I thought my periods had returned a year after having chemo!!!

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Hi all,

It’s been a while since i’ve been on here but sometimes if something is bothering me i like to come on here for support.

Basically it’s been over a year since i had chemo for breast cancer, i had radiotherpy and i’m currently on Herceptin with one more to go.  I am not taking Tamoxifen because i am ER-.

Anyway i’m 46 and my periods stopped after second session of chemo, so i basically thought i was going through early menopause, as i believe that chemo can bring this on.  Since July this year i have had a very light bleed, i was also getting all the signs before a period ie like sore boobs etc and at exactly the same time every month.  My bleed was so light that i only needed to wear a panty liner.It wasn’t even like spotting.

This month , same thing happened only when day 2 arrived i woke up in the middle of the night with blood all over my bed, on the sheets etc. This scared me very much but i thought perhaps my perionds had come back with a vegence.

I rang the GP the day after and she suggesed that i have a FSH test to check my hormone levels. I got the results and the reading was high, so it was showing i was in fact menopausal. The Dr said im probably peri menopausal and that the bleed ive been getting is the last bits coming out of my body. She did an internal and she said everything seemed satisfactory. She’s also sent me for a pelvic untrasound just to play safe but she is fairly certain im inbetween peri menopause and menopause.I have read up about menopause and it says tha if yoou font get a period after a year then you are definitely in menopause, so any bleeding after menopause can be serious ie like womb cancer ect. I am very confused and worried that that either the breast cancer has spread or that breast cancer can cause cancer of the womb.I also was wondering if chemo can affect the FSH levels.

 

I would very much like to hear from  anyone who’s had a similar expereince…

 

Many thanks for reading this.

 

Karen xx

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i do hope that somebody can make me feel better because since been diagnosed with bc i am paranoid every little thing i get is cancer…x

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Hi Karen,

 

I don’t know if this will help or not, but here’s a brief outline of my story…

 

Diagnosed at age 47 nowhere near menopause.  Had FEC-T, two periods during chemo (one on day of first FEC, deep joy; the second the daddy of all periods ugh!) then no more; told my on that due to age periods very unlikely to restart and any bleed go straight to GP.

 

Started Tamoxifen Feb. 2011 then in Aug 2012 had some bleeding, went straight to GP as onc had told me, whole raft of tests and swabs to rule out infection (which would be interesting given my nun-like life style!!) and referral to gynae.  Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU)showed endometrial hyperplasia (thickening of the womb) so had to have hysteroscopy (camera in womb) and they removed a polyp which was benign.  Phew.  Took three months from bleed to procedure but that’s another story.

 

Aug 2013 another bleed so went to GP.  This time rapid referral to gynae, seen in two weeks, TVU showed thickening and ‘something’ so another hysteroscopy which revealed two polyps and thickening.  Again polyps benign.  Phew again.  I am now planning to speak to my breast team about options - can’t be doing this every 9-12 months!

 

In answer to your questions, I don’t think there is any evidence to suggest that chemo causes uterine cancer.  There is evidence that Tamoxifen increases the risk of uterine cancer (studies vary but anywhere between double and five times the risk of the general population) which is why any bleeds should be checked out.  I think I read somewhere there about 1 in 10 women whose hyperplasia is Tamoxifen induced turn out to have uterine cancer, so it is still a fairly low risk, would be detected early and treated ‘just’ by surgery.  As you are not on Tamoxifen (but have been kind enough to read my ramblings) your risk of uterine cancer will not be raised.

 

Bleeding can be, and often is, due to other reasons such as infection or atrophy, as well as a sign that something is wrong in the womb, tubes or ovaries.  For this reason it needs to be checked out.

 

I have never had an FSH test, and I am told they are unreliable, but you could speak about it to your GP.

 

Sorry, that’s very rambling, but I wanted to assure you that you are not entirely alone in this respect, and that most likely whatever the cause it is benign.

 

Take care and hope you soon feel much better.

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Thanks Revcat for your mesage, well i’m convinced it’s periods and i really don’t want to go through any more tests again, its just causing me more and more worry. I guess it’s best to get these things checked out but what annoys me is that my onc isn’t the slightest bit interested, all they care about is the treatment and the bc side of things but when it comes to other problems they don’t want to know, yet chemo does play a big part in causing early menopause and there is no info out there about it. So there are probably many women thinking they have got their periods back when in fact they are bleeding because of some other cause. If i hadn’t have had that heavy bleed then i dont think id have rang the GP because as far as i was concerned it was my periods coming back again…I have heard ladies getting their periods back in their 50’s

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Hi karen

please dont worry

if you have been to GP and had the tests and ultrasound you mention then, you wont have cancer again, as this is what any medical professional is very concerned about.   They may have not told you that  they were looking for any signs but I know every time I present with some ailment after E+ 2nd stage cancer mastectomy chemotherapy (yes my periods stopped) and radiation, I am always checked for secondary cancer whether my bowel my stomach or my reproductive system.   last moth after 6 years without periods and having taken Tampxifen for 5 years -I had a very small period (and I am 62!)with all the old  re symptoms you mention.  I of course was checked with ultrasound and blood tests for uterine cancer (risk when taking Tamoxifen) but it turned out to be a polyp that I had got rid of naturally - the ultrasound showed leftover burst whatever.

if you need reassurance then go back to whoever dealt with your breast cancer and ask to see them - they should see you withoput any problem.

 

Hope this helps a bit