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Another one for the gals!! post menapause at 43!!

Hi I read about the problem with heavy period when on glivec, I too had this problem, and had to have blood transfusions every other week, so was sent to gyno who recomended thermal ablasion, and that was two years ago. Today I have just found out that I now post menopausal, great I am only 43!! she said it is due to taking glivec?? I am a bit shocked and asked how they could definatly say I was post menapause from hormone blood test she confirmed that anything above 10 says you are starting the menopause and mine was 150!!!!
I have 2 grown up kids age 21 and 16, and am glad I started my family early. This investigation began because of the constant night and day sweats I was having.
Has anyone else had this problem??

Michelle

susan dickerson Hi Michelle, I am 51 been on gleevic for 6yrs and 5yrs ago started with heavy periods I was advised to have a D & C and have a marina coil fitted to help with this problem which it did sort of. I was told that I was an ideal candidate for an hysterectomy but the consultant did not want to put me through all the op due to cml he advised themal ablasion should I feel the coil wasn't working. After 5yrs I've had the coil removed its times up and my periods are so heavy its ruining my life. My GP doesn't want me to go in for surgery if it can be avoided and advises the mini-pill for a few months. I can say I'M upset and fed up I thought I was in the menopause night sweats along with many other symtoms apart from the heavy loss and why do I want to take the mini pill when I don't need it for contreception, is it the gleevic that causes these problems should have the themal ablasion any ideas sue d

Hi Michelle, I've been on Glivec for almost 5 year, I'm now 43, and I had the same things happen to me, except I didn't have any blood transfusions. After 2 years I finally had a hormone test and every thing 'was way off the scale' as my GP put it. I was 40! Like you, I started my family young, they are now almost 19 and 22.

I felt such relief finding out what was wrong with me (apart from CML). The only thing I can say to you is that it does get a little easier to cope with i.e the sweats, sleeping problems, forgetting things etc.

Your welcome to make contact with me if you thing it would help.

Regards Patricia

Michelle

As you would have read my posting of One for the Gals!!

My periods were A-OK and I was not one for having period problems when diagnosed with CML and commenced on glivec (600mg).

Co-incidence - Age 52 - Condition CML - Med. Glivec 600mg

Started to have heaps of problems with the periods being
longer with shorter breaks in between - with very large clotting blood and continual bleeding - there was no end in sight at times and you did not think that the bleeding would stop. Then a break - and again the same pattern would continue.

I had a number of infusions - over a short period of time -
(not transfusions) and the a few weeks ago - I had a major bleed-out and raced to hospital.

Had mini-pills which would be like a chemical D&C - did not work - and still bleeding - I had a number of transfusions,
to stablise me and then gynos and haem. decided that a
radical hysterectomy to be performed. Abalations may or may not work.

I would suggest to start diarising the dates - lengths of time of period - symptoms such as sickness - vomiting - the dreaded "D" etc. When you have infusions or some other medical intervention.

Many women it seems now are having early menopause -
is it glivec - or CML - my gut reaction is that glivec does play apart in hormones.
After surgery I had 18 days of night sweats - after taking glivec again - the third day sweats stopped. Another co-incidence?

Surgery
I came thru emergency surgery very well. Just will take longer to heal than perhaps someone without CML. My suggestion is to get the best gyno or will work with your haem.

Sue

Hi everyone - just thought I'd write and say me too! Since turning 40 my periods have been a nightmare and are really beginning to get me down. Been to gynae appt at hospital three weeks ago and they did a biopsy just to check everything is ok - still waiting for the results (and failing miserably at not stressing over it). Dr thinks it could be down to glivec and if everything is ok from the biopsy then I am to try the marina coil - Sue am hoping from your post that it might help!
But my haemaglobin is low and I just feel so washed out all of the time - have a postage stamp sized garden and have had to rest twice trying to cut the grass today! This is seriously beginning to hamper my normal life and leaves me feeling fuzzy headed all the time. I am back at Addenbrookes in two weeks so will discuss it with my consultant then. This on top of a slipped disc last August has made the past year quite a painful one. I work full time and am a single mum with three teenage daughters - my hope was that once the girls were all off at uni or working I would be able to slow the pace of my life down a bit but I am seriously beginning to doubt that I will be able to keep things going that long. I hope people keep posting their experiences on this as it helps to know I am not alone and also gives us ideas of what else to try! I find that doctors don't necessarily take you seriously unless you know a bit about what is happening to you and can tell them about other people's experiences!
Lorraine

Michelle
Hi thank you for all your kind comments and its nice to know that I am not the only gal who seems to have had this problem,
the themal ablasion certainly did stop my periods so the bleeding was no longer a problem, my consultant was pleased with the results and indeed I didn't need to have a blood transfusions every other week any more although my h/g count has always been very low and sometimes they ring me as it is what they call border line about 9.1 and when it is like this i also feel very worn out and breathless and tired. But it used to be 7.2 before the themal ablasion so in that respect yes it was a good thing to have done.
However as mentioned in my privious post I am now post menopause and that I have been told is due to taking glivec, so have still had the problem with night sweats and insomnia and feeling low etc which I now have found out was because of the glivec making me go through the menopause early... now talking about putting me on HRT??? is anyone else out there on HRT whilst being treated for CML I would love to hear from you
As always I feel more comforted when I post my worries here that I feel I can't to anyone else.