Are you entering early menopause? Here’s how to know

If you are under 45 and experiencing night sweats, hot flushes, and irregular periods, you might be entering early menopause. But, you are not alone.

• Symptoms of Early Menopause
• Period changes
• Hot flushes
• Vaginal dryness
• Night sweats
• Palpitations and headaches
• What can you do?

Most women hit menopause between the ages of 45 to 55. In India a survey done by the Indian Menopause Society found that the average age of menopause is 46.2 years, which is lower than their Western counterparts, at about 51 years. However, there are women who hit menopause before 40, referred to as premature menopause, while some enter it between 40-45 (early menopause). Experts believe that about 1-2% of women go through early menopause.

“Women are born with a fixed number of follicles (fluid-filled sacs in the ovaries that contain an immature egg) or eggs in the ovaries. And every cycle every month, they are being depleted. Menopause occurs when there is complete follicle depletion. There can also be follicle dysfunction which means that you have eggs but they don’t mature or get released,” says gynaecologist Dr. Anuradha Sharma.

She says family history is a major cause of early menopause. Other causes include autoimmune disease, tuberculosis, mumps or malaria. Cancer treatments – radiotherapy and chemotherapy – can cause premature and early menopause as well.

Surgeries to remove the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) or to remove the uterus (hysterectomy) can also cause early menopause. Periods stop post a bilateral oophorectomy and it leads to menopausal symptoms like a decreased sexual desire and hot flashes immediately. Whereas after a hysterectomy, if a woman decides to keep her ovaries, women may still have cyclical symptoms.

A paper published on the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health says, “Premature ovarian failure is a mysterious disorder….It is not a rare condition; its incidence is estimated to be as great as 1 in 100 by the age of 40, and 1 in 1000 by the age of 20”. It is sometimes hereditary. The paper also says that smoking is the most widely studied toxin that alters ovarian function. On average, female smokers are more likely to experience menopause earlier than non-smokers.

Symptoms of Early Menopause

So, how can you tell if you are entering menopause early; here are some symptoms that will help you know:

1. Period changes

This is usually the first sign of an early menopause. Women begin to experience unusually heavy or light periods, which may happen every 2 or 3 weeks or may be absent for months.

This is the first sign of an early menopause. Women begin to experience unusually heavy or light periods, which may happen every 2 or 3 weeks or may be absent for months.

2. Hot flushes

This is the biggest complaint that women have during perimenopause, or the years leading up to menopause, and it can last between 2-6 years. These are a sudden increase in body temperature, which make you feel uncomfortably hot; it begins at the face and can be felt in the chest and neck.

Hot flushes happen because the thermoregulatory system of the body – which regulates body temperature – changes. These happen because of the hormonal changes which occur during menopause.

3. Vaginal dryness

It affects almost half the women undergoing menopause and is caused by a fall in the body’s estrogen production. Vaginal dryness can lead to pain during sex. Women who have had their ovaries removed also experience vaginal dryness as a part of menopausal symptoms.

It affects almost half the women undergoing menopause and is caused by a fall in the body’s estrogen production. Vaginal dryness can lead to pain during sex. Women who have had their ovaries removed also experience vaginal dryness as a part of menopausal symptoms.

4. Night sweats

Sweating at night is quite normal if your room is too hot, unless the sweating is excessive. If you are waking up with your clothes and the bedding soaked even if the room is cool, it is a symptom.

5. Palpitations and headaches

Irregular heartbeat and hormone-related headaches and frequent migraines are all symptoms of menopause and become severe during perimenopause.

The other symptoms include irregular sleep, recurring urinary tract infections (UTI), mood swings, and weight loss or gain.

What can you do?

So, how do you address these symptoms? The first thing is to see a doctor, who will give you a blood test and measure your estrogen and other hormones. “Menopause symptoms should be taken seriously by affected women and their physicians, as these symptoms can affect quality of life and signal hormone deficiencies that may contribute to disease,” according to a paper published in a U.S. National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health – journal.

Menopause symptoms should be taken seriously by affected women and their physicians, as these symptoms can affect quality of life and signal hormone deficiencies that may contribute to disease

If your doctor determines that you are going through premature or early menopause, you may be put on hormone therapy, which is used to balance estrogen and progesterone in women during menopause and helps in managing the symptoms. Early or premature menopause puts women at a higher risk of diseases like heart disease, dementia, and osteoporosis.

Sources:

1. Age of menopause and determinants of menopause age: A PAN India survey by IMS.​ M​aninder Ahuja
2. Pathogenesis and Causes of Premature Ovarian Failure: An Update​. ​Mahbod Ebrahimi,​ M.D, and F​iroozeh Akbari Asbagh,​ M.D
3. Hormone replacement therapy in young women with primary ovarian insufficiency and early menopause.​ ​Shannon D. Sullivan​, MD, ​Philip M. Sarrel​, MD, and L​awrence M. Nelson​, M.D.

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