How do you periods affect your rides?

I generally feel bad during the first days of my period, I'm in a bad mood, sometimes tearful for no apparent reason, my whole body and especially my back and abdomen hurt and I have cramps. My always low blood pressure drops even lower and sometimes makes me feel dizzy.
I still try to exercise because really helps with the mood and cramps, but I don't push myself if I don't feel like it. Using the mooncup really helps with all kinds of exercise during my period.
As a teenager I was very unhappy with these monthly problems, and even took the pill for some years to avoid it. It got better since I treat this week as a time to take it easy and relax. I try to see it a bit like an ancient ritual - sounds stupid but makes me feel a bit better about it ;)

Well, as for me, I figured out I'm definitely anemic again. BLEH!!!!!!!! :(

I can't believe I did this to myself again. I went through this last July and I am STILL not at the level of fitness I was just before it hit. I was just starting to see some real progression, though, and was headed that way. I was also in weight loss mode again, getting ride of the weight I had gained back since I was last anemic. It occurred to me yesterday that this time around with eating and training, I hadn't consciously done anything different from when this happened before, so of COURSE it's going to happen again. Since I'm worried about iron toxicity, I haven't been taking iron supplements (since I got over it before). Although, I did intend to always take iron supplements when on my period and completely forgot. Duh! But the main plan was to be more aware of the foods I was eating, mostly getting adequate red meat (per a coach and stuff I've read about it being the easiest to absorb iron from). But while I wasn't consciously trying to eat foods with iron, I do eat red meat, eggs and other iron rich foods quite regularly. But apparently not enough for the training I'm doing and since I'm eating less food over all.

So, let this be a lesson to you guys. If you are training even reasonably hard and, particularly, if you are trying to lose weight, be careful to get enough iron. I have done tons of research on this and it is really quite common for women cyclists to get anemic.

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Originally Posted by crazycanuck

I officially need help with this:

A few days before my period starts, I get super duper itchy, enlarged inner upper legs etc & have a hard time biking. No matter what type of knicks I wear, it's quite painful to ride. I can't wear a tampon on the bike as they itch & just have to keep on going to the loo. I have been reduced to very short rides w a pair of knicks I don't love, during that time of the month. (yes, everything gets washed right away when i get home).

What to do de do?

The only thing that helps me during my period is strenuous exercise...

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There can be lots of things that cause itchiness that lurk around and pounce on you when your resistance is a bit low. Three that come to mind are dry skin dermatitis, thrush and herpes virus. All three can cause itchiness in this area and can spring on you when you are feeling low. It would probably be worth getting checked out by a doctor when it is actually happening to have some chance of diagnosis as to which?:confused:

I know I have in the past used a soap which caused the dermatitis along the elastic line of my knickers. I have also had thrush from time to time that was pretty damned itchy. The most annoying thing is that I assumed the former was the latter the first time it happened and treated it with canestan (as you would if it was thrush) only to find that the anti-fungal was so drying that it made the dermatitis worse!:o

The other stuff many of us may be stuck with, but you should not be suffering with this sort of itchiness as a routine thing. I think it would be a good idea to get it really checked out.

Hi Jiffer - just a thought - have you seen an MD about your anemia problem? Besides diet (which seems like a stretch, unless you were eating a really weird diet) and heavy periods (which you don't mention that they are especially super heavy) there can be other causes of anemia. Things to rule out (off the top of my head) bleeding from your stomach or intestines. My friend got her colonoscopy "early" (in her late 40's) because she was scheduled for a hysterectomy - for heavy bleeding and anemia - and she was an avid runner. She wanted the colonoscopy before her hyst because she knew that scar tissue from the hysterectomy sometimes makes a colonoscopy a bit trickier. Well, it turned out that she had been chronically been losing blood from a colon cancer - and her periods added onto that pushed her into anemia. She had surgery and chemo for the colon cancer and her hysterectomy, and is back to her previous athletic lifestyle, running again. good to rule out all possible causes for anemia before blaming your diet and your period........tokie

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Originally Posted by Tokie

Hi Jiffer - just a thought - have you seen an MD about your anemia problem? Besides diet (which seems like a stretch, unless you were eating a really weird diet) and heavy periods (which you don't mention that they are especially super heavy) there can be other causes of anemia. Things to rule out (off the top of my head) bleeding from your stomach or intestines. My friend got her colonoscopy "early" (in her late 40's) because she was scheduled for a hysterectomy - for heavy bleeding and anemia - and she was an avid runner. She wanted the colonoscopy before her hyst because she knew that scar tissue from the hysterectomy sometimes makes a colonoscopy a bit trickier. Well, it turned out that she had been chronically been losing blood from a colon cancer - and her periods added onto that pushed her into anemia. She had surgery and chemo for the colon cancer and her hysterectomy, and is back to her previous athletic lifestyle, running again. good to rule out all possible causes for anemia before blaming your diet and your period........tokie

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Thanks for your concern, Tokie. I'm actually seeing a doctor tomorrow. It's very common for women cyclists to get anemic, though, so I'm pretty convinced that's all it is. You lose iron in your sweat and when you lower your food intake and still train hard, it can lead to anemia. In both instances I was losing weight and training hard and it seemed to hit suddenly (during my period). My dad and sister have trouble with their iron levels as well, so in addition to being a female cyclist losing weight, it may somehow be a hereditary thing with me. I didn't go to a doctor the first time I had trouble with this because we don't have health insurance (not for basic health car anyway, only the big stuff). I waited to see if the symptoms would go away without a doctor's visit and they did. But the weight came back and now here we are as I attempt to lose it again.

So tomorrow I'm paying $225 to see a doctor ... yikes ... plus the cost of the blood test and I have no clue what that will be. With this being the second time this has happened, I do feel I need to be more closely monitored. Rule out other issues, but also just stay monitored as to how my iron levels are. I'm actually hoping that if I get my iron levels up enough, I'll actually be stronger than I ever have been. I always tend to breath harder than every one I ride with and I wonder if it's because my iron levels are never as high as they should be (which causes shortness of breath). But I've been afraid to take too much iron because too much can be toxic.

Anyway, we'll see what the doc says. A coach I know recommended him to me, partially because he is a cyclist (the doctor). So I'm hoping he can give me good advice on if and how much I should be riding right now and when it's okay to ride harder. And he knows what to look for in the blood test, cause there are certain things my coach said they should look for because of the cycling.

sorry you don't have insurance....medical care is costly. There is a screening test for blood in you bowel movements which is much cheaper than a colonoscopy - "Stool for occult blood" ( you take home a little kit and apply small smears of poop on little paper spaces for 3 days -return it to the doctor's office where they put drops of test liquid on the back of the paper, and it turns a certain color if there is blood in it) They are actually doing a free screening at the Catholic church in my town next week. Hope it all works out ok for you. Tokie

I'm quite lucky in that I'm not affected too badly. However, the couple of days beforehand I would really rather spend on the sofa eating chocolate. My period itself is fine though, I have Mirena coil which has made my periods much much lighter, and they have been pain-free since having my daughter. I did find tampons a pain with cycling and have switched to a menstrual cup which I always forget is there.