Medical profession cares little for women with early onset menopause

Women expect the menopause in their fifties but when it comes in their twenties or thirties it is life-changing, reports Alice Wilson

Women are often excluded from clinical trials because testers are afraid their hormones will affect the results (Getty)

The majority of women experience the menopause during their fifties, and one in every 100 will experience menopause before the age of 40. But who among us would think it could arrive in our thirties. Or our twenties? In truth, as the NHS website explains, “premature or early menopause can occur at any age, and in many cases there’s no clear cause”.

This small, inconspicuous phrase has had astronomical effects on the life of Eleanor Fisher, a programme manager at Staffordshire University. Eleanor is 23 years old and has early onset menopause. After struggling with periods since the age of 18 and several years of visits to doctors and gynaecologists, Eleanor was diagnosed with pregnancy, polycystic ovaries and leukodystrophy – all of which proved false. 

After a third bout of no-show periods and FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone – the hormone that instigates the growth of ovarian follicles before the release of an egg) levels off the scale, Eleanor was finally told that she had the menopause. She’s now two months into Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) treatment.