This month’s case study is 40 year old ‘Stephanie’ – who came to the Clinic because of an early menopause.
Stephanie’s Story
For the last year my periods had become more irregular to the point of not knowing when they would arrive. I was experiencing hot flushes throughout the day which I had never had before. It just felt like a wave of heat coming through my body – almost like a ‘furnace’. The night sweats were also a nuisance because I was waking up several times to change my night clothes which were drenched. I decided to go to my GP because I thought I needed to have some checks to see what was happening. He ran a simple blood test to check my hormone FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) which he explained was an indicator of egg reserve. The higher the FSH, the lower the egg reserve and the closer to the menopause you are. The normal range is between 4 and 10 and mine was 98.7. He told me I was likely to be in my ‘peri menopause’ which means the function of the ovaries declines, periods become irregular and symptoms like hot flushes and sweats can be experienced. I asked why I was going through the menopause now as I understood it was something that happened towards the age of 50. He explained that women are born with a certain number of eggs and some are born with less so they are more likely to enter the menopause at an earlier age. My GP recommended I go on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) because not only would it stop my symptoms it would protect my bones because I had a higher risk of developing osteoporosis (bone thinning condition).