If you were not able to preserve fertility by way of freezing eggs or ovarian tissue before treatment, you may have been offered ovarian suppression during treatment which involves an injection of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist, such as Zoladex. This is a hormone drug that stops the ovaries from working and makes a woman go into the menopause for a short time. It may protect your ovaries from the harmful effects of chemotherapy and help preserve your fertility. It can cause menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes. This treatment is not suitable for everyone and is not always successful.

Menstrual cycles can also stop or become irregular during cancer treatment due to chemotherapy or radiation, with effects ranging from temporary disruption to permanent menopause

Temporary infertility

With temporary infertility, your periods may become irregular or stop during treatment. But they’ll go back to normal once your treatment is over.

It might take a few years for your periods to go back to normal, but you could still get pregnant.

Permanent infertility

Permanent infertility is more likely if you have higher doses of chemotherapy

Some chemotherapy drugs can damage the eggs in your ovaries. If this happens, you can no longer get pregnant and you might have symptoms of the menopause.

Early menopause

You may have an early menopause. Your periods become irregular and then stop completely.

You may also have some of these symptoms:

• Hot flushes
• Dry skin
• Vaginal dryness
• Loss of energy
• Less interest in sex
• Mood swings
• Feeling low

There are a range of treatments and things you can do to help cope with the effects of a menopause. You may need to try different things before you find something that works for you.

Depending on your type of cancer, your doctor may prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT). HRT can begin after chemotherapy and helps to reduce symptoms of the menopause. The HRT can't make you start producing eggs again, so it can't stop the infertility.

If your periods seem abnormal or you just want to keep track of your periods, you can download a period tracker app such as the Flo App:

• https://flo.health

If you are concerned about your menstrual cycle please see your GP.