By Vivian Onyebukwa and Vera Wisdom-Bassey
“I got married at 30 and I couldn’t start having babies immediately. Three years after I got married, I discovered that my menstruation has stopped. I thought it was a joke. I visited my doctor and after series of tests, the result showed that my problem was premature menopause. And that the only way I could ever bear a child was through IVF, because my ovaries were no longer producing eggs. I was in total shock. I cried my eyes out”, Abiola Olukoya recalls. Abiola is not alone in this trauma. Some women suffer from unexplained premature ovarian failure (POF), caused by entering menopause even before the age of 40!
Women narrate their experiences
Jessica Apo, a Ghanaian who is resident in Nigeria, said she cannot understand why at 35 she no longer feels like having sex, since she cannot see her menstrual circle any longer.“I applied different drugs so that I would be able to menstruate but it just did not come. At this point I decided to visit a doctor for treatment”. According to her she visited other hospitals to seek for her health solution, but all proved abortive. Also, Mrs. Kate Koneke narrates her own ordeal. “I thank God that I already had my children before my menopause came when I was 30 years. I got married as soon as I gained admission into the university, and God blessed me I started having children immediately. I had my three children while I was in the university. By the time I got to 30, my menstruation stopped. Initially I was not worried since I already had the number of children I wanted, but later I decided to talk to a doctor. It was then that I discovered that I have had premature menopause. Before now, I never knew there could be premature menopause”. “I experienced menopause at the age of 35”, says Mrs Bridget Akpan. “I had only one child before I experienced it. I married at 32 and had mine at 33, when I was expecting to have a second baby, the unexpected happened. I felt so bad, but thank God my baby is a boy. My plan now is to adopt a baby girl, which I have agreed to do with my husband. I have everything to reverse it, but without success. I will not kill myself. I leave everything to God. Thank God I have an understanding husband.”
It is a known fact that women go through menopausal periods in their lives. This is one aspect of life that women contend with no matter their status. Biologically, a woman begins to experience menopause between the ages of 40 and 50. But, some women begin to experience menopause even before the time, when their final menstrual period occurs before they are 40, thereby endangering their chance to be mothers. This is called premature or early menopause. From reports, some have had to experience menopause at the age of 30 and 35.The question is, why are so many more women experiencing the heartbreak of early menopause?According to a Gynaecologist, Dr. Olusola Akinde of Living Spring Hospital, Lagos: “Premature menopause could be caused by illness such as epilepsy or medical procedures. Some may have issues with their ovaries. This may be due to infection or primary ovarian insufficiency where the periods spontaneously stop, as a result of chemotherapy treatment for cancer or surgically induced menopause when the ovaries are removed. At times, it could be genetic makeup, or one’s past. Some women are just born with very few eggs, and if such person’s mother had her menopause early, certainly her daughter would see it quite earlier too”. Also, women who are prone to smoking have the tendency to experience premature menopause.Poorer women are also at greater risk, which in turn could be linked to poor diet and low standards of health care”. Premature menopause does not come with different symptoms with real menopause. Symptoms of premature/early menopause are basically the same as for menopause at the expected age of 50-52. Such symptoms include some irregularity of periods, vaginal dryness, the vagina may also become thinner and less flexible, bladder irritability and worsening of loss of bladder control are all signs of premature menopause. Other symptoms include, emotional changes such as irritability, mood swings and mild depression, dry skin, eyes, or mouth, sleeplessness and decreased sex driveResearch also shows that further symptoms may be experienced while the woman is still having periods and they may fluctuate and get worse as periods become less frequent. Also, symptoms such as feeling hot, irritable, breast soreness and bloating.Study also shows that premature menopause is associated with health risk. Women experiencing a premature or early menopause may have an increased risk of heart disease compared to women who reach menopause at the usual age, although this remains controversial. Women with premature/early menopause may also be at greater risk of stroke. This might be because of the loss of the beneficial effects of estrogen on the blood vessels and the lipid (blood fat) profile of younger women.
“They’re also twice as likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular disorder. Then there’s the fact they are more prone to conditions such as gum disease, tooth loss and cataracts too,” say an expert.Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to reverse premature menopause from occurring. However, there are ways to treat its symptoms. Dr. Akinde, who said he has handled such cases, advised that such women should be placed on feminine hormone therapy. “The hormones enable the uterus to support a possible pregnancy. Also donation of eggs is another possible way of managing menopause at 35years. This enables fertilization at once. An individual who notices this should first report to her doctor or seek advice from a medical personnel for counsel on what to do or how to manage it”.
“Adequate information should be gotten on how approach should be undertaken at all stages of diagnosis. A good health style should be encouraged. For women that smoke, they should stop smoking, and for those that drink alcohol, they should limit their alcoholic intake. Women should be encouraged to take regular aerobic exercise and ensure they have adequate calcium intake (around 700 mg/day). Avoidance or reduction of alcohol and caffeine may help,” he says.