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Early Menopause?

dionnek

By dionnek
in Related Issues & Disorders

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dionnek Enthusiast
dionnek
Posted

Can anyone tell me what their symptoms of early menopause are? For the past 5 years or so, I've had extreme night sweats, no period (except for one while on clomid so that I could get pregnant - got pregnant right after that one period and then no more even after having the child almost 2 years ago), muscle cramps, depression/mood swings, hot flashes (now I'm cold all the time though since going gluten-free 3 weeks ago), and many other problems that I think are due more to the celiac than anything else. However, the night sweats really get to me - been on several different estrogen/progestin pills and one (Loestrin) helped for a few months but then they came back. Oh yeah, and my ob said I have low estrogen levels (called it amenorhea I think). I keep telling him that I am going through menopause (I'm 33 - this all started when I was about 27) but he (and my endocrynologist) don't believe me. Anyone else experience this? Just wondering if I should try black cohosh or the evening primrose oil - anyone tried these and are they safe for celiacs?

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CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

Are you a skinny celiac? If so, it's probably ammenorhea. Estrogen is fat soluble. Ammenorhea is common in the very skinny (runners, for example) and the very obese.

dionnek Enthusiast
dionnek
Posted
  • Author

Are you a skinny celiac? If so, it's probably ammenorhea. Estrogen is fat soluble. Ammenorhea is common in the very skinny (runners, for example) and the very obese.

[/quot

I'm not really skinny, but I'm not overweight. I do (or used to) run a lot and exercise a lot, so that's why the dr's said I don't have a period.

eKatherine Apprentice
eKatherine
Posted

How about the symptoms of regular menopause for comparison? I had hot flashes for more than a year before I missed a period, and it was about 3 years after that before my periods stop. I'm still having occasional flashes, but only when I forget to take my vitamin E.

I have read that exercise-induced amennorhea is caused by too little fat in the diet. They were able to treat it by increasing the intake of egg yolks in extreme athletes in one study, I recall.

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

The docs are probably correct. Low body fat can cause ammenorhea. We've had some discussion on this board and it seems that celiac and night sweats might have a correlation. I know mine have almost gone away since being gluten-free. I have them occassionally, but I'm 43, so it might be perimenopause now.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the hormonal treatment. Ammenorhea is not dangerous, but watch for osteoporosis. You might try to raise your body fat enough for the periods to come back ... then again, you might not :P

2kids4me Contributor
2kids4me
Posted

HI, I have added some sites below for you to look at - they have symptoms of various satges in the "life of an ovary".

You can have hormonal imbalance without being in menopause.

I have had various symptoms for the last 7 years of perimenopause - I am 44

from: Open Original Shared Link

Premature menopause can be confirmed by blood tests to measure the levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). The levels of these hormones will be higher if menopause has occurred.

Because premature menopause is often associated with other hormonal problems, women who have premature menopause should be screened for diabetes, thyroid disease, and similar diseases.

Open Original Shared Link

This is a good site explaining perimenopause, menopause and premature ovarian failure

Hope this helps

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Hey<

I did not click onto the sites, but I want to add my experience.

At 35, I started to have breast sensitivity, mood swings, flashes. Sorry to say to all those going throught peri-med, but this lasted about ten years. The periods stopped first, but the flashes lasted on and off for about ten years.

My mother died at an early age, so I don't know the family history. Yes, I was early. And very glad to have it over at 50.

Lisa (PS: my husband is clueless, and still blames my mood on PMS, needless to say, it's all about him :huh: ) ugg

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dionnek Enthusiast
dionnek
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone for your help. Now that I put all this together, the body fat is probably my problem - I am not overly skinny (what most consider "normal" weight), however, the 2 times that I've had my body fat tested in the past 5 years it has been extremely low (probably due to my excessive exercise - stopped doing that though when I was trying to get pregnant). Also, I remember now that my ob did test my FSH/LH levels (I had to go in a few days after having the one period that I've had in the past 4 years), so I guess he does know something :)

Hopefully all this will go away once my intestines heal - I do have an endo that I go to every 3 months for my thyroid test, and go to my ob every 6 months (abnormal pap smears - checking for cancer) and my GI, who is my new dr. who immediately tested for celiac. I am VERY thankful for him. 4 endocrynologists couldn't figure it out!

eKatherine Apprentice
eKatherine
Posted

This is not something you want to wait and see on. I've read that the longer exercise-induced amennorhea lasts, the more likely it is to become permanent.

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

Hmm, permanent ... since I'm 43 and don't really want to go through another tough pregnancy ... maybe I need to exercise more! LOL :lol:

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