... When a "hot flash" comes on - I try to get really, really still (i.e., not move at all). And I try to calm myself down, not freak out about it. Not preventative, just helps to make them less intense & pass more quickly (at least, most of the time). For me, that is. Also, maybe try to figure out if you have "triggers" so that you can minimize them; for example, exposure to direct heat itself really gets 'em going for me - like cooking, heat from the stove or oven. All of my cooking tools have the longest handles I can find so that I don't have to stand as close to the stove. Sadly, I do a LOT LESS baking (benefit: better for the ol' figure!) Lastly, might seem obvious, but anyway... Just about my entire clothing wardrobe has changed accordingly. Maybe re-evaluate what you wear.

    Hope you get some relief, some way, some how.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • Kristin N
    Kristin N Member Posts: 1,968 Member
    #4
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    Christmas Girl said:

    Hi, CrystalW
    I'm new here, been about a week. Nice to meet you, though sorry for the reason. Wow, you were very young for breast cancer.

    Like for Lili, my oncologist strongly discourages even over-the-counter remedies. No soy anything. And, of course, no estrogen - not even topical. Besides a glass of really cold water & a hand-held fan (both good ideas)...

    This might seem kinda weird, but... When a "hot flash" comes on - I try to get really, really still (i.e., not move at all). And I try to calm myself down, not freak out about it. Not preventative, just helps to make them less intense & pass more quickly (at least, most of the time). For me, that is. Also, maybe try to figure out if you have "triggers" so that you can minimize them; for example, exposure to direct heat itself really gets 'em going for me - like cooking, heat from the stove or oven. All of my cooking tools have the longest handles I can find so that I don't have to stand as close to the stove. Sadly, I do a LOT LESS baking (benefit: better for the ol' figure!) Lastly, might seem obvious, but anyway... Just about my entire clothing wardrobe has changed accordingly. Maybe re-evaluate what you wear.

    Hope you get some relief, some way, some how.

    Kind regards, Susan

    Menopause
    Will the hormone therapy throw me into menopause? How old do you have to be to start or go thru menopause? Is there a correct age for it? Thanks!
  • rjjj
    rjjj Member Posts: 1,822 Member
    #5
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    mmontero38 said:

    I drink a glass of cold
    I drink a glass of cold water and have a pocket fan (like they use in the flamenco dances) handy. Sorry, I can't be of more help, but my oncologist warned me not to take anything over the counter for it either because it's made with soy products which produce more estrogen. Hugs, Lili

    Hi lili,
    It is so nice to see your cute face back on the board. I also have a pocket fan and at night I soak through my pillows. I know my Dr. said hormone supplements are like fertilizer for ca. What i am wondering is friend (a bc survivor has been telling me to drink soy and not real milk because of estrogens in milk.) now i'm really lost even though i don't like soy but do like milk..i have a couple cartons of soy i was going to try. I am glad i saw your post..i didn't know, and so glad you mentioned this.
    Thanks
    Jackie
  • dmdudra
    dmdudra Member Posts: 50
    #6
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    Crystal
    Hi have been doing treatment since January of this year and finally my ovaries did what my doctor said and stopped working. The hot flashes at night are a pain but that is all the symptoms that I have had..So I am not sure if I can be much help.. I know that my mom looked into natural ways when she was going through like vitamins. You might check on the internet and see what you can come up with
  • ritazimm
    ritazimm Member Posts: 171
    #7
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    My boss is in natural
    My boss is in natural menopause and had terrible hot flashes. She had accupuncture treatments and found them to be very helpful. I believe that she had to go through one course of the accupuncture treatments which was something like 6 treatments and then she was fine. She was told that she may need to come back for more at some point but it has been a coupld of years and it hasn't gotten worse. Of course I don't know if this is helpful to those of us on the medications but it might?

    Good luck!
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #8
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    rjjj said:

    Hi lili,
    It is so nice to see your cute face back on the board. I also have a pocket fan and at night I soak through my pillows. I know my Dr. said hormone supplements are like fertilizer for ca. What i am wondering is friend (a bc survivor has been telling me to drink soy and not real milk because of estrogens in milk.) now i'm really lost even though i don't like soy but do like milk..i have a couple cartons of soy i was going to try. I am glad i saw your post..i didn't know, and so glad you mentioned this.
    Thanks
    Jackie

    Hey, Jackie...
    I think the whole soy thing can be sorta confusing. My onc explained that there is a difference between plant-based estrogens (i.e., like soy & what's found in the OTC supplements for menopause) & animal-based estrogens (i.e., what we - humans - naturally produce). To the best of my knowledge, the plant-based estrogens haven't actually been clinically tested/proven to have the same effects as animal-based. Therefore, when they recommend no estrogens at all - it's just absolute caution because they're really not sure. As in "better safe than sorry"... If you're unsure at all, just ask your own doctor.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • Christmas Girl
    Christmas Girl Member Posts: 3,682 Member
    #9
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    Kristin N said:

    Menopause
    Will the hormone therapy throw me into menopause? How old do you have to be to start or go thru menopause? Is there a correct age for it? Thanks!

    Menopause...
    Hi, Kristin N. Naturally occurring menopause varies greatly by age, within a very wide range. Everyone is different. There is also peri-menopause - the onset stage & post-menopause - which is the after stage. Ob/gynes can monitor & determine the stages via blood tests for hormone levels. Actually, my onc does this test for me every 6 months; and then, my ob-gyne gets those results from him. I don't know what you mean by "hormone therapy"? My chemotherapy caused "induced" menopause (I was 45 & not yet even peri-menopausal when diagnosed). Now I take Arimidex, which continues to prevent my body from producing estrogen. Hope this helps, at least a little bit, for now. But, I think that only your doctor(s) can more specifically answer your questions as they relate to your current situation.

    Kind regards, Susan
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #10
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    ritazimm said:

    My boss is in natural
    My boss is in natural menopause and had terrible hot flashes. She had accupuncture treatments and found them to be very helpful. I believe that she had to go through one course of the accupuncture treatments which was something like 6 treatments and then she was fine. She was told that she may need to come back for more at some point but it has been a coupld of years and it hasn't gotten worse. Of course I don't know if this is helpful to those of us on the medications but it might?

    Good luck!

    What I would give
    What I would give to not have a period anymore. The oncologist told me that with the A/C treatment that it would stop---it did NOT--every 2-3 wks now so now that I've done 4 treatments of A/C and then starting Taxol in a couple of weeks I am hoping that it will stop. I have had hot flashes and night sweats before when I had thyroid problems so I would much rather have those then a period this often.

    Margo

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