can hypothyroidism be caused by early onset menopause?

[ladymcwhan]

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

We fairly often hear from people who think that their early menopause was caused by hypothyroidism.

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

yep I thought it the other way round too

[Mouse]

I went to the doctors because my periods had stopped when I was in my early 40s and that was when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. They returned once I was prescribed levothyroxine so maybe yours isn't an early menopause.

[ladymcwhan in reply to Mouse]

i have all the symptoms of menopause including night sweats and periods stopped over a year ago and i am 47 but have been getting all the symptoms for over 5 years now including feeling lethargic and continual sleeplessness did you have these symptoms too? and thank you for the reply...

[Mouse in reply to ladymcwhan]

The other symptoms were exhaustion to the point that I could have slept all night and most of the day. I was so tired that one night my husband woke me up to tell me that he was going to casualty as he had a terrible pain in his stomach and I just said OK and went back to sleep. (He had a kidney stone) I was also putting on weight which is something I had never done before, in fact I used to have the opposite problem that I couldn't keep weight on.

[Ocean2]

I was told I have very low ovarian reserve and that I am highly likely to go into early menopause but Dr Peatfiled said it will go back to normal once I am treated for hypothyroidism properly.

[ladymcwhan in reply to Ocean2]

do you mind if i ask what symptoms you had ? i am constantly tired and cant sleep for more than a couple of hours without waking covered in sweat and have to shower three or four times a day but my doctor insists it is menopause but i think that it may be be hypothyroidism as a friend went through same thing and was properly diagnosed with it....

[Ocean2 in reply to ladymcwhan]

I am still having regular periods at 39. I don't sweat at night but I am tired and have sleeping problems but that's because of my hypothyroidism I believe..

[boo16]

Both my mother and I had/have hypothyroidism. She went through the menopause at 38 and I was 40? Mine had not been diagnosed at that time but looking back, I am sure that I was and had been for some time.xx

[Heloise]

The nutritionists who wrote the Fit for Life health books state that during menopause as the ovaries slow down, it puts more stress on the thyroid gland and cause that to burn out. That happened to me but I was at the age for menopause (52) and am hypothyroid. I think the reverse could also be true as in your case since all the glands seem to be inextricably connected in some way.

I think for women an improvement in bio identical hormone research could go a long way in reducing hypothyroidism.

[efilwol]

Just be different, I had an early menopause at 47 and I am now hyperthyroid.