This is a blog about fighting and defeating “early” menopause, also known as premature ovarian failure. I was diagnosed with it in 2010 at age 34. The term “premature” in this case refers to the early onset of menopause, but in my experience, it also implies that the condition is somehow minor; that I’m only prematurely going through menopause, not actually experiencing it.
Early menopause is not minor. It’s severe and life-changing, and can sometimes be fatal.
I don’t have all answers, but I have some of them. My goal with this blog is to share what I’ve learned about the disease since being diagnosed, and offer help and support to others who are dealing with it.
Mary Jane Minkin is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. And she is increasingly seeing young women diagnosed with premature ovarian failure (POF), also known as premature menopause.
“I have seen a few cases that have been in their early 20s to mid-20s,” says Minkin, who has been practicing for more than 40 years. “But I’m seeing many more than I used to see.”
That’s her observation. But what about nationwide? That’s hard to say, according to Dr. Tomer Singer, an assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
“We don’t know, unfortunately,” he says. “There are no good data on this.”
I first experienced symptoms of menopause when I was only 28 years old. I went to my primary care doctor and told her that I had been having hot flashes and insomnia. She told me that there was no way I could be going through menopause because I was too young. She dismissed my concerns and brushed me off, in fact she even laughed at me.
I gave up on getting any help from her so I just dealt with the symptoms myself. When the hot flashes got worse and they were accompanied by night sweats, I decided it was time to get a second opinion. I made an appointment with an OBGYN who agreed to see me. After explaining my symptoms to her she sent me for a battery of blood tests. The results showed that my estrogen levels were very low and that my FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) level was extremely high – which is a sign of early menopause or premature ovarian failure (POF).
Premature menopause is a health condition that affects women in their 20s, 30s and 40s. This website is dedicated to providing information about the condition, as well as testimonials and advice for women who have been diagnosed with premature menopause.
Premature menopause occurs in about 1 percent of American women, according to the North American Menopause Society. However, a new study published in Human Reproduction suggests this number may be higher than originally believed: Researchers from University College London found that the prevalence of premature menopause in Britain is closer to 3 percent.
The researchers looked at medical records from nearly 60,000 women between the ages of 50 and 64 and found that 2.8 percent of them had gone through menopause before age 45. These results suggest that as many as 1 million women in Britain may be affected by the condition — three times more than previously thought.
Premature menopause is defined as a woman’s last menstrual period occurring before age 45. A woman can also go through early or medically induced menopause if she has her ovaries removed or undergoes cancer treatment before age 45, according to the Mayo Clinic.
While some women go through menopause without noticeable symptoms, others experience
I was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure (POF) at age 32. This is a condition in which the ovaries stop producing eggs before the age of 40. At the time, I was just starting to think about starting a family, but POF can make it quite difficult to conceive.
Earlier this year, I started following a study published by researchers at University College London (UCL) that showed that women who were born prematurely had an increased risk of going through menopause early. It got me wondering if my premature birth might have been linked to my early menopause and led me on a journey to find out more about links between premature birth and premature menopause.
In short: we still don’t know much about it! The UCL study didn’t look for any specific cause for the link, and other studies have mostly looked at individuals or small groups of women. There are several different types of premature menopause, including premature ovarian failure (POF), which is what I have, and primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). For this post, I am going to focus on POF, which is not related to an autoimmune disease like POI is; POF happens without an identifiable cause.
There has been some research
Millions of women go through menopause every year. Most of them will do so in their 50s or early 60s, when they notice a change in their menstrual cycle and begin to experience hot flashes and night sweats, moodiness, irritability, sleeplessness and other symptoms.
But a small but growing group of women are going through menopause much earlier.
Early menopause is defined as the permanent end of menstruation before the age of 40. Premature ovarian failure, or POF, is the term used to describe this condition. It’s also called premature menopause.
The causes are often unknown, but the condition can be caused by chemotherapy or radiation for cancer treatment; surgical removal for cysts or tumors; autoimmune disorders; smoking; and genetics.
Women with POF generally experience the same symptoms as other women going through menopause, but for longer periods of time and at a younger age. They also face an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and osteoporosis because they aren’t getting the same protective benefits from estrogen that other women are getting during those decades before menopause.
The following is a brief overview of pre-act. It does not include the full text of the act, which can be found on the website: www.pre-act.com
