Early puberty - early menopause?

[Vroomfondleswaistcoat]

I'm sorry if this is a really stupid question. But I've been hearing SO MUCH lately about girls starting puberty at, what seem to me to be, incredibly young ages. 10 years old no longer seems to be 'really young', and the age of puberty is dropping all the time.

Given that we have a finite supply of eggs, does this mean that, in the future, we're going to have a generation of women who reach menopause much earlier than previous generations? Are women going to have to have families much younger, in order to be fertile? Or does 'reaching puberty' and starting periods not equal ovulation? I know one can have periods without ovulating, so is this is what is happening in these very young girls?

[beepbops]

Hope not

[Gettingbysomehow]

I started puberty at 15 and then the menopause at 45 so I didn't have a lot of time. So just as well I had DS at 21.

[WhatsitAlfie]

I started at just before 16 and finished at 44 so not necessarily

[Vroomfondleswaistcoat]

@Gettingbysomehow

I started puberty at 15 and then the menopause at 45 so I didn't have a lot of time. So just as well I had DS at 21.

15 is now quite late, from what I'm reading! I was about the same age, and menopausal at 50, but if a girl starts puberty at 8 or 9 years of age, is she going to be running up against menopause at 39 or 40? That's the age when many women are in a position to become mothers for the first time...

[DeadwoodStage]

Interesting question. I had my first period age 14/15, my DD was 15 when she had hers. I had my last period just before my 56th birthday.

[Gilead]

I started at ten and was 47 when I had my last period.

[waterlego]

I was quite late to puberty- first period at 14- but seem to be coming quite early to menopause. Am 45 and still just about having periods but very very infrequently.

[neilyoungismyhero]

I started puberty at 14/15 and the menopause at 55.

[WotNoUserName]

I started my periods at 10. I'm now 47 and still getting them. Not happy.

My cycles are usually 26-32 days, with the odd 50 day one that gets my hopes up that it's buggered off for good. But no.

[Kyse23]

Be interesting I guess. My first period I was 9

[Harrythehappypig]

Perhaps cycle length is a factor? I started at 13 and am now 50 with still occasional periods. I always had a pretty regular 28 day cycle. My friend started about the same age as me, is the same age now and still regular periods. Her cycle is a few days longer than mine so presumably ovulated fewer times each year?

[justasoul]

I had my first period a few days before my 13th birthday and my last just before my 40th - I think statistically they’re linked but not for me!

[Ineedwinenow]

I was 7 and I think I’m peri now! The doctors or nurses don’t believe me though but I’ve definitely noticed a few changes, I’m 42.

[PaperSheet]

I don't think that's how menopause works. You don't just work your way through all your eggs and when the last one pops out you hit menopause. You start with millions of eggs at birth. They die in large numbers over the years not just one a month. The quality declines as you get older. But if it was the case that amount of ovulation = when menopause occurs then surely women who have been on birth control that prevents ovulation wouldn't ever go through menopause! Or they'd be in their 70s if they spent say 20 years on the pill etc.

[CheshireCat1]

I started my periods at 16 and menopause at 42.

[greenspaces4peace]

there was a relationship between late menarch and early menopause last I looked.

[Vroomfondleswaistcoat]

@PaperSheet

I don't think that's how menopause works. You don't just work your way through all your eggs and when the last one pops out you hit menopause. You start with millions of eggs at birth. They die in large numbers over the years not just one a month. The quality declines as you get older. But if it was the case that amount of ovulation = when menopause occurs then surely women who have been on birth control that prevents ovulation wouldn't ever go through menopause! Or they'd be in their 70s if they spent say 20 years on the pill etc.

Thank you, that was the kind of answer I was hoping for. I know menopause is when you reach the last of your useable eggs, but it makes sense that the number of useable eggs varies. Although, if you have more cycles, by starting earlier, would that increase the speed at which the eggs die off?

[mycoffeecup]

Lots to unpick here:

• not everyone is born with the same number of eggs or gets through them at the same rate
• Many women will spend much of their reproductive life on contraception which stops them ovulating
• many of the cycles in the first few years after the menarche are anovulatory, as they are in the perimenopause, often for years

So while I can see why the link would be drawn, I think it's too simplistic. There is a link though with your age of menopause and that of your Mum, so women with a family history of early menopause shouldn't leave kids too late

[Ihaveshitfriends]

I started late at nearly 16 and have just started menopause at 36.

[greenspaces4peace]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5972645/

[PaperSheet]

I think even having more cycles over your life time would be negligible.
If a woman started periods at 13, and fully stopped periods at 53 (rounding it up to exactly 40 years for ease) and she had bang on 28 day cycles for those years (including ovulation each month) she ovulated 480 times. If she had 15 cycles a year instead of 12 she ovulated 600 times. Considering the millions of eggs available to start I think the difference is tiny.

[Dinosauratemydaffodils]

I went through puberty fairly early. Periods started in my last year of primary. Currently almost 46 and no perimenopause symptoms as yet. Periods are still regular. Youngest child is 4.

[YouNeverSeeTheRealMe]

Early puberty doesn't always mean early menopause. My periods started when I was only just 11. They finally stopped, aged 59 1/2!

[Bramshott]

DD asked this very question in her last hospital appt - she is having investigations for very late puberty and wanted to know if this meant she would also have the menopause later. The doctor said no, there was no correlation between the two.

[ittakes2]

I started at 15 and had menopause at 50...but I also had several IVF cycles where they increase egg production.