While I was talking with my hematologist yesterday, he commented that my red blood count was normal for someone still menstruating. When I told him I hadn't had a period for at least 6 years, he was shocked.
He asked me if anyone had ever given me an explanation of why I stopped so early (49) and I didn't have an answer for him. My gyno has never mentioned that it is odd.
Before 2005, I can blame it on the fact that I was taking just progersterone and that stopped them, but I stopped taking that when I was diagnosed with Lyme that year.
Has anyone heard of Lyme having a connection here?
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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Menopause can come as earlier as 35, even for some women who have "normal" health. The age thing is part myth.
I was completely free of periods - and had no problem with any menopause transition at all - by the age of 45. What a blessing, actually.
Oprah recently had a series of programs about this - you can watch those clips and check out books here:
Topic: Women over 35: Hormones (Oprah's recent programs about Menopause)
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[ 03-10-2009, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by Leelee (Member # 19112) on :
Recently there was another thread about this same subject. It was quite interesting.
I, too, went through menopause very early at age 45. I didn't mind, but in hindsight I have to wonder if Lyme didn't impact my system.
Posted by hurtingramma (Member # 7770) on :
I did do a search, but didn't come up with anything. Thanks for the replies.
Posted by Leelee (Member # 19112) on :
Hi hurtingramma,
I am terrible with the computer so I don't know how to directly give you the thread information, but I found it doing a search of "menopause and lyme".
Hopefully some people will see your post and give you some insight.
Some do see a connection and someone also mentioned "false menopause".
Wish I could be of more help.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Here is the recent thread where this was discussed.
Lyme gave me and others a false menopause. With good lyme treatment, this all reverses and you get your cycles back.
Posted by Gabrielle (Member # 5329) on :
I do agree that Lyme can bring you in early menopause, but 49 years is NOT early.
The average menopause age here in my part of the world is 52 years. Average means there are many women who get it far earlier and many who get it later.
I went in menopause when I was 48 and I also thought this was early. I spoke about it with a health practitioner and she asked me, when I had my first menstruation. I said: at the age of 12 years.
So she calculated that I was menstruating in total for 36 years and she said this was normal.
Gabrielle
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
I was 47 when lyme caused a false menopause in me. This "menopause" reversed after good lyme treatment.
Then, I had my real menopause at age 56. (I started at age 11.)
So, it is true that menopause can happen at any age for any particular woman. Women menstruate for varying numbers of years.
The question is, is this a real menopause or has lyme disease attacked you gynecologically and stopped your cycles before you would have naturally stopped?
Only good lyme treatment can answer the question.
My body exhibited all the signs of menopause. My ovaries became very, very small. Each gyn I saw remarked on it. But, then they would say that was consistent with menopause.
Burrascano says, "Pituitary and other endocrine abnormalities are far more common than generally realized."
He also says, "Interestingly, in a significant number of these patients, successful treatment of the infections can result in a reversal of the hormonal dysfunction, and hormone replacement therapies can be tapered off!"
That was my case.
Since lyme can cause your body's hormones to become abnormally low, it does not strike me as unusual that it could cause the ovaries to stop functioning and shrivel up. Then, once that happens, all the other side effects of non-functioning ovaries will occur.
I had so many other symptoms not related to menopause that occurred at the same time as my "menopause" that I felt something had to be wrong.
It took 5 years to find out what that something was--lyme disease.
Posted by Gabrielle (Member # 5329) on :
The average age of US women in whom menopause occurs is 51 years. The most common age range at which women experience menopause is 48-55 years. If menopause occurs in a woman younger than 40 years, it is considered premature.
Menopause is considered late if it occurs in a woman older than 55 years. For most women, menopause is a normal occurrence.
Menopause is more likely to occur at a slightly earlier age in women who smoke, have never been pregnant, or live at high altitudes.
Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
My periods stopped when I contracted lyme and babesia duncani. Altogether. I was 44-1/2.