Hi

Have  noticed that you have not received any replies to your post and just felt it would be nice to say hello and welcome to the forum. I do not have any answers for you regards an early menopause due to the drug you are taking (this question might be worth posting in ask the nurses section or you could call the nurses on the help line number on this site.  I am actually married to someone with incurable cancer (which is enough to keep me awake at all sorts of hours!!) but I am at the same time coping with the hot flushes/chills that  you describe. They are such a nuisance during the day but like you I have rarely had a decent nights sleep for a few months now.  I am older (58) but it would appear that for the last  few months I am now entering that 'menopause' stage of life.  I wonder if your medical team can offer you any suggestions for relief. When I ran it past my GP the only obvious choice was to go on HRT and I turned this down. So for now I am 'coping' on reduced sleep and night walks around the bedroom/house to cool down.  I do hope that your previous treatments have been a success and that these side effects can be controlled or are short lived. Thanks for taking the time to chat. Jules54

Hi chocolate ...

There was actually a very similar post to yours a day or two ago. I too stopped menstruating as soon as I started chemotherapy back in 2006 (age 50) and I think that is quite a common effect of the drugs. I took Tamoxifen for five years and like you, had very bad hot flushes particularly at night - covers on and off/soaking wet/waking up. Apart from that I had no other side-effect symptoms. My consultant at the time told me to talk to my chemist and try some various brands of Tamoxifen because often the chemist will buy in the cheapest brand only. He said that the additives put in the medication by some drug companies can cause or worsen the flushes rather than the medication itself. My chemist was brilliant and ordered in several brands for me to try and there is no doubt that my hot flushes were a lot worse on some than others. There is quite a lot of info online about this subject too if you search the web. I hope this helps a bit - glad you are doing so well with your illness and hope you start to feel a little cooler soon x

Hi - me again ..... Just to say that the post I mentioned is on 'ask the nurses' x

HI,

Thank you Jules and Max for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

Unfortunately, Jules,  the type of breast cancer I had rules out my option of being able to take HRT.

I do feel sorry for my husband at night as when I am experiencing the hot flushes - he ends up with twice the thickness of duvet and probably ends up with the same symptoms as me.

Max, I did not realise though that a different brand of Tamoxifen may cause different side effects.  I  presumed that they would all be made in the same way, so I will ask the pharmacist next time I get my prescription for it.

I haven't used the forum very much whilst going through my earlier treatment, and think now it may have been a lost opportunity for some very good advice.

I will certainly check out the nurses advice too about the Tamoxifen.

Thanks,

Bev xx

Hi Chocolate,

Sorry to hear you are suffering from hot sweats, what a pain they can be.! Although I have already gone through the menopause having just had a hysterectomy in January for endometrial cancer I too have started having hot flushes again. I can only suggest a liitle practical thing that might help both you and your husband and it is something we did last year for other sleeping problems and that is change your duvets to 2 single ones. I was sceptical when my husband suggested it but I have to say we do sleep better. Our problem was i like mine under my chin and my husband likes his down on his chest so we ended up with the duvet turned by 90 degrees with nobody happy. With your hot flushes and turning the duvet on and off you might not disturb him as much. Best wishes with everything else, Annabel.

hi i'm supposed to start my tamoxifen on tuesday when my radiotherapy ends, but I have struggled with chemo having an allergic reaction on cycle 5 so the 6th was cancelled.

now my 18 cycles of RT took double the time because I had such a low tolerance level I could only manage 2 days at a time then a day or 2 off to recover. I cant find any imformation that convinces me  to commit my body to 5 years of further torture when my diagnoses was 95% clear of breast cancer before having chemo and radiotherapy .

So confused and frustrated I was working and living a full and happy life 10 months ago now all I seem to do is attend hospital appointments

Hi Chocolate, what a pain the flushes are, but they are a normal part of our lives anyway without the tamoxifen. I started going through natural menopause at 47 and the flushes were horrendous, they seemed to be like yours every few minuites. what I found was the more i thought about them and took notice they worse they seemed to be. Alot of the coping with it is in the mind, dont dwell on it or try to work it out too much, focus on other things and keep yourself busy. A fan at the bedside helps because they do only last a few seconds each time even though it seems alot longer. I am now 53 and still having them, although not as bad they are worse since I started my treatment and probably will alter again once I start the tamoxifen, no hrt for me either.  Think of each one taking you a step closer to the end of the menopause. good luck. o theend of the menopause

Hi Luxy,

Thanks for your comments.  You seem to have had more reactions to the treatment so far than I have had, but the Tamoxifen may be different for you.  My sister in law took it for 5 years and she said she felt better on it than she does now.  The chemo brrought on the menopause for me, and the flushes had already begun - but since starting the Tamox. they seem to have got worse.  It could be the normal way of things, or it could be the medication.  I got a different brand for my next prescription and will see if that makes a difference.  I have found that they seem to be worse for a few hours after taking the tablet, so I have started to take it in the morning rather than in the evening.

I have felt much the same as you regarding the number of appointments I've had to attend, but hopefully now the chemo & radio have finished, we can try to get back to a more normal way of life.

All the very best of luck to you, and take care of yourself.

xx

Hi Chocolate,

I hope you don't mind a man replying but what you have written about having hot flushes as a result of your medication rings bells with me. I would just like to tell you about my experiance. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer two and a half years ago ( from which I have made a good recovery ). As part of my treatment I was put on hormone inections for two years (zoladex). A side affect of this is I now suffer from hot flushes!!!!!!!!!!!.  As my wife also suffers from them, we are now having a competition to see who has the most and I have just taken the lead????? I thought it would help keep me warm during the cold weather but I only seem to get them when I am feeling warm. Mine are also more severe. I finished the hormone injections about six months ago and thought they would be tapering off by now. I have heard of one guy who is still suffering from them ten years on, so I hope I not going to follow in his footsteps.

Although they are slightly annoying at times, I have a good laugh about them and realistically they are a small price to pay for the good result they helped achieve with regard to my prostate cancer and I believe they have helped save my life.

I too wish you all the best of luck with your treatment, Brian