Im 35 years old. ive just gone through breast cancer treatment for the 2nd time round. First time was in 2018 then again at beginning of this year. I had surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and tamoxifen last time. This time surgery, Leuprorelin injections, Anastrozole Bisphosphonates. So have ended up in a medical menopause.
I’m finding I’m struggling with noise sensitivity and get very anxious and stressed when in noisy places. Like train stations or shopping centre.
I also feel very overwhelmed when its busy.
I have got some noise filter earplugs which do seem to help but keep forgetting them as I also use them for work. So have just been into town and really found it hard to hear or concentrate on my family with all the other noise.
Was wondering if anyone else had noticed this after treatment or with the same medications?
Im also struggling with mind things as I call them. In 2018 after chemo, I got mind fog which did get better but was left slight issues with handling numbers.
This has now come back and got worse. A few things ive noticed
Numbers, ill reverse them say 52 instead of 25 or type that. The number 5 can turn into a 4 or 6 or other numbers sometimes. Typing out numbers that someone is saying is hard.
Words, i sometimes miss words out of sentences or cant say the word right. I sometimes reverse letters in words when writing them down.
Telling time has got a bit tricky.
Working out my left and right or doing step exercises.
Im worried my brain is getting worse and losing my mind.
Has anyone else found this? Is this cancer related?
Just wanted other people’s thoughts.
Its making work tricky, I work in retail and have to take people’s emails, numbers ect. I’m going slow and trying to be careful.
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Hi there, no you’re not losing your mind. I was already past the menapause when I had my treatment, however all the things you’ve mentioned were my experience of the menapause. I recall interviewing a client at work, she had a very shrill voice which seemed to go straight through me , hurting my ears. I felt like getting out of the room, it was so unbearable. The brain fog and word/number muddling were also common. These things will pass. X
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Hello @mirkwood42_1
I’m so sorry to hear that you are experiencing all these changes as a consequence of having gone through breast cancer treatment for a second time at a relatively young age.
I’m sure many ladies can relate to many of the symptoms you are describing, if I’m being honest I don’t know many people who actually enjoy being in such noisy crowded environments: my 15 year old daughter certainly doesn’t!
The brain fog you describe is also very common and can be as a result of many life changes, I don’t know if you’ve had children but baby brain has much the same effect.
As @Chrissy19 has said it will improve over time and it would be nice to think that waking up one morning or taking a pill will change things overnight unfortunately as with many things this just doesn’t happen: despite what some like to tell you.
It sounds to me like you are doing really well at managing the problem and just slowing things down a bit can be really really helpful: it’s certainly a tactic I’ve adopted in recent years and I’ve found it makes things much easier to manage.
You may like to start keeping a journal and jotting down how your day goes: always start with writing down what went well and then but only if you feel you need to the things that weren’t so good. Over time you should see an improvement 
Keep going, you’ve got this!
AM xxx
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Thanks for your replies. I never thought it was the menopause symptoms. I know it causes hot flushes and fatigue but didnt link it to the brain fog. Has put my mind at rest abit, hopefully it might ease off once Ive been on these medications for a while. As thats what happened last time I was on tamoxifen.