Early menopause is most often interchangeably understood as premature menopause. These two words are most of the times used wrongly in discussing various conditions and situations that regards to untimely menopause in women. However, both term’s common denominator is age. As the woman gets older, she will be coming near to her menopausal stage and can even possibly have early menopause for various reasons.

 

Basically, early menopause means the menopausal stage of a woman comes either during her 20s, 30s or in her early 40s. If we analyze this condition, we can see that something went on that has affected the woman’s physiological, physical and psychological make-up that causes the early menopausal stage.

 

What can cause premature or early menopause?

Premature menopause can best be described to be the cessation of the period of a woman prior to the age of fifty wherein the average menopausal age of women is fifty one. Although having menopause few years earlier than fifty can be normal to some women, there could also be some reasons which can cause the early onset of menopause. According to some medical studies, premature menopause can happen if the woman had a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) or oophorectomy (surgical removal of the two ovaries), have undergone chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

 

These invasive and somewhat aggressive medical procedures can lead to untimely menopause in most women because the female hormones that are being produced by the ovaries and support menstruation cycles will diminish and may eventually disappear. When no more ova or eggs are produced by the ovary, this event is now referred to as the premature ovarian failure or the POF. In other words, when the ovaries stopped working or stopped producing eggs, menstrual cycles will also eventually stop. But given the normal activity, before women reach their menopausal period, there is also what we call the possible occurrence of perimenopausal period.

 

What is perimenopause? Will I need to be alarmed?

Perimenopause is the onset of premature or early menopause wherein the woman experience symptoms of menopause even the ripe age of menopause has not been reached. This condition can happen between the age of thirty to early 40s or sometimes even earlier and may last one year to six years. Perimenopause can manifest three kinds of symptoms. These symptoms include physical, physiological and psychological menopausal symptoms. Physical symptoms may include perimenopause weight gain, fatigue, weakening of the body, hot flushes and vaginal dryness while physiological symptoms can include drowsiness and irritability. The most disturbing of all symptoms is the psychological symptoms. The subject can experience perimenopause depression, anxieties and other forms of mental disorders.

 

Though, all of the symptoms can disappear in time or after the perimenopause has passed, still, the woman should be aware of this impending event. On the one hand, there are also women that do not experience these unfortunate events in their lives and eventually reaches their menopausal stage without issues so basically perimenopause does not generally happen to all women.

 

How will women know they are already in their menopause stage?

Doctors now can determine if a woman has really reaches her menopausal stage. First, the doctor will determine the length of time a woman has not had her period and two, by means of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH is done on clinical trials where hormone analysis is conducted. By no means, women can also determine their condition by monitoring their menstrual period as well. For example, if menstruation has stopped for 12 consecutive months while the woman has not undergone any medical treatment or surgery to the ovary and the woman’s age is forty eight and below, then most probably there is the occurrence of premature menopause. However, in some cases especially those who have history of irregular menstruation, sometimes their cases are not premature menopause but a premature ovarian failure.

 

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is most of the times understood as premature menopause because the menstruation of a woman has also stopped prior to age 40. However, premature menopause has the symptoms while the POF does not emphasize premature menopause signs. To be more accurate, doctors can now conduct hormone test wherein the follicles in the ovary are stimulated for hormone to find out if the case is POF or premature menopause. If the hormone level is found to be very low or almost absent, then the case can be considered an onset of premature menopause or early menopause. But with POF, sometimes the ovary can be really out of eggs or ova.

 

Still, not everytime that women experience early menopause must feel alarmed or get worried because one way or another menopause will come to a woman’s life. But if it comes too early or unexpectedly without warning, then there must be something to worry about and the woman must visit her doctor for some test. Especially when there is perimenopause spotting, this must be consulted to the gynecologist for a thorough checkup. Still, the occurrence of early menopause can still be the basis that the woman must become cautious.