33 finished radical chemoradiotherapy any advice on menopause please?

  • 2 replies
  • 37 subscribers
  • 174 views

Hello,

I’m new here. I’m 33 and I’ve just finished my treatment. I had 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy and weekly chemo and I had 3 rounds of brachytherapy. One was an overnight stay where they gave me the brachy on the first day, left the rods in and gave me more the next morning and the last brachy was just for one day. 

id be happy to share my experiences with anyone as looking back I actually don’t even know how I have managed to complete this. 

it’s been just over a week since my final brachy. My main issues are my painful bowels. It was similar through treatment- bowel issues and nausea. 

but now I’m in chemically induced menopause. I will shortly need to go on hrt. But where do I even begin with the menopause at 33? Can anyone tell me anything about what I should expect or what I should ask my gp about hrt? I didn’t think I’d need to bother knowing about menopause this young. I’d be happy to hear of anyone else’s experience?

thanks :) 

  • Hi  Congrats on completing your treatment. I hope you have a good recovery.

    I had a radical hysterectomy and my ovaries removed. I was put on HRT patches the next day. I didn’t really feel any different at first. After a few months I noticed things that were possibly related like dry skin but with changing some products it went away. I have had a bit of brain fog and just upped my dose of HRT and it has improved. I have also had to use vaginal oestrogen (pessary) for dryness. Overall my experience of this has been ok. Hope it is for you toox

  • Hi  and welcome to our group.

    Thank you for joining us and offering to share your experiences with the group. It’s always good for new members to read how others have got on through treatment.

    Hopefully your bowel issues will settle down fairly quickly now you’ve had your last treatment-my side effects subsided within a couple of weeks of treatment ending.

    I’m sure others will be along to discuss the effects of surgical menopause-I didn’t have to experience this as I was post menopausal at diagnosis, so it was one less thing to think about! 

    I hope you’ll keep us posted when you get your post treatment scan results, and please feel free to ask any questions and join in any of the discussions. Best wishes for your continued recovery.

    Sarah xx


    Community Champion Badge

    Cervical Cancer Forum

    Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm