Docs Helped Me Beat Most cancers But They Couldn't Help Me With Menopause

When Kat Dennis was identified with breast most cancers on the age of 32 she was put into medically induced menopause to cease the hormones fueling the tumor.

The set designer additionally needed to endure radiotherapy, which induced burns to his physique, and chemotherapy, which induced extreme nausea.

He needed to spend time within the hospital when his white blood cell rely dropped dangerously low, however he says medical doctors did every little thing they may to deal with his signs.

Now 35 and cancer-free, Kat, who lives in Edinburgh, was anticipated to really feel a lot better.

But she had no concept that “crash menopause” would have an effect on her a lot.

“Sometimes menopause feels worse,” she stated.

“When you have cancer symptoms, doctors throw books at you to solve the problem.

“They take really good care of you during chemo and after your surgery and you're constantly checked on through radiation.

“But then when it's all over they push you off the cliff.

“They're like, 'Okay, bye.' Nobody talked to me about menopause and you don't know what's going on in your body,” she said.

Every woman goes through menopause, the process of stopping their monthly periods due to a decrease in hormone levels.

Most people experience the transition between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age being 51.

Symptoms can vary greatly and affect nearly every aspect of physical and mental well-being, from common effects like hot flushes and mood swings to less known effects like joint pain, inflammation, and brain fog.

While natural menopause results in a gradual decline in hormones, medically induced menopause can happen overnight.

Symptoms come on so suddenly and feel so intense that it is sometimes known as “crash menopause.”

Kat, who is currently undergoing four years of menopause-inducing injections, has since suffered decreased libido, anxiety and severe hot flashes.

“I have suffered a lot of dry vagina problems and it cracks and bleeds and is really painful,” she said.

“It's so horrible, you can feel the heat all over your body and then it spreads all over your face and then your cheeks become bright red apples that are burning and then I feel like I'm going to vomit.”

“It really sucks because I got married and you want to spend the best years of your life,” Kat stated.

In reality, she feels sick on a regular basis.

“There are so many side effects when you're going through chemo, I don't think you really notice menopause until you come out the other side,” she stated.

One technique to handle menopause signs is hormone substitute remedy (HRT) however CATs can’t pursue this feature as a result of estrogen, which is a serious element of many HRT merchandise, can stimulate the expansion of breast most cancers cells.

“The serious thing with menopause is that doctors don't have many solutions for it,” he stated.

Kat stated: “My ovaries shut down the day I bought the primary injection. It's not a sluggish course of in direction of crash menopause, it's actually the following day, whereas common menopause is for much longer.

She stated she was put into crash menopause to guard her ovaries from chemotherapy, which might have destroyed all her eggs.

Medically induced menopause could also be non permanent or everlasting relying on remedy and particular person elements resembling age.

“The longer you stay in medically induced menopause, the less likely it is that your period will return,” Catt stated.

Once she will get off the menopause drugs inside a yr, she’s going to know inside six months whether or not her durations will return or not.

“It could be actually upsetting if it was everlasting, however I'm hopeful as a result of my physique is robust and good at therapeutic itself.

“If I stay in menopause I think I will always have symptoms because I went into menopause at such a young age that my body will become confused.”

If her durations return, she’s going to undergo a second pure menopause sooner or later.

“It's actually unfair to lose a number of the finest years of your life due to menopause after which undergo all of it once more. Hot flashes, reminiscence loss, mind fog and joint ache.

“It's quite upsetting to think I might have to do it all again.”

Dame Laura Lee, chief government of most cancers charity Maggie's, stated crash menopause could be “brutal” for a lot of ladies with most cancers “yet awareness is frighteningly low”.

She stated, “Once upon a time, menopause was a taboo subject that no one discussed, but now we have so many celebrities shedding light on the topic – we need to do the same for 'Crash Menopause' – we want people to know that we are here with them throughout their cancer treatment and that includes Crash Menopause.”

“If we keep the conversation going then more women and their friends and families can identify the signs and symptoms and get the help they need. Whether that's psychological support or help understanding what this might mean for their fertility, or protecting their long-term health.”

Kat says she thinks younger people who find themselves put into medically induced menopause undergo in silence.

He stated, “People expect that after cancer treatment you will be back to normal and ask 'Are you OK now, everything is OK now?'”

“And you're like 'Oh yes, I'm recovered and back to normal' but inside you're screaming into the void because you're not back to normal.”

She added, “It's crazy how many people don't know that a lot of young women with cancer go into this induced menopause.”

“I simply wish to shout from the rooftops what it’s as a result of if your loved ones doesn't know they will't allow you to.

“Now my husband knows about it and his parents know about it so instead of saying, 'You're OK, everything's great, right?' “To assist me develop into one of the best model of myself.”