My wife is 50 and recovering from the treatment of breast cancer. She has had surgery, avoided chemo and is now on tamoxifen (for 3 weeks). Everything has gone well, thankfully.
But I’m wondering if anybody has any idea about how long it’s going to take before my wife goes through the menopause? I guess it’s not a science, but I wondered if anybody had any rough ideas.
Cheers pnts
Hi pnts,
It’s hard, as you say - it’s not science. Everyone is different. Your wife hasn’t had chemo - that often puts women into a premature menopause - but the tamoxifen will probably give her menopausal symptoms even if she isn’t in the menopause for real. I say ‘probably’ as like any medicine the side effects vary from person to person - some will sail through without any, others will get every one listed and more.
A good guide to the age of a natural menopause is the age a woman’s mother went through it. The average in the UK is about 51 or 52, but this hides a wide variation - could be anywhere from mid 40s to late 50s and still be normal.
So the answer to your question is that she will probably get menopausal symptoms from the tamoxifen, and that because of her age by the time she finishes 5 years she will probably be through the menopause but nothing is guaranteed. It is possible to go through five years of tamoxifen, think you are menopausal, only for periods to resume once tamoxifen is finished and then to start the menopause all over again- I speak from experience here!