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Early Menopause Versus Fibromyalgia

As fibromyalgia affects more women than men and has some of the same symptoms as menopause, it is easy to confuse the two. There are, however, distinct differences between the two conditions.

  1. Early Menopause

    • Normal menopause usually starts when a woman is in her late 40s to early 50s. Early menopause occurs when your menstrual cycle ends a full twelve months before your 45th birthday and is due to hormone levels being lower than normal.

    Fibromyalgia

    • Fibromyalgia affects both men and women, causing pain throughout the body in muscles, tendons and ligaments.

    Menopause Symptoms

    • Early menopause involves the same symptoms as normal menopause, which include hot flashes, loss of libido and many symptoms you normally would experience during pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS.

    Fibromyalgia Symptoms

    • People with fibromyalgia tend to have problems concentrating, experience great pain in their muscles and generally all over their body. They experience difficulty exercising and may develop irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS.

    Menopause and Fybromyalgia

    • Both fibromyalgia and menopause begin around the same time in women and if experienced together are usually linked to the 40 percent loss of estrogen women encounter with menopause. Fibromyalgia and menopause share the symptoms of depression, anxiety and trouble sleeping.

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