Early memopause

tibet1

I had early menopause at age 40 and now I am 48. I am worried and anxious about risks of dementia, heart vascular disease later due to premature menopause.

I was not given hormonal replacement treatment as they say it increases BC risks especially for mutation carriers.

Does anyone know if early menopause at age 40 and can still be doing well and be healthy and grow to old age without dementia or strokes?

Thanks

Fedders

Hi Tibet1,

I completely understand your concern and have had some of the same fears. I am 41 and am still new to menopause as I just had my ovaries removed in early September. I had a lot of questions for my OBGYN and I've asked around among others who have gone through a similar experience. When I started to talk to others, I realized that I know quite a few women who went through early menopause, including my own grandmother at 37, my surgical nurse at 36 and others. My grandmother lived to be 93 and was sharp as a whip until the day she died (and she went through menopause in the 1950s when we knew much less about it than we do today). Everyone else I have talked to are doing just fine as well, including the ones who went through early menopause 20 or 30 years ago. My surgical nurse is super healthy and she's now 65.

I think it's like everything else related to cancer and hormones - you hear about the worst-case scenarios and there's always a chance it might happen but that doesn't mean it will. I've heard from peers that eating healthy/clean, cutting down on alcohol and sugar and exercising regularly REALLY does help. Going through breast cancer and now surgical menopause has certainly increased my focus on living a healthy lifestyle so in the end my health might actually end up being better than it would have been otherwise .

Hope you're feeling well otherwise. Warm wishes from here.

tibet1

hi Fedders

Hanks for your reply and examples of your grandma and nurse which give me encouragement.I sent you a private message.

Tibet