‘My pains started when my period stopped.’ This is a comment that can be found frequently in women who suffer from fibromyalgia. This pathology, characterized by symptoms such as generalized chronic pain, intense fatigue, mood changes and difficulties in concentration and memory, has a preference for women, having been related to estrogen deficiency.
Several studies have described that women with fibromyalgia start with pre-menopausal symptoms earlier than healthy women, and that menopause is frequently associated both with the onset of fibromyalgia and with its worsening when the disease is already present. In addition, pregnancy or the postpartum period have also been related to a greater intensity of the symptoms of this chronic pain pathology.
A recent publication in the journal Clinical Rheumathology describes the research carried out by a team from the University of the Balearic Islands. This work is the first to analyze the relationship between the age at the onset of menopause and pain sensitivity in a sample of women suffering from fibromyalgia. The researchers found that the group of patients who had lost their periods before the age of 49 showed greater sensitivity to both pain and other stimuli than other patients whose menopause was later and also than a group of healthy women. It could be argued, according to the authors, that the lower exposure to estrogens has an influence on hypersensitivity to pain in these patients, which could be related to the worsening of the symptoms of this disease.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
