Early menopause

Early menopause or premature ovarian failure is defined as menopause symptoms beginning before age 40 by the World Health Organization. Most women experience the start of menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 years old.

ME/CFS
A few patients with ME/CFS have reported undergoing early menopause, including Lynn Gilderdale, who had very severe ME/CFS.

Fibromyalgia
Early menopause and hysterectomy are linked to increased risk of fibromyalgia, either in the years shortly before the hysterectomy or in the year after. A number of studies have found that women with fibromyalgia were more likely to have had a hysterectomy than the general population, and they were more likely to have poorer health and higher health costs than women with fibromyalgia who had not had a hysterectomy. Fibromyalgia patients were more likely to have had a gynaecological surgery compared to other chronic pain patients, with rates of fibromyalgia being higher in patients who had hysterectomy, oophorectomy (ovary removal) and cystectomy (bladder or cyst removal) than only hysterectomy.

Notable studies

 * 2015, Assessing the prevalence of autoimmune, endocrine, gynecologic, and psychiatric comorbidities in an ethnically diverse cohort of female fibromyalgia patients: does the time from hysterectomy provide a clue? - (Full text)
 * 2012, Fibromyalgia and hysterectomy: the impact on health status and health care costs - (Abstract)
 * 2009, Increased frequencies of hysterectomy and early menopause in fibromyalgia patients: a comparative study - (Full text)

Learn more

 * Early menopause - NHS