Is the average age for menopause really 51?

[Gwenhwyfar]

I'm just wondering because, while I keep being told the average age for menopause is 50 or 51, so many of the women I know still have some periods around 54 or 55. I only know one person who had an early menopause (around 40). I realise the average could still be closer to 50, but I also wonder how the average is calculated, and could it have changed over time?
What age were you when your periods had stopped for a full year?

I was 50

I was 50 I last had a period week before my 50th,

I was really horribly menopausal with regular periods and they just stopped.

Have you asked your friends about menopause or assumed that because they're talking about periods they are pre-menopause?

The reason I ask is that I have POI but because I've been on first birth control, then HRT since 37 I still talk about having 'periods' and my friends would not probably realise unless they asked me directly.

Not me but my sister was menopausal by 50. My gaps between periods are stretching out i’m mid 40s…. i’ve had mostly manageable peri symptoms for a while.

I was 51

52 from what I can remember. Then 1 period after a gap of 2 years.

I'm 51 and still have sporadic, light periods, so I guess that puts me as still in the peri-menopause. I regularly go for 5 or 6 months without one though (and the ones I do have are 3 or so days of heavy spotting/v light flow, so I'm definitely fully winding down.

Well it's looking like it from the poll so far OP.

I suppose part of the issue is that younger women don't always know they're in perimenopause often for years because they're pregnant, on contraception that stops periods or irregularity has increased and they've not noticed or blamed it on something else, so many might be well on the way to menopause before they realise.

Plus there's reliability of data, representative sampling and what we mean by average meaning that anyone's snapshot is unlikely to align with the population as a whole.

I saw my doctor a few weeks ago for HRTanf said I haven’t had a period for the past 14 months
im 51. -

she laughed and said oh Mrs Average then - perfect 😂

To be fair my doctor was fab gave me everything I asked for and more

I am almost 56 and keep getting to a year and then having a period, it’s so annoying.

I was having regular periods at 54 and then got a Mirena coil, so none after that

Same at 58..Docs said 2 clears clear..everytime I get to nearly that point, another one appears..

I had my last period just before my 47th birthday.

I suppose the thing is you’re going to get people like me who went into early menopause due to autoimmune issues aged 37 and others who experience it very late affecting the results; so 50ish is probably about average.

Yes, but I'm asking specifically about when it's all over so actually menopause and not peri-menopause.

"Plus there's reliability of data, representative sampling and what we mean by average meaning that anyone's snapshot is unlikely to align with the population as a whole."

Well, yes, my other question is how do they know what is average without surveying the whole population. A sample of just 1,000 in considered representative in some cases, but those 1k people might not represent the whole population.

So technically, 54, if it's strictly one year since the very last period.

I was 41.

Im 47 and thought I might be on my way to perimenopause but my big sister told me she is still having periods at 56. 😵‍💫

I’m over a year period free 🥳 I’m 51

Therefore I had my last period at 50

I was 52 or 53, actually can’t remember as they’d got closer together and then more spaced out.
My friend was 57 and still having periods.

I’m turning 55 in a few months and still getting periods every couple of months.

I wonder whether there would be a different average if we didn't have the outliers. If we only asked women 45-55? I guess we could look at median and mode averages as well, or is that already factored in when they say an average of 50-51?

I was 53

I'm in the early stages at the same age, but I have no idea when it will be over...