Women can experience drug-induced menopause as a side effect of chemotherapy, or after taking a drug designed to intentionally stop their monthly menstrual cycle. Either way, the symptoms are the same as those of natural menopause.
Drugs That Induce Menopause
When cancer patients undergo chemotherapy for any type of cancer, powerful chemo drugs travel throughout the body, affecting healthy cells as well as cancerous ones. Damage to ovarian cells can harm the eggs and often leaves the ovaries unable to produce hormones--especially in women over 40. Tamoxifen, an anti-estrogen drug used to prevent and treat breast cancer, also temporarily halts the menstrual cycle in 15 percent of women. Many women who undergo chemotherapy also take Tamoxifen.
Preventing Drug-induced Menopause
A study published in the 2006 Annals of Oncology showed a drug called goserelin can reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs on the reproductive system. Taking the drug before and during chemo prevented early menopause in most of the study's participants.
Intentionally Inducing Menopause With Drugs
Zoladex, used to treat conditions such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids, temporarily induces menopause. Menstruation returns when the drug is stopped.
Symptoms of Drug-induced Menopause
Symptoms of drug-induced menopause, no matter what its cause, are the same as those of natural menopause. They include: bone density loss, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, night sweats and mood changes.
Treating Symptoms of Drug-induced Menopause
Until a 2002 study showed hormone replacement therapy increased a woman's risk of breast cancer and heart disease, HRT was often prescribed for menopause symptoms. HRT is still used in some cases in which the patient has no family history of breast cancer. In other instances, doctors now prescribe antidepressants, a single shot of progesterone or progesterone creams to combat symptoms--especially hot flashes. Natural remedies include the herb black cohosh.
Reversal of Drug-induced Menopause
As many as half of all women find their menstrual cycle returns after stopping chemotherapy. Eighty-five percent of women younger than 35 resume their cycle. But these figures don't tell the full story about fertility. Women whose cycles return may not be able to conceive, and women who remain without periods have been known to become pregnant.
