Fibromyalgia Tied to Hysterectomy, Early Menopause
NEWSBRIEF: According to research just published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology, postmenopausal women with fibromyalgia were more likely to have had early menopause (before age 45) or to have had a hysterectomy. This apparent hormonal link could help explain why women are much more likely than men to develop fibromyalgia.
Further, the study showed that anxiety and depression were worse in participants whose fibromyalgia symptoms started within the first year after hysterectomy. More than 500,000 women in the U.S. have a hysterectomy each year.
About a quarter of the women with fibromyalgia had developed symptoms during menopause or within their first menopausal year, and their symptoms tended to be more severe than those of other participants.
(Guide Note: This study is especially interesting to me, because I started into premature perimenopause just before fibromyalgia symptoms began. I was 35 years old.)
Related Content: Why Women are More Prone to Fibromyalgia; Fibromyalgia & Depression/Anxiety
While I had a hysterectomy, I had fms symptoms for over 30 years before that. I did, however, begin fms symptoms within a year of beginning menstruation.
I had a hysterectomy in my late 30s due to large ovarian cyst but this did not trigger fibromyalgia. I got a followup call regarding if I had developed depression due to hysterectomy and I laughed and told gal no as I was glad to get rid of parts that were not working as I always got very ill when having periods. I mentioned this to my physician today which was news to him and told him this this fact had just emerged. He is probably glad when I leave his office as by the time I get through with him he has writer’s cramps. It is our job to educate the fellas.
According to doctors you are not menopausal until a year after your last period so I had to vote no. But I started through the change before 45, just didn’t totally stop until after 50. Wondering how many women with fibro or CFIDS had a hard time with periods all their life. I would have labor pains everymonth, sometimes 3 days in a row since I was 14. Then a hard time through the change, and hot flashes and mood swings with them that are out of this world. Been 6 years and the hot flashes won’t stop.
I have wondered about the connection of hormones and FM… I began my period at 9 yrs. old. Have had 4 beautiful kids, all regular vag delivery except the last one a c-section with tubal at 30 yrs. old. This is where my fibro symptoms began. I never have felt the same since. Always tired, I remember the first thing was that my arms seemed so heavy. I did have a hyesterectomy at 40 but was not diagnosed with FM until 41 yrs. old. I had seen dr’s for all the symptoms for 11 years but I finally said that I hurt all the time etc. and I was finally heard. I was sent then to a rheumatologist who also diagnosed me with hepatitis-c,apparently the symptoms overlap and he regularly checks for this also. Any way I receive a monthly estrogen injection and my response to this is off the chart wonderful, it makes me feel energized and almost my old self for a couple of days and then it is gone:( , The days before my shot are in bed days . The reason I started injections is because I tried estrogen pills first but they didn’t seem effective, after blood test my doc said that I had estrogen in my blood but that my liver wasn’t metabolizing it properly. (this was before I knew I had liver disease.)so then I tried to use the patch and either the hot flashes or medication for FM made me so sweaty all the time that they wouldn’t stick. But any way I have wondered if FM might have a hormonal connection because despite my liver condition (of 30+ years determined by biopsy) I didn’t notice FM until after c-section and that after hysterectomy and subsequent pre-menopausal symptoms I feel such short lived but wonderful relief from the shots. My intuition tells me that there is a connection. does anyone else have any info?
Gramofalot,
After the birth of my second baby (both were c-sections), my body just didn’t seem to work like it used to. I was sick all the time, had more trouble sleeping, etc. When I weaned my daughter, I went immediately into premature perimenopause, and it was like the floodgates were opened and the true fibro symptoms started to appear, one after the other. I believe that I was slowly moving toward this for a long time, and that hormonal changes played a big part in the process.
At first, my symptoms very precisely followed my menstrual cycle, which my rheumatologist said was pretty normal. It was my OB/GYN who offered a solution, though – endometrial ablation. After a 15-minute procedure, the pattern was gone and my flares were about 25-50% less severe.
Thank you for bringing this important issue into view. A higher incidence of osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis have been documented in medical literature since 1991, but little research has been done on this issue since 1999: “Frequency of Osteoarthritis in Hysterectomized Women”, Spector, Tim D. et al, The J. of Rheumatoogy 1991 and “High Frequency of Hysterectomies and Appendectomies in Fibromyalgia compared with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Pilot Study, Borg, E.J. ter et al, Clin Rheumatol 1999.
The HERS Foundation’s study of the experiences of 1,000 women who underwent hysterectomy and or removal of the ovaries report a significant correlation between hysterectomy and fibromyalgia:
45.3% of women when the uterus was removed, 55.8% when the uterus and one ovary was removed, and 65.8% when the uterus and both ovaries were removed experienced the symptoms of Fibromyalgia that began after the surgery and became chronic.
HERS study can be read at hersfoundation.org by clicking on the Adverse Effects Data.
I was elated when, after doing a search for menapause and fibromyalgia that I found your link. I have been telling the doctor for the last 4 years that my fibromyalgia seemed to flare up after each hot flush, but this was ignored and I was told that they had never heard such a thing! I always felt that if I could get hrt that this would help my fibromyalgia tremendously. I will be giving the link to my doctor first thing tomorrow!!
This is absolutely all connected. I am 37 and currently on Cymbalta. I had a hysterectomy (1 ovary intact) in October and for a while had no pain or fatigue. Well now I feel the hormone fluctuations, the heavy arms and legs…and now get so tired I can’t function. I pray everyday that someone will get this all figured out.