Is menapause too early for me?

dismuke · Silver Member Joined: 04 Dec 1999 Posts: 231

I'm 39 yrs old but I am having hot flashes and my period is different. Can anyone tell me all symptoms of menopause? Thanks in advance…

yannuzzi · Silver Member Joined: 03 Feb 2000 Posts: 287

Hi, I am 44 and feel I that my menopause started at around 38 or so. I started feeling confused, I experienced memory lose, my hair that normally was oily turned to dry… Also, my periods that started lasting ten days or even more and on the top I felt tired all the time. Those are only few symptoms I experienced. I have also been on HRT for a while and it has really helped me a lot. I hope this will help you.

gareau · Silver Member Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 249

I think that you should have your thyroid checked. Symptoms you described before (both of you) are those of hypothyroid. It is very common this can mess up your periods. Unfortunately, there are not too many doctors knowing the newest information on thyroid. You could check out Mary Shomans’ thyroid site I found on about.com. Among other, she does have a list of doctors who really know their hormone stuff.

Also, you can ask your doctor (the one that already tested your blood sample) to test TSH – if it is over 2 you might be in a trouble. Also, you should check for similar symptoms in your family history! And I myself know how frustrating is to be told that nothing is wrong when you know there is - you wouldn't be there if nothing was wrong in the first place.

trombetta · Silver Member Joined: 23 Dec 2001 Posts: 291

During perimenopause our hormones are so erratic that they can be normal when they perform the test but they can be abnormal right before and after. Also, if you don't like your doctor, consider finding a new one. I've had really bad experience with one doctor – I had to find another one and I can tell you that things are much better now. And one more thing - perimenopause starts usually around age 35 and up.

dismuke · Silver Member Joined: 04 Dec 1999 Posts: 231

Thanks for all the advice!!! I will call and ask for a copy of the blood work tomorrow and I will find second opinion too.

trombetta · Silver Member Joined: 23 Dec 2001 Posts: 291

aren't kidding the symptoms are overlapping!!! Have the tender spotsa and achiness that comes and goes. Also, my skin feels like I'm holding water all over it. Now that I'm on the low dose bc pills I'm interested to see what symptoms will improve or disappear.

dismuke · Silver Member Joined: 04 Dec 1999 Posts: 231

Throughout the month I experience breast tenderness and extreme mood swings and no sex desire. Like I told my husband - every joint in my body seems to hurt!!! ----

gareau · Silver Member Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 249

I'm quite convinced that FM is really hypothyroid. I had the same overlapping symptoms and as soon asr I had my thyroid "fixed" everything got back to normal. Check out this site--http://thyroid.about.com/health/thyroid/cs/doctors/index.htm. It has a lotta stuf that you should be interested in. Be sure to check it out!!!

seith · Silver Member Joined: 23 Dec 2003 Posts: 278

Hi. I am 37 and I've just found out I am going through menopause. I conducted tests and my FSH level is 76.8. Moreover, I haven't had a period since May and the last 3 or 4 periods were chemically induced. But now I can't have them even with the mediction. I also have hypothyroidism and am taking medication for that too. I'm affraid that Hormone Replacement Therapy could increase my risk of getting clots which I had before...... Do you have any idea what should I do??? Does anyone got any alternative ways to treat menapause without HRT???

mrking · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Posts: 7

Ultrasound may tell how much time's left on biological clock

The number of eggs left in a woman's ovaries are like the grains of sand in an hourglass, ticking away the hours on her biological clock.

Researchers now say they may be able to predict when that clock will wind down.

And while doctors can't actually count the number of eggs in an ovary, they can measure ovarian volume. British researchers say there's a direct correlation between the two, and by measuring ovarian volume with transvaginal ultrasound, doctors should be able to predict when menopause will set in and how many fertile years a woman has left.

According to the study authors, this information will revolutionize the care of women looking for assisted reproductive technologies, including those who were treated for childhood cancers as well as women who want to put off starting a family for whatever reason.

Although information still needs to be validated in clinical studies, its benefit is most likely to start with women who are being treated for cancer and women attending fertility clinics, said Tom Kelsey, co-author of the study appearing June 17 in the journal Human Reproduction.

"If women looking for some sort of assisted conception and their physicians know that they've got a long time till menopause, then you could plan for a range of treatments," said Kelsey, who is a senior research fellow at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "If you knew menopause was likely in four to five years, you'd plan a different set of IVF [in vitro fertilization] treatments."

Others reiterate, however, that the findings should be treated with caution.

"Should a young woman who is 30 years old go for a test to figure out whether she's got three, five or 10 years left on her fertility? Should she make career decisions and life decisions? Are these data good enough to make those determinations?" asked Dr. Alan Copperman, director of reproductive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "The answer is obviously no to all of those questions. The predictive value of this test is not good enough to go and tell someone to change their life."

According to the article, eggs form in a female's ovary while she is still in the womb, peaking at several million about halfway through gestation and then starting a continuous decline. At birth, there are several hundred thousand and, when menstruation begins, about 300,000. At about age 37, a woman has about 25,000 eggs left, and at menopause only about 1,000.

The time at which menopause sets in is widely believed to be based on the number of eggs reaching a critically low threshold.

The authors of this study measured ovarian volume with transvaginal ultrasound, then looked at the relationship between ovarian volume -- ovaries shrink as a woman ages -- and number of eggs. They then applied mathematical and computer models to predict menopause.

The study authors are negotiating with a medical school to set up clinical trials. The idea would be to follow women to see if their predictions were indeed correct.

While these authors have come up with a tool to potentially help women plan their lives, a second study in the same issue of Human Reproduction warned that women might not want to leave it too late. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) could not be relied upon to fully compensate for lack of natural fertility after the age of 35, the article stated.

The authors used a computer simulation model to determine that the overall success rate of assisted reproductive technology would be 30 percent for those attempting to get pregnant from age 30, 24 percent for those trying from age 35, and 17 percent from age 40.

SOURCES: Tom Kelsey, Ph.D., senior research fellow, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland; Alan Copperman, M.D., director, reproductive medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York; June 17, 2004, Human Reproduction

Is menapause too early for me?

LIFEFORM SOCIAL COMMUNITY NETWORK