Welcome to EmpowHer, and thanks so much for your question.
Since your periods started relatively late in your teen years and since they have stopped completely now, I am wondering if there's something hormonal going on with you. Have you mentioned that you've ceased having periods to your doctor? If not, it's very important to do this. You may need to have your blood tested for levels of your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
Before they stopped, were your periods regular? Or irregular? Clearly, since you conceived three children, everything was in working order for at least a few years.
How young is your youngest child, and are you still breastfeeding? Some women do not get their periods back until after they stop breasfeeding.
Hot flashes, mood swings, a loss of libido, weight fluctuations and a ceasing of menstrual flow are common symptoms associated with perimenopause or menopause, which you are quite young to be having. It does happen, however, and is called premature menopause. It has to do with premature ovarian failure (the ovaries are primarily what govern our "female" hormones.)
This page has a lot of information about Early Menopause, including some fact sheets you can look at to see if this might apply to you:
http://www.earlymenopause.org.au/
Here's a page about premature ovarian failure, which happens to about 1 in every 100 women;
Comment Reply
Anon,
Welcome to EmpowHer, and thanks so much for your question.
Since your periods started relatively late in your teen years and since they have stopped completely now, I am wondering if there's something hormonal going on with you. Have you mentioned that you've ceased having periods to your doctor? If not, it's very important to do this. You may need to have your blood tested for levels of your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
Before they stopped, were your periods regular? Or irregular? Clearly, since you conceived three children, everything was in working order for at least a few years.
How young is your youngest child, and are you still breastfeeding? Some women do not get their periods back until after they stop breasfeeding.
Hot flashes, mood swings, a loss of libido, weight fluctuations and a ceasing of menstrual flow are common symptoms associated with perimenopause or menopause, which you are quite young to be having. It does happen, however, and is called premature menopause. It has to do with premature ovarian failure (the ovaries are primarily what govern our "female" hormones.)
This page has a lot of information about Early Menopause, including some fact sheets you can look at to see if this might apply to you:
http://www.earlymenopause.org.au/
Here's a page about premature ovarian failure, which happens to about 1 in every 100 women;
http://www.earlymenopause.org.au/content/view/164/218/
Does this information help?
Will you make an appointment with your doctor to see what she or he says?
March 12, 2010 - 10:31amThis Comment
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