QuestionI'm a 31 year old female. My last regular period was in July 2010. I experienced a couple of months in 2009 with no period as well. My family doctor tested my FSH and LH levels on two occasions. The FSH levels were in the 60s and 80s. I can not remember the LH levels, but know they were significantly high. ON the second set of blood tests he tested my estrogen as well and it was low. He is sending me for a MRI to rule out pituitary tumor/cyst. I have since seen a gynecologist and she is running some more tests. She started me on the 10 day progesterone challenge and I started my period 7-8 days after I stopped the progesterone. I am booked for an ultrasound for January. I really want to have children. Do any of the above suggest premature menopause? pituitary tumor? ovarian cancer? I'm very desperate to obtain any information.
AnswerHello Amanda from Canada,
If you have elevated FSH levels greater than 20, it is an indication that the ovaries have stopped functioning. Because of your young age we do not call this premature menopause, but rather, it is called premature ovarian failure. If the ovaries do not function, you cannot become pregnant with your own eggs because the ovaries will not respond to stimulation. In that case the only option is donor eggs. To be sure, you will have to wait and see what the full evaluation shows, but this is not caused by ovarian cancer or a pituitary tumor.
I have written about his on my blog, so you might want to look it up under elevated FSH.
Good luck,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on twitter with me at @montereybayivf and facebook @montereybayivf
