Early menopause has arrived

Day 1004.

Wow, it's been over a 1000 days since my life changing diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. One constant has been an ongoing list of health issues - as soon as one area calms down another flares up.

Symptoms of early menopause

I am 41. But for the past few months I have been having daily hot flushes. Most days multiple times a day.

It feels like blushing, but starts from my face and spreads to my chest, my arms and legs. And while it's happening I go bright red and sweat profusely. It lasts for a few minutes - between 5 and 10 minutes. I even bought myself a neck fan to cool me down discreetly while at work.

Crucially, I have not had my period for over 6 months. Before it stopped, it had been irregular for more than a year.

Diagnosis

I went to my GP to discuss what the cause might be. She had me go for a blood test to check my hormones. I had had a recent thyroid blood test, so that was ruled out as a potential cause pretty much immediately.

After she received my blood test results, she texted me to say that it is confirmed to be early menopause.

Risks of early menopause

I do know that early menopause makes women at higher risk of getting osteoporosis. And heart disease. And apparently dementia.

I really don’t need added complexity in my health, so let’s hope I can avoid these.

Treatment

I have an appointment scheduled with my GP to discuss Hromone Replacement Therapy (HRT). This will help with my symptoms and also reduce some of the risks.

What I don’t know is how it interacts with all my other medications.

How do I feel about it?

The husband and I had already decided not to have more children. So I don’t have much disappointment around it.

It is really early for me to be going through this. I do wonder if Methotrexate has caused it. I know I am not on high doses of it, but I do know cancer patients who take it are advised that this can happen.

When I started taking Methotrexate, I was advised that iron clad contraceptive is necessary due to the impact it can have on a foetus during pregnancy. So this will make that aspect of things easier.