I made it to the 5 year mark. Please help me avoid my period!

Summer Prevails

Hello all you amazing ladies,

(Long one, will summarise quickly - Need help with shutting off my period safely somehow.)

I was here ages ago when I was still very much in the deep end of treatment and recovery. I've been through a billion different stages of psychological/physical/emotional/traumatic evolution since then, and long story short, my oncology team have discharged me after being in remission for 5 years. YEEEAAAHHH I DID THAT!

Where I'm at currently is this: my Zoladex is over. My Anastrazole will be tapered off over the next two weeks and then that will be over too. I got my goddamn period for the first time in about 4.5 YEARS yesterday! And my reaction is utter fear and anger. I associate menstruation with the bane of my existence: Migraines. When I went into treatment and subsequent early menopause, my periods totally stopped, and so did my migraines. I thought I was DONE with that bullshit It was the only vague benefit of enduring the hell of treatment.

I am now desperate to find a way to stop having my periods and hopefully stop the migraines that go along with them. IF ANYBODY out there has had experience with starting any birth control pill that stopped their periods after surviving an ER+ breast cancer, or have any experience with managing to safely stop their periods for any reason after ER+ BC, please share with me!

I've tried to ask my GP for what I can do to keep myself in menopause and she said basically "You're stuck with the periods because you can't mess with your oestrogen on the Pill". Nobody understands my panic about getting periods again! I am hoping some women out there have also had the same fear and aversion to getting them back after treatment-induced menopause reversed itself.

What do you do when having periods every month also equals being dysfunctional with migraines and severe depression? What do you do when you thought you could cope with menopause and your body has adapted and then you're back in a state of total anxiety about your body sabotaging you again?

Love to hear any thoughts you have.

H

xo

Fufan

Just thinking: can you break the link between periods and migraines?  I think a psychologist  might help you.

Summer Prevails

Fufan you’re right, and I’ve seen a psychologist and a psychiatrist for many years now for various issues (PTSD and other animals). And that does help with giving me different views or ways of thinking about it all. But I feel like after 30-odd years of having migraines like clockwork when my hormones rise and fall, I can break the psychological fears down, yes, but that doesn’t change the biological process itself. So I’m maybe just realising that surviving BC is just so much more complex than I really imagined, and I just don’t know enough about my own body! I just feel afraid of oestrogen. 

Cath62

Hi @Summer Prevails, some people do fear oestrogen. I had oestrogen positive cancer, high return rate, grade 3. It has been nearly 3 years so I am still taking Letrozole. I am post menopause so no periods expected. However I do sometimes wonder how I will feel when I stop taking these pills. The fact is that these pills including tamoxifen that pre menopause women take do not provide 100% protection against cancer returning. There is no 100% guarantee in life about anything. Maybe talk to your dr, psychologist or psychiatrist about your fear. You probably need other strategies to help with dealing with this. One thing for sure is that you are correct when you say breast cancer survival is complex. It most definitely is complex. 

Deanne

Hi @Summer Prevails,
My situation was that my periods returned 18months into taking Tamoxifen. My oncologist had thought that chemo would have put me into permanent menopause because I was 47 at diagnosis. So at 49 I had my ovaries and tubes removed. This then put me into permanent menopause and allowed me to change from Tamoxifen to Letrozole also.
Is this an option you could check with your doctors about for stopping those periods once and for all?There are other health implications of early menopause so this may impact your situation but at 49 it was thought to be the best solution for me.
It will be 10 years since diagnosis for me in May this year.
Best wishes in finding the right path forward for you.
Deanne x

Summer Prevails

@Deanne - was your cancer ER+ ? I have thought about removing my ovaries. I just wonder how bad the effect on my bones would be, given I already am osteopenic. I’d say most of my medical team would tell me not to have surgery unnecessarily. But it’s something I’ve considered. 

Deanne

@Summer Prevails, yes my cancer was ER+ and PR+, hence the need to be on Tamoxifen and then Letrozole. Every situation is different and as I said, there are other health implications of removing your ovaries, one of which is bone health. 

Your doctors are the best source of information on what your choices are and what implications there may be for you.
Best wishes with finding the best solution for you.
Deanne x

cranky_granny

@Summer Prevails i wish i had a solution for you I definitely understand your fear of the return of your period. I too suffered horrible migraines with my period way back. I was lucky/unlucky that i went 
 menopause very early 39 The Drs didn’t like it and put me on HRT. To keep them going after a while i chucked the pills in. Survive the menopause and have never had a period since turning 41. 

Good luck with getting an answer. 

Have you thought about a gynaecologist for a solution.