Help me, perimenopausal women!

[shewhobikes]

Sorry, I think I might have posted this twice, under the diva cup thread, but my brain is addled due to...below.

OK, so I am getting a diva cup tomorrow and hoping to figure it out before I do the MS150 ride in Florida in 2 weeks.

Sorry if this is TMI, but I am in a bad way with cramps and heavy bleeding off and on for most of 2 weeks now, after not having a period since December. Yes, I've talked to the doc and yes, I've had all the requisite tests (endometrial biopsy--YOUCH!!!--blood work, etc., etc.). And I'm taking my vitamins and slow-release iron.

I was hoping to do the full 150--75 on that Saturday on my bike, 75 on Sunday with my sweetie on the tandem--but I guess I will just have to let Mother Nature fill me in on what's possible at the time.

I guess I'm just discouraged. I've ridden well all summer, including LOTS of climbing on a weeklong trip in Vermont, and now I've not felt like riding for 2 weeks.

OK, I will get off the pity pot and see if anybody has any suggestions or encouragement. I'm 51 years young, been riding 2.5 years, put 2,500 miles on the bike each year, and now I'm frustrated and a bit bummed out...

Thanks!

[Starfish]

I'm not completely clear on what would keep you from doing the ride?

Is it sheer pain from cramps that have you doubled over? Is it the sheer volume of flow? Edited To Add: Or is it that you have been bleeding for 2 weeks, thus weakened, etc?

I have done 60-80 mile rides with a heavy period, although of course have no way to compare your symptoms/tolerance levels to mine?

Maybe describe exactly what part makes you unsure you can do the ride?

[KnottedYet]

My little "events" have been extraordinarily heavy and extraordinarily short. I've gotten by on the bike with "overnight" pads.

At least everything stays in place with lycra, and shorts are black...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I would just use some heavy duty tampons and change them every two hours or so. Personally, there's no way I could ride long miles on top of a thick pad.
Tuck a few fresh tampons in your jersey pocket or in your waistband if you dont have a saddlebag.
If you use a diva cup, then use that ...if you can judge how often you'd need to empty it, and have figured out the logistics of perhaps having to do that in a porta-potty.

If you have bad cramps take something for that in as low a dose as you can get by with. I'd also use a very thin panty liner in case the tampons leaked a bit. And remember to tuck the tampon string inside while riding- you don't want to be riding with that string shifting around the outside.
Drink lots of healthy juice the day before and the morning of your ride to start out well hydrated.

[OakLeaf]

NBD emptying the Diva Cup in a portajohn. Just have a little bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket. And maybe another little bottle of KY if you're dry and need to wash the cup just to lube it for insertion. You can get some of those little 1/4-1/2 oz screwtop jars (Walgreen's has them as pill organizers, or The Container Store has them in the travel department) for a pocket- and travel- friendly size container for your KY, chamois cream, facial moisturizer or hair gel for travel, whatever.

You can feel when the Diva Cup is full and starting to seep... just like a tampon. I wouldn't worry about judging that.

The main issue I have with mine is how big it is. I had a much better time with the latex rubber one - don't remember what they used to call it - until the dog ate it The Diva Cup puts a lot of pressure on my bladder. So I wind up having to empty *that* more often than the cup. But I know a lot of women love theirs, and mine's not so bad I don't use it.

Funny how this perimenopause thing works I hadn't had a "real" period in a couple of years - then we take our last trip to Europe and I'm bleeding like an 18 year old. Funky Italian tampons long and skinny, just like the women.

[Over50Newbie]

Just to let you know that at age 51, my periods were SOOOO heavy, that it got to the point that I could barely leave my house. I would soak through an overnight pad in about 30 minutes. I was going through a box of overnight pads every day. It was terrible.

I finally elected to have an endometrial ablation. It is an outpatient procedure that only took an hour to perform.

It changed my life!

I would highly recommend researching it on the Internet and also asking your ob/gyn about it.

I now live a normal life with my ovaries and uterus still intact. So much better than a hysterectomy!

Just thought I would share...

Lynette

[emily_in_nc]

I am 46 and just had two "normal for me" (i.e., heavy and crampy, but not extreme) periods within 15 days of each other, with full and sore breasts all the way between the two bleeding cycles. I have never had two periods so close together in my life, so I wasn't thrilled, to say the least.

I asked my doc about this at my annual physical last week, and she said "welcome to perimenopause". Ugh! She said to keep tabs on it and if it continued (the frequent periods), she'd do some testing (ultrasound and endometrial biopsy, which I'd much rather avoid), but in the meantime, such things are just part of peri-time. If this continues for awhile, I'd definitely consider (and suggest to her) an endometrial ablation, so long as it's covered by my health insurance and not considered just a "convenience" procedure. Or BCPs. Anything not to bleed all the time. It's a real pain in the patootie when you bike, run, hike, sail, etc. etc. as I do.

shewhobikes, I wouldn't want to change a Diva cup in a porta-john, as I really, really need to wash my hands after dumping it out if I am at the heavy part of my cycle. I mean, scrub under my nails and everything. Hand sanitizer just wouldn't do it. And especially since you haven't been using one before, there is a learning curve (at least there was for me) inserting it and getting it seated properly, removing it, etc. -- you don't need that extra worry during your MS-150. With my luck, I'd drop it down into the hole, and then what!?

I'd go with Super Plus tampons and just change at every porta-john, if necessary. I have no problem riding while taking ibuprofen or Aleve, so you might consider that if you are cramping.

Best of luck to you. I sure do feel for you. If I am still bleeding heavily and at great length in five years (your age) I will be running to my doctor begging for mercy!

Emily

[shewhobikes]

I'm not completely clear on what would keep you from doing the ride?

Is it sheer pain from cramps that have you doubled over? Is it the sheer volume of flow? Edited To Add: Or is it that you have been bleeding for 2 weeks, thus weakened, etc?

I have done 60-80 mile rides with a heavy period, although of course have no way to compare your symptoms/tolerance levels to mine?

Maybe describe exactly what part makes you unsure you can do the ride?

Sort of all of the above:cramps, heavy flow (like changing a super tampon and pad every hour, sometimes more) and thus I haven't been on the bike, so I'm losing strength as well as iron, I imagine (though I am now taking a slow release iron pill, so that should help.

[shewhobikes]

shewhobikes, I wouldn't want to change a Diva cup in a porta-john, as I really, really need to wash my hands after dumping it out if I am at the heavy part of my cycle. I mean, scrub under my nails and everything. Hand sanitizer just wouldn't do it. And especially since you haven't been using one before, there is a learning curve (at least there was for me) inserting it and getting it seated properly, removing it, etc. -- you don't need that extra worry during your MS-150. With my luck, I'd drop it down into the hole, and then what!?
Emily

Yikes! Hadn't thought about all that. OK, I'll get a diva and practice some, but mayabe stick with super tampons for the ride. Thanks, Emily. And yeah, if this keeps up I will talk to doc about ablation,
Dale

[Bad JuJu]

I, too, went through a few months of periods so heavy I was often afraid to leave my house. My doc did all the usual tests, determined I had multiple fibroid tumors in my uterus (I'd had a large one removed surgically when I was in my late 20s), and put me on a very low dose birth control pill for a few months until my perimenopausally-crazy hormone levels changed. After that, I started into menopause proper, which had its own craziness, but was never bad enough that I needed medication.

Anyway, just a thought.

[Zen]

If you want to know more about ablation, read about the Novasure procedure