[Redmom]

#1060095

I have read a lot of the post on this forum and found it to be very helpful. One thing I haven’t seen is anything about is menopause. Does anyone know if having Graves affects menopause or any of its symptoms. About 10 years ago I thought I was going through early menopause, but my endo said it was because my levels were slightly off. (I had RAI 26 years ago and have been hypo for 24 years now). I noticed that a lot of the symptoms of menopause are also symptoms of thyroid levels being off. Is there any articles on what happens to women with Graves going through menopause? Thanks

[snelsen]

#1180291

Welcome to the forum!

Not sure about any good references, I did not look before responding now.

As you see from my history, I had TT many decades ago. My experience with menopause was probably better than most women. A few episodes of hot flashes, but not bad at all. Probably a bit more emotional, as I recall, and irritable and annoyed with the hot flashes. But that is about it.

I do have a question about terminology. I am wondering if you mean that you have been EUTHYROID for past 24 years? The designations for thyroid levels for Graves’ are HYPERthyroid, HYPOthyroid and EUthyroid, meaning too much, too little, and “just right.” I’m thinking you probably have been in the “just right,” or been neither hyper or hypo for past 24 years?

I do think that some of the hyPER symptoms absolutely are the same as menopause symptoms. Just different physiology.

Do write again. You’ll probably get some more helpful responses than mine.
Shirey

[Kimberly]

#1180292

Hello – If you are interested in general info on menopause, this is a resource document from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists:

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

https://www.aace.com/files/menopause.pdf

However, I haven’t seen much research specific to Graves’ and menopause. This is one recent study, but they basically just concluded that the symptoms can overlap (which we already knew)!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23025806

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