Three years ago, at the age of 43, my only child (1 died very suddenly. That was in August. I did not have another period for eight months. I had a few hot flashes a week for the first few months and that prickly sensation on my chest and neck that kind of rashed out for a few minutes at a time. My doctor said that my body was in shock and would adjust. I went from 190 pounds to 130 pounds in only four months during this same time. I just couldn't eat and had no interest in food. As my life slowly came back to as close to normal as it could my weight evened out and I began to have periods again. Over the last two years I have been on a 4 months on, 4 months kind of ride. The hot flashes were never very bad or given much thought. All my blood workup from the doctor's office kept coming back that I was post-menopausal. Now for the last two months I am in that phase but this time the hot flashes are 10-12 times a day and I don't sleep through the night because I wake up every hour or so burning up with the air conditioner down to 68 and a fan blowing on me.

Did the shock of the death of my child, the extreme weight loss and stress trigger this event? I've asked family members about when they all began menopause and it seems the mid fifties are average. Should I be concerned?