Hi all, I hope one of you can help me.
I’m 3 years on from diagnosis…ER+PR + (both weak), HER2 -, Grade 3, IDC, no lymphvascular invasion, node negative. 8 x chemo, lumpectomy, rads. Complete pathological response, so consider myself lucky. I was 46 when diagnosed.
I had health anxiety before this and now it’s extreme. Managed with CBT, exercise, homeopathy, yoga, meditation. Horrible really but I just get by.
After chemo 1 periods stopped. I’m now 3 years period free and classed as post menopause.
Is anyone in a similar position?
I have had PM symptoms since. Hard to tell what was cancer treatment early on. But now I have the following: hot flushes day and night, dizzy spells, (come from inside my head), light nausea, anxiety, no sex drive, poor sleep, weight gain round the middle, very irritable, emotional, confused, can’t get words out, make stupid mistakes, numb fingers and weak hands, muscle jerking (random all over and only in the morning at rest before I get up), and so on.
I’m so fed up as all of these mimic recurrence. I’m scared it’s back in my brain.
I’m a sensible intelligent woman but I just can’t get on with my life when this is all happening. I’ve lost my confidence and can’t trust myself to do my job properly. I’m a counsellor and lecturer so need to be on my game. I’m not. I don’t want to work which is not like me. I’m 50 soon and heading into my fifth decade (when at one point I thought I might not!) ……feeling like this kills me. I want to enjoy every moment of my life now but just feel so useless and angry with my symptoms. I’m aware being catapulted into menopause like this is harder. But this hard?
I’m just reaching out to see if anyone else is going through this. I can’t find a huge amount of info about this situation to help me. Hopefully one of you can normalise this for me. I’d like to support others too in similar positions.
Thank you for reading xx