women's question ... help

[nialla]

hi;
i'm 45 now and for the last 2 months i've been getting my period every 2-3 weeks, i've always been normal around 24-28 days.  on treatment i only missed it one month but then it straightened out.  am i in early menopause?  my eyesight was greatly effected by treatment, my vision got significantly worse in a year.  i think the treatment may have accelerated my menstrual cycle too.  anybody know?  i just went to the gynecologist for my yearly exam, i hate going and i'd like not to have to go again if possible.

*nialla

[MissyMouse]

Nialla,

GET TO THE DOC!  I don't think you are in early menapause.  In mose cases of peri-menapause the opposite happens (missed cycles).  When I was 40 I started having a cycle every 16 days.  I passed it off as stress 'cause my mom has just passed away.  I waited too long to have it checked out and wound up getting a hysterectomy  due to a huge cyst like growth on my ovary.

They should be able to check what's going on with an ultrasound.

Mouse

[19Dragon52]

(((Nialla)))

This is a good topic you have brought forward.  I had regular cycles before I started tx and have had none since I started.  It is a year later and still nothing.  It would be great if the TX just threw me to the other side of it all but I still want to get checked just to make sure everything is Kosher.

It's hard to figure when you're a "fossil"...lol

I would get yourself checked.

Love Ya.....

[kentucky]

my periods stopped on tx. i was normal before.

so they sent me to a gynocologist, and he did a blood test that showed i was in menopause.
(my thyroid was also screwed up bad!)
the gyno. dr. said it was ovarian failure.
so now i am menopausal.

the hot flashes were rough at first but now they seem to be gone.
but i noticed other things. bad joint pain, anxiety, facial hair, etc.
it is not fun to be in menopause. and i am thinking about
taking the bio-dentical hormones when i can ever afford them.

i am 44. (soon to be 45)

[KatNyerHAT]

I can't really answer the question because I was a fossil pre-tx... 

Good luck, Nialla, with the doctor and let us know what they think.

Hugs,
Kat

[Kira]

My fossil-hood started with tx, too.  But in my late 40's and early 50's I had the more frequent bleedings.  The doctor said it was from estrogen being reduced in my body.  But they need to check to make sure there aren't other problems.

Let us know how it goes at the doctor's.

Cris

[mindy]

Nialla, I am gonna be 47.  Until I started tx, I got my friend every month like clockwork.  My cycle has almost stopped completely but will show up in buckets about every 3 months or so.  My liver doc is saying interferon can cause peri menapause.  I hope it pushed me to the other side as well, but I go every year to the ob/gyn for the woman check up.  Go girl.

[nialla]

hey;
this month it went back to the normal 27 days, but i did some research and asked a female doctor i know and she told me that as you get older your estrogen level decreases and it can't hold the egg as long so that's why the periods start coming more frequently.  most of my friends who are my age are starting to notice the same thing, more frequent but much lighter, only 2-3 days.  i'm making sure to write down every month so i can see if it changes.

*nialla

[memarcie]

Maybe because I was younger, but I had my period every month while on tx.  I'm also on the pill so maybe that had something to do with it.

[mindy]

Nialla, when I was on the 70 long week run of pegintron, my female friend stopped for the whole time.  After virus broke thru and meds were stopped, my friend came back full blast for 3 months, I was at ER twice, my female hormones were entirely out of wack from all the intergeron/riboviron and now it is 2 years later and my female friend is still weird.  I am 48 and it could be menopause but you should get checked out a little better..  mindy

[marysmom]

I am on my 7th week of treatment and I am having the opposite that most of you.  For the last 3 weeks I have started my period on the same day I took my shot.  The first 2 weeks lasted about 4 days and were pretty heavy and this last week lasted about 3 days and was very light.  I am 45 years old.  It is odd that it starts on the day I take my shot.

[DougV]

Being a tad unfamiliar with this subject I'd normally sit quietly and mind my own business, but....

And I don't know, just a question....

Could heavy bleeding be related to lowered platelet count?  My platelets dropped pretty low during tx (course I can cheerfully report that menstrual bleeding was at no time ever an issue for me) and I would think that could increase bleeding?

Just a thought, and sorry I'm now going away.

Doug

[Helen]

Hey Doug,

 Glad you at least try and give it a whirl. 

Hi Marysmom and welcome,

 I personally have never done treatment so I cant say, but I DO know about menopause and peri-menopause. Your at that age now where anything could be going on as far as your cycles go's and tx. (treatment ) could most certainly make things even more abnormal.
 Wish I could give you a better answere.  Its been pretty dead around here over the past year or so but hopefully one of the gals will come along and be able to give you thier experience.

 Hope, other than that tx. is going okay for you.

 And nice to meet you, Helen

[MissyMouse]

I've heard of a lot of gals having monthly cycle issues.    I had already gone through surgically induced menopause before I started treatment (I did my first round of treatment when I was 46, I'm on my third round right now and I'm 50).  Platelet count could certainly affect bleeding.  But interestingly enough, when I was on chemo for Leukemia in my lat 20's my cycle stopped completely.  My oncologist had told me that it was pretty normal for it to stop on chemo, the body just somehow compensates.   I had an extremely low platelet count when I had Leukemia and was receiving a unit of platelets every other day.

Mouse

[marysmom]

I actually did go to the GYN yesterday and she said that it could very well be from the medicine.  She told me to keep track between now and when I see her again.  It just seems that everyday something new is
happening.  Today my elbow and arm is all broken out, red and itchy. 
I know this is a place for womens questions, but I am really struggling today and wanted to share because I really don't have anyone I can talk to about it.  It is just so difficult dealing with all the side effects from the medicine and then hearing the ignorent, ugly judgements some people make about hep C and those who have it.
I actually work in a hospital where you would think of all places people would be understanding and knowledgeable, but you would not believe the things I hear said about hep C and patients with it.  I have not told anyone I work with (other than employee health when I was hired) that I have hep C or that I am on treatment because I am afraid of the way I would be thought of and talked about.  I just want to scream at the top of my lungs- what is wrong with you?