chemo induced menopause and hormone therapy

I was also premenopausal,
I was also premenopausal, and have not had a period since my first chemo. I am still "at risk" to get my period and some women do. So they keep you on tamoxifen for two years then aromotase inhibitor after that. when you are officially considered in menopause. Some women, for varying reasons are on tamoxifen post menopause. usually a tolerance issue or it works best against an active cancer.

There is a test
My pcp took tests on me pryor to BC and I was Pre Peremenopaulso (spelling) So after my first chemo...I bled like a stuck pig, was not cool at all. but my case is way different than most, I'm triple negative and alergic to my cocktail....I did not do chemo well at all.
Needless to say my visitor never came back I'm 51 now and Feb 2 2009 was when I found out I had BC.
I dont miss it at all, and I have been able to take care of
Hot flashes and what not with meds antidepressants.
I am not able to do hormone theropy...I wish I could!
Take care Karie : )

I am in "chemopause" and
I am in "chemopause" and will remain on Tamoxifen for five years (+ER/PR & -HER2 with positive axillary nodes) unless I decide to have my ovaries removed, in which case I will be switched to Arimidex. MO highly, highly suggests that I go through with this surgery. Apparently Arimidex has a higher percentage of effectively preventing recurrence than Tamoxifen, but because I still have chemo brain, I'm unable to remember the exact percentages (LOL!) I did not want to have ovaries removed at same time as BMX & TE's - too much at one time, but I'm probably going to do it so long as my insurance will approve it, as it is considered "prophylactic."

Here are my rambling thoughts :-)
My periods stopped during chemo and I had menopausal symptoms (age 33 at the time). A few years later, while still on tamoxifen but off chemo, my periods came back regular as clockwork. I went through "real" menopause at age 43 and my doc checked my estrogen level to be sure that it was menopause as I was having irregular bleeding. The doc also did a series of endometrial biopsies until all bleeding stopped because I had not been off of tamoxifen for very long (tamoxifen can increase risk of uterine cancer and uterine cancer often presents with irregular bleeding). But it was just menopause.

So the moral of my story is chemo interrupted my periods and gave me menopausal symptoms but the menopause was not real. However, my younger sister was older when she had chemo (41) and her periods never started again. So age probably makes a difference.

You already have a lot of
You already have a lot of replies but here is what happened to me. I had chemo induced menopause which we weren't sure of at first because the onc said you'd have to go a year without periods before they consider you in menopause. Had to find out faster because I had started to spot while on Tamoxifen. he did a blood test and it said I was in menopause and he switched me to Aromasin.

Tamoxifen for me!
I went into menopause when I had chemo. My doctor put me on Tamoxifen when my chemo ended. Then 6 weeks later suggested I have a hystorectomy. So 2 weeks after that I was in for more surgery. My onc told me that I would be on Tamoxifen for 5 years wheather I had a hystorectomy or not. Due to my age he was worried my ovaries would wake up and start working again. I had lots of lymph nodes involved and he wants to be on the safe side. After the 1st 5 years I will switch to another type of medicine. I was very pre-menopausal! Marianne