E4s Have Earlier Menopause Onset?

[Lisa in LJ]

I'm not sure how old my mom was, but she was well over 50. I'll never know how old I was/will be. I had a hysterectomy at 38.

[SweetSue]

Yes for me. I was around 48 when my OBGYN said I have the hormone levels of a 65yo.

[RedNailz]

I don't know how old my mom was, but my sister went through menopause at about 50. At 44, I have signs of perimenopause, right on schedule according to my doctor.

[Gina99]

53 for me, mother 4/4 about the same. she had no issues one day it stopped she said. Me suffered for 10 months, almost quit my job. Sister 3/4 with AD early 50's as well.

[hairyfairy]

I tried hrt a few years ago, but it made my cholesterol soar.

[Creekside]

3/4 and not in menopause until I was 57.

[JudyH]

3/4 and also almost 57. My ob/gyn labeled me late menopausal!

[Plumster]

We should probably also consider how many 9-month pregnancies we've each had as that'll delay menopause by a few years.

[Creekside]

Age of onset of menopause is also influenced/associated (somehow) by birth month. My birth month of October rather perfectly fit their findings.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15890738

"Age at menopause of 2822 post-menopausal women (>12 months of amenorrhoea) was stratified by month and season of birth. Mean age at menopause was 49.42 years (SEM: 0.78 years). Menopause occurred earlier for women born in the spring (age 49.04+/-0.15 years) than in the autumn (49.97+/-0.14 years). The earliest menopause was found in women born in March (48.9+/-0.25 years) and the latest in women born in October (50.3+/-0.25 years). The effect of season of birth on age at menopause remained even when considering factors that in our analysis were capable of significantly interfering with the timing of menopause, such as age at menarche, body mass index, smoking habit, level of education and type of job."

FWIW, I had pretty much a non-issue menopause -- some hot flashes, but nothing like most of my friends went through. They were generally years younger than I was at the time they started -- maybe it was a function of going down a steep hill in their case vs. a more gentle decline in mine? Never took HRT.

[Anna]

I'm curious as to WHY ApoE4 might cause earlier menopause.

I'm 4/4 and had surgical menopause at 50, so all I know is I wasn't early, in spite of having been told to expect early menopause due to only having had one ovary and having had surgery on the other. What I do know is that my brain could not handle the sudden drop in estrogen, even with the standard ERT dose. I had major dizzy spells and brain fog, and I shed many tears; all of these symptoms disappeared with an increased dose. I now wonder if this was somehow related to my ApoE status.