Jacqui,

As long as you are open to theories...
Here's one I've heard...
The eggs we have that are most responsive to FSH are the ones we  
ovulate first...

With menarche taking place on average around 12 years of age by the  
time we
reach the statistical height of fecundity at age 23, we've been  
ovulating
a decade...is it any wonder fertility declines in the 30's...
how many decades should we expect to be fertile?

If this theory about egg responsiveness is correct than
theoretically pregnancy and breastfeeding could extend fertility as
these are months we are not ovulating...

I recall a friend who nursed four children each until they were about  
four years old
who had peri-menopausal symptoms in her late thirties...
a decade later she is still menstruating and while some cycles are  
anovulatory
many are not...

Another friend who had no children complained of the same thing at  
the same age,
at which point she decided to try and have a baby and still has not  
conceived a baby
  but she has become a mother through adoption and nursed her baby  
for a time...

I am similiar to you and your friend in that I have been pregnant and  
or lactating
continuously for a long time...18 years with only a break of six months
or so between babies one and two and then again between five and six,
there were no breaks between the middle four children...

Also like your friend I am 38 years old and a small breasted woman
so I nursed very frequently, and had very fat babies who are now thin  
older children.
I experienced amenorrhea, with my first five children- all boys-
between 13-22 months long, getting longer everytime,
which I though might have something to do with increasing age/ 
declining fertility...

But then my sixth baby came along, and my first girl,
and she was my first child who slept a long stretch at night 5-6  
hours if I let her
which I did not when she was under six months but after six months I  
slacked off and
of course got my period back 9 mos postpartum..

So I scrapped my theory about my increasing age/decreasing fertiltiy  
and decided
breastfeeding frequency trumps the other factors at least for me...I  
can tell I am less fertile
than I have ever been after the resumption of menses but it remains  
to be seen whether
this is because of the shortened period of amennorhea or my age.
Women who have early resumption of menses while nursing tend to have  
less fertile cycles
for awhile...women with later resumption of menses tend to be fertile  
right away unless
they are going into menopause...

If your friend is still bf, perhaps nursing is responsible for her  
elevated FSH levels...
Since prolactin is an estrogen antagonist perhaps it is blunting the  
feedback inhibition
effect of estrogen on the pituitary so that FSH continues to be  
produced...

If she isn't nursing (and hasn't only recently weaned) and wants to  
alleviate her symptoms
or even conceive again she could purchase Marilyn Shannon's Fertility  
Cycles and Nutrition
available through the Couple to Couple League at ccli.org

And as far as *extended* bringing on an *early* menopause-
that concept is faulty on the face of it in my opinion...*extended  
breastfeeding* is actually biological normal
so how could doing what is normal cause something abnormal to happen...
The women I know who conceived the latest also had the most  
pregnancies and longest course of nursing...

It might be possible that artificial contraception use (since one of  
the ways it works is by suppressing ovulation)
might delay menopause somewhat in longtime users
  but that would not make women experiencing earlier menopause  
(because they had little to no
contraceptive use) have *unnaturally early* menopause...

Hope this helps...and I'm sure there are some true experts on this  
list who can add to or correct what I've said...

Jen O'Quinn IBCLC

On May 11, 2006, at 5:34 PM, Jacqui Gruttadauria. wrote:

> i am writing to seek knowledge (or even theories!) for a friend/ 
> bfing mom.  i
> used to work w/ her as a bfing volunteer and it turned into  
> friendship as we
> went through bfing 1st babies, then through pgc's, then tandem nursing
> together  and repeating the pattern over the last 6 yrs and several  
> children.. we
> also both  practice child-led weaning and she's the only other  
> person i've met
> irl who's  lactated as long as i have. she happens to be a nurse in  
> colorado..
> she just  emailed me this last night and it is beyond the scope of my
> experience. if  anyone here can help enlighten me (and her!), i  
> would be deeply
> appreciative! i  have her request to post and would like permission  
> to forward any
> responses back  to her. thanks so much in advance! i am crestfallen  
> to think of
> the blow a  fellow lactivist is taking in being told she brought  
> menopause on
> too early by  trying to do what was in her children's best  
> interest! if it
> makes any  difference to the small breast/capacity theory she  
> mentions, i have
> noted that  while her breasts are small, her babies have all been  
> incredibly fat
> and robust.  like 30 lbs at 6 mos w/ rolls on their rolls kind of  
> hearty! i
> always told her  she has haagen-dazs grade milk.
>
>  I have been meaning to call you...You being the only other person  
> I  know
> who has nursed as many and as long as I have.  I have been having   
> frequent hot
> flashes and went to the doctor, had labs drawn and essentially was   
> told I am
> in full blown menopause.  They think it is from nursing for so   
> long and so
> frequently and having really low estrogen levels for six years   
> continously.
> You being the expert on online stuff and having nursed since  Jake  
> was born
> (through pregnancies and tandem nursed) like me.  It is a  hard  
> combination to
> come upon these days...Anyway I was wondering if you could  post it  
> on your
> online groups and see what response you get.  For example  has  
> anyone ever heard of
> this.  My FSH level was 33.9 which my doctor said  was severly  
> elevated in
> someone my age.  My age being I just turned  38...my understanding  
> is that my
> estrogen levels have been so suppressed  for so long (since I got  
> pregnant with
> samson 6 yrs ago) that my pit  gland is now working very had to  
> secrete FSH
> (follicle stim hormone) to   jump start my ovaries to release an  
> egg.  in
> menopause they see FSH levels  > 20, mine was 33.9.  and I am  
> symptomatic at this
> point with hot  flashes and severe vaginal dryness (pleasant, I  
> know.)  My
> doctor is well  aware of my thoughts on extended breastfeeding and  
> knows that I am
> tandem  nursing and have been (there are no secrets, I feel  
> strongly about
> extended  breastfeeding, as you know).  As far as having other  
> children we
> are/were  pretty sure we were done but it is/was a decision I  
> wanted to make not one
> I  wanted my body to make for me.  is it reversible, they are not  
> sure at
> this  point?   I am really just curious anyone has ever heard of a   
> significant
> rise in FSH levels in direct relation to suppressed estrogen  
> levels  secondary
> to long term and frequent (more often than every 4 hours)   
> breastfeeding in
> someone my age.  like I said last night, they are finding  that  
> women with
> smaller breasts have a smaller storage capacity and thus need to   
> feed baby more
> freq. in my case I think this has really worked to keep my   
> estrogen levels
> lower than normal.  as far as history, my mom and grandma  did not  
> breastfeed and
> did not experience symptoms of menopause or perimenopause  until  
> their mid to
> late 40’s.
>
> ~jacqui  gruttadauria, bsw in michigan
>
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