If you are premenopausal, you still get your period. During premenopause, your ovaries make most of the body’s estrogen and you are able to become pregnant. If you have hormone-sensitive breast cancer, the high levels of estrogen made by your ovaries helps the breast cancer cells to grow. Your healthcare team will recommend hormonal therapies that slow or stop estrogen from being made.

Even if your periods stopped during treatment, you still may be premenopausal and making estrogen from your ovaries. Talk with your doctor about your situation. 

If you are perimenopausal, you are in-between having your period and stopping your period completely. You might only have your period a few times a year or from time to time. Perimenopause happens as you age and your ovaries slow down and make less estrogen, usually a few years before menopause.

Doctors consider you postmenopausal if you do not have your period for at least a year. But what if you get your period every now and then, or it only stopped because of treatment? Tests of hormone levels may help, but they are not used routinely because levels can go up and down dramatically, especially during perimenopause.

If there is any doubt about your menopausal status, your doctor is likely to recommend hormonal therapies for premenopausal women. Ask why these options might be right for you.

Therapies recommended for premenopausal and perimenopausal women are:

• Tamoxifen
• Oophorectomy
• Goserelin (Zoladex)
• Leuprolide (Lupron)
• Triptorelin (Trelstar)
• Fulvestrant (Faslodex)
• Megestrol Acetate (Megace)
• Anastrozole (Arimidex and generic), Exemestane (Aromasin and generic) or Letrozole (Femara and generic) in combination with ovarian suppression