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Chemotherapy can stop the ovaries working, temporarily or for good; hot flushes, sweats, poor sleep, low mood and vaginal dryness follow, and because HRT is not routinely offered after breast cancer the usual answers are non-hormonal medicines, vaginal moisturisers, CBT and lifestyle changes.
Cancer Research UK says chemotherapy-induced menopause may be temporary or permanent, that periods are less likely to return the closer you are to the natural age of menopause, and that doctors do not routinely recommend HRT after breast cancer because of an uncertain effect on recurrence, though it may be offered for severe symptoms after discussing the risks. NICE NG101 says offer information and counselling about the possibility of early menopause, do not routinely offer HRT to women with a history of breast cancer (in exceptional circumstances offer it for severe symptoms after discussing the risks), consider an SSRI for hot flushes, and do not offer soy, red clover, black cohosh, vitamin E or magnetic devices. Triple-negative disease has no endocrine therapy, so the symptoms come from the chemotherapy alone. This is orientation from public patient pages and guidelines, not advice for your case: your own team's instructions and 24-hour number come first.
Showing the technology this term belongs to: Cognitive behavioural therapy for fatigue and distress.
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Shares Ovarian function after chemotherapy: who recovers, and when, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Shares Ovarian function after chemotherapy: who recovers, and when, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Shares Vaginal oestrogen after breast cancer: what the evidence says, and where it disagrees, Menopause brought on by cancer treatment, and the options for it, Cognitive behavioural therapy for fatigue and distress.
Shares Cognitive behavioural therapy for fatigue and distress, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Shares Ovarian function after chemotherapy: who recovers, and when, Menopause brought on by cancer treatment, and the options for it.
Shares Vaginal oestrogen after breast cancer: what the evidence says, and where it disagrees, Menopause brought on by cancer treatment, and the options for it.