Hi everyone, This is my first time posting to this list. I got a question from a mother today about breastfeeding and perimenopause. A search of the LactNet archives and other online sources didn't come up with the information I need so I'd like to put it out to all of you for your take on things. I have the mother's permission to post. The mother is 37, mother of 2, and is currently breastfeeding her 2 year old several times a day. Her cycles returned at 5 months post partum and were regular (every 25 days) until she had a miscarriage when her son was 16 months old. Since the miscarriage her cycles are 30-40 days long and she's experiencing severe sleeplessness just prior to menstruation and PMS around both ovulation and menstruation. The mother has just been told by her doctor that tests show she is in perimenopause, and that it is possible that her extended breastfeeding is a CAUSE of this. He's told her to wean cold turkey (and that it "won't kill him"!). The mother refused and was quite angry and upset by the whole thing. She'd like to confront the doctor with and wants to gather evidence to support her case before doing so. My gut tells me that the doctor is mistaken on this one, but I haven't managed to turn up data which directly answers her question about breastfeeding's affect on perimenopause. The only discussions I found were on PERIMENOPAUSE's affect on BREASTFEEDING (i.e. if a mother in perimenopause gets pregnant, how will this affect her lactation). This would lead me to believe that extended breastfeeding does not effect perimenopause and that the hormonal shifts encountered in perimenopause, specifically the drop in estrogen, should not negatively impact supply. I'd be grateful for any input. Thank you in advance. Robin Epstein Yehud, Israel LLL Leader and studying towards the exam *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html