Premature Menopause & MS?

[zoefromsussex]

Have any of you experienced early/premature menopause caused by MS (or other autoimmune diseases)? I'm interested to know how common this is as I'm currently waiting to get blood tests to check my hormone levels.

[baccalynnwv]

I am currently awaiting more tests to see if I have MS. I do not know whether I am experiencing anything like premenopausal symptoms, but I have night sweats that certainly make me question sometimes. I wake up drenched, the bed sheets drenched, and my husband's shirts drenched. He has gotten to where he will sleep on the complete other side of the bed some nights!

I'm talking, I can squeeze water out of my night shirt, drenched. Its nasty and uncomfortable. The funny thing is - is that I have no idea that I'm sweating until I wake up freezing because I'm so wet and the air conditioner is on.

[lizzya1981]

i have just been diagnosed with premature ovarian failure and in my research i have read in multiple places that one contributory factor is autoimmune disease.

[immisceo]

There is often a long stage leading up to menopause referred to as perimenopause. It can exhibit some of the symptoms associated with later menopause. However, from the mid-thirties onward this wouldn't necessarily be considered particularly 'early' for perimenopause.

As for a direct relationship to Multiple Sclerosis, I was able to find research that indicates that while symptoms of both may be magnified by the other (fatigue from menopause + fatigue from MS = a lotta fatigue!), "at present there is no data to support that menopause may be making their condition worse." http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAN/32380

It appears that it's the other way around; hormonal changes can change our perception of the disease and its symptoms, but disease does not change our hormones. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/what-we-know-about-ms/treatments/exacerbations/menstrual-cycle-and-menopause/index.aspx

But this is just me looking around pre-coffee! I'd be interested to see the research you encountered indicating a causal link as I would have thought along the lines of ess.

[zoefromsussex]

Autoimmune disease's can be a cause of premature menopause. I was just reading about it yesterday. I'm not exactly sure why but it's definitely not that unusual so it made me wonder if anybody else had experienced it.

The symptom's do blur with some ms sx but I guess they could be confused with other condition's too. My opthalmologist is convinced lots of my sx are due to an overactive thyroid but so far the tests are negative,

I'm told that an early menopause is around age 45 but a premature menopause would be in the years before that.

[gypcwmn]

I was peri menopause at 43. And was post menopausal at 49

[essdipity]

The two situations are quite separate. The reproduction system is controlled by hormones, which are released or not released when menopause is near. As far as is medically known, the nervous system does not affect the reproduction system, so I wouldn't expect one to influence the other.

The best way to know for sure about reproductive hormones is to have blood work done. That will clearly show what stage you are in.  MS is the culprit in a lot of things, but not this.

ess

[Mummy76]

I'm in Perimenopause but I'm not sure it's caused by the MS?  I found out when I was 32 just before my first pregnancy. It has caused a certain amount of difficulty with trying to figure out what is a MS symptom v. what is a perimenopausal symptom.