Hi HorsesHorses
From what I've read it is exactly the same thing ie menopause before the age of 40 is premature ovarian failure/insufficiency. Ovaries pack up at menopause but the average age is 51/52 so they have packed up prematurely if periods stop below age 40.
Here's what it says on this site:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/pm-definition.phpPremature menopause, or premature ovarian failure, is frequently defined as being menopause that occurs before the age of 40 years, but in the developed world, it is thought that it should be defined as menopause before the age of 45 years, the loss of estrogen having particular long term health risks in this age group.
Premature ovarian failure (POF) is estimated to affect 1% of women under the age of 40 years and 0.1% of women under the age of 30 years.Also - yesterday another member was discussing what to do about testing for menopause - and also under 40 but not yet at the stage you are of missing periods and I posted stuff out about the protocols, NICE Guidelines and information on this site - here is the thread:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,31127.0.htmlHere are the investigations ie testing for it:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/pm-investigations.phpI don't understand how doc can say FSH too high for menopause/POF - the ref ranges for FSH are given here:
http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=4366008991-11 females; follicular and luteal phase
6-26 at ovulation
30-118 post-menopausal
Note in bold where it says:
In women aged under 40 years in whom menopause is suspected
diagnose premature ovarian insufficiency in women aged under 40 years based on:
menopausal symptoms, including no or infrequent periods (taking into account whether the woman has a uterus) and
elevated FSH levels on 2 blood samples taken 4-6 weeks apartI think it will be your decision how you want to treat it - either with conventional HRT or the Pill but thereis a pill available that contains bio-identical oestrogen - called Qlaira which you might prefer to the more conventional ones that contain synthetic oestrogen. here is some info on this site about the Pill and menopause:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/contra2.phpHope this helps
Hurdity x