Menopause at 34: Is it me or is it HOT in here?

I was told that chemotherapy would more than likely put me into temporary menopause, and it would happen pretty soon. I had my last menstrual cycle in October 2010 while undergoing treatment, and then they stopped. I have not had one since. In about 35% of cases, the menopause could be permanent. We wouldn’t know for at least a year if this was the case for me.

Menopause at 34 meant that I had to come to terms with some pretty big issues. I always wanted to have four children, and I wanted to try for baby number four the fall that I got diagnosed. I needed to consider that we might not have any more children. Norah was only 3, and I had never once looked at her and thought she was our last child. Despite horrendous morning sickness and the trials of having a newborn, I always wanted another baby. I was grateful for my 3 happy and healthy children, but it took a lot of pondering and prayer to be ok with the fact that they might be all we were blessed with in this life.

Facebook Post from December 17, 2010 at 5:42pm
“[Jenna] knows her chemo-induced hot flashes must be bad when her children randomly think of things she can use to fan herself when she gets hot.”

Menopause also brought me into the wonderful world of hot flashes and night sweats. What a joy! What a treat! There is nothing worse than sitting comfortably in a temperate room, only to break out into a complete sweat for no reason. The best is when it is a really bad hot flash (yes, some are worse than others) and you get beads of sweat dripping down your face or neck. Sexy, right? Since I was breaking a sweat without actually exercising I wondered if I was burning calories as well. The growing size of my butt led me to believe that the answer was no.

All this sweating became even worse with my baldness. I would wear a hat or wig to cover my cold head. I would have a hot flash. I would get sweaty and take off said hat or wig. Then the hot flash would fade and I would be left soaking wet and freezing. Repeat this about every 20 minutes each and every day. When I was in the car I would either have the heat blasting or have the window rolled down and my head out like a dog. There is no happy medium for the chemo-induced menopausal woman! I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for all the women I knew who had gone through menopause. I would never tease or laugh at a woman all flushed and fanning themselves again.

The hot flashes and night sweats were worse in the days just following treatment. There were times when I had to change my clothes in the middle of the night because I was drenched. I would sleep with a towel on my pillow to help suck up the sweat. But the further away I got from treatment day, the less severe the hot flashes and night sweats were.