Women!! Question | Arthritis Information

Were you DX'd in menopause or perimenopause?

I'm curious.......

I feel for many there is a hormonal connection.....

the fact that many have remission-type responses while pregnant.. could show a contributing factor as well

Obviously this doesn't help w/ the men's issues ..... but please post if you've been Dx'd during PM or Men.

ETA: are you sero-neg or positive?

are you mild, moderate or severe?

Thanks!!

babs102009-05-04 06:17:38I was dagnosed at age 22..so technically I was at the height of fertiityIn my case, I went through menopause in my early forties. I was dx at age 52, I'd been done with all that female stuff for at least five years. I took hormone supplements for a couple years but became uneasy with reports of them doing more harm than good and went off them. Plus I was horrified by the living conditions of the horses from whom the hormones were taken and couldn't handle it. It seems that I have noticed several other women with early menopause on this board, by which I mean in their forties or even sooner. I'm not sure. I'm on the pill so it's a tough call- I'm going to have a period no matter what. At 48 I do think I am perimenopausal and I was DX'd at 47. I was 34 when I was "officially" dx'd, but had been having symptoms for probably a year before that.

I've been wondering about some kind of hormonal connection, too. Haven't kept track of it as I've been meaning to, but in my case it seems like a lot of my flares come on a week to a few days before my girly-business starts....
Early 30s for me. No signs of menopause, even 7 years later. [QUOTE=babs10]Were you DX'd in menopause or perimenopause?

[/QUOTE]

No...I was dx'd when I was 30

sero positive

kelstev2009-05-04 06:21:53I should have had you say if you're sero neg or sero pos... I will add that to the Original post.

I was JRA..... then at age 12 1/2 I was in "remission" and had "become a woman" ... I had mild to moderate issues until at age 50 (six years after menopause) I was slammed w/ a HUGE flare... and have been categorized "severe" since....

I was dx'ed in my early twenties and then in my early 30ties I went into early menopause. Now that I've been off of MTX for more than 6 months I think maybe that's changing. Maybe the MTX caused me to go into menopause and now that I've stopped that's changing.

It's going to take a little time to determine it for sure.

I went tru menopause at age 48- 51, noticed symptoms around age 50, dx age 52 sero positive was dx with moderate, now I would say mild...wow lovie.. that's a completely different aside!! hmmmI started perimenopause and having RA symptoms about the same time at age 43. I was sero-negative for years and turned positive about 13 (give or take a year) years later. I turned positive at the same time I blew a disk in lower back (trauma) related maybe. LindyperimenopauseI underwent surgical menopause at 29. Diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis late-50's and RA shortly thereafter.

I am currently RF negative.
dx last year at 38. I'm currently not menopausal, although I had a hysterectomy 6 years ago. Sero neg.Diagnosed at 42...started menopause at 48

Back to staining the deck

edited to add...sero-negative

Lynn492009-05-04 10:37:41Hi Babs - Interesting topic..............I was diagnosed when I was just 5 years old - some 50 years ago!!!! I do remember feeling exceptionally well during both of my pregnancies: my doctor at the time said that during pregnancy, a woman's hormones are naturally all over the place, and we generally produce a LOT more cortisone than usual. So, the theory at the time was that all that extra cortisone flowing thru our bodies for 9 months, tended to soothe most inflammation and pain. Has anyone else heard of this idea???

Wishing this RAIN would stop!!!!
Dogmom
Well... my worst flare ever was after I had my son. I had a post-preggo flare after having my daughter, but that was a piece of cake compared to the post-preggo flare after having my son. I swelled a whole lot more after having my son. After having my daughter, I had fatigue and pain, not all the symptoms I have now. --Complete hyst/ooph (uterus,tubes,ovaries) age 27, put on hormones for severe hot flashes+migraines. Decreasing dosage very slowly due to migraines. Stable on med.

So, am I menopausal or not? Confused about that.

--RA began & diagnosed at age 52.

--RF since then is always between 1,220-1,648 (tests for other reasons always neg).

I was diagnosed with RA, Menopause and Thyroid trouble all at the same time. I was 37. I was not starting menopause but already through it at the time. I take prempro to help with the flashes but decided during the big scare about hormones to go off wow big mistake I have not got back to normal since. I was reading the post about the sex drive mine is none don't know if it is RA pain-meds or what or menopause stuff. Who knows I just know that I want to feel normal again. So does my hubby.... Laura

Dx at the age of 40. Mild to moderate. Still mensurating. RF factor negative. Mostly problems on the right side only (related to RA I mean)

just checked back in for a moment

Babs... are you getting anything out of our answers? no real consistency.

Diagnosed 2 years ago at age 47, moderate in severity, sero-positive, still not in menopause, but starting to see signs of heading that direction.

Before menopause. Actually I refuse to get menopause I have enough problems. Seriously I quit getting regular menses several years ago. Maybe I get one a year. The doctor said it was not menopause however it all adds up to the same thing. I was in a flare when they quit. I was 39 so it was not a regular thing. So I believe it can aggravate the disease process but thats just my opinion.

Here I thought this article might be of interest to ya, Babs.

http://www.beauty-and-nutrition.com/chronic_inflamation_menopause.html

Diagnosed at age 53 - symptoms started while overseas.

Menopause was complete by later the same year.

Sero positive. Mod - severe. RF at diagnosis 84. RF last week 450.

Switching from Enbrel to Rituxan. Feel very fatigued and tired of the whole thing.

I menopausal at 42. Two years later I was diagnosed with RA. I'm seropositive and RD said last year that I was classified as moderately-to severely active. I'm not sure exactly what that really means. [QUOTE=CathyMarie]just checked back in for a moment

Babs... are you getting anything out of our answers? no real consistency.

[/QUOTE]

I've been waiting til I have time to do a spread sheet to see... but it doesn't appear there is any continuity of info and time....

[QUOTE=joonie]Here I thought this article might be of interest to ya, Babs.

http://www.beauty-and-nutrition.com/chronic_inflamation_menopause.html

[/QUOTE]

thanks, Joonie.. good article

Many researchers feel the lowering of estrogen levels in menopausal women may be attributed to the higher risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and autoimmune

IDK if there are those of us w/ low estrogen but still having menses...... hmmmmm... we can't tell....

Before menopause, estrogen levels are balanced; inflammation in pre-menopausal women is moderated and basically the body is doing its job effectively to defend against invaders. But research has shown those women with lowering estrogen levels and specifically, post-menopausal women are more at risk for developing chronic inflammation. Therefore, there is on-going research being conducted to see if estrogen can perhaps ensure that the bodies defense in regards to inflammation doesn't go into "overdrive".