"Menopausal" symptoms causing issues with exercising

[Catrin]

What the others said, you are not too young. Agreed that it is good your doc recognized it for what it was, no unnecessary wild tests or stressors from worrying about what might be going in. I had a full hysterectomy (including ovaries) in 2008 at 48, and from what I can tell I've NEVER had one real hot flash. At least not as I've heard them described, and I've never taken hormones of any kind. I do get a little, and I do mean a little, warm occasionally at night but it is very minor. No sweating or anything. I've the hopes that since I've no estrogen - that I can't get an estrogen based cancer. Given my mom's history that is a comforting thought - don't disabuse me of that notion if it is incorrect

[shootingstar]

No, you are not! I started having peri symptoms in my late 30s . They abated for a couple of years, but by the time I was 45 I was in the throes of it. I was 48 when I had my last period, but for the 2 years before, I went 11 months without one, had one, and then stopped again for 11 months, and had a final one in June 2002. My mom had died by then, but I knew she was suffering with symptoms all through her late 40s and stopped at age 50. My aunt said she stopped cold at age 46, with no symptoms or warning.
What scares me, is that around here, many people don't even consider having kids until they are 35, 40, or 42. While I never wanted more than 2 kids, I would have been very close to the age where I started having problems if I had had a third. While I don't endorse having kids at a super young age, I had enough problems having my two at age 29 (well 3 weeks before my birthday) and 31.5. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had waited until 35.

A sister of mine had her first child @40 yrs. She has 2 now -both healthy. She attests that she has less energy in general now compared to late 20's or so. As a doctor, she knew the risks that she was taking.

I'm amazed by some folks here who had perimenopause symptoms..kind of young. Wow.

[thekarens]

Wow! I appreciate the stories and perspective. I guess with my sister being 52 and my mom being late 40s when she had a hysterectomy for extreme bleeding I thought I'd have a few more years.

Frankly, I think this is what was happening to me in March. I went to the gyn for extreme breast pain and they found a lump, so I attributed the pain to that (they eventually found 2 more lumps in my other breast, which they believe all are benign.) I'm thinking now the pain was due to the perimenopause.

[zoom-zoom]

Perimenopause typically starts any time after a person's mid-30s. At 42 I've had stupidly short cycles for almost a decade. Regular, but 21-25 days, typically. Just in the past year or two I've started battling hot flashes and unexplained muscle aches (yesterday everything from my lower-back and down woke me at 5AM, in spite of the fact that I hadn't even worked-out the previous day). I suspect my system could be ready to shut down in another 5 years or so...at least I hope.

And the peeing thing...serious PITA. I deal with that, too, in spite of the fact that I also retain water terribly. That has been an issue for me since my pregnancy with my son. He's 14, so I've been very edemic for 15 years. Because of the kid I also have a slow leak of my bladder.

[OakLeaf]

Ugh, 21 day cycles, bleh.

Mine were super irregular for like the last 6 or 7 years before they finally stopped. Sometimes two weeks, sometimes nine. I went through more pregnancy tests ...

[ny biker]

I've had a few discussions recently with another woman about planning bike routes that include frequent enough potty breaks for some of the older men in the group. She tends to think it's not really that important of an issue since they can just find a tree somewhere, but I've maintained that we never know when other folks on a group ride might need to stop more often. This thread is providing some good information and validating my efforts to find bathrooms in some areas where they tend to be few and far between -- I've spent more than a few hours studying online maps in search of stores and gas stations and then driving around to visit them and confirm whether they have public restrooms or not. Of course part of my motivation is that sometimes I have an off day and need to stop more than normal, but it's useful to know that there might be one or two silent sufferers in the group, or women who look at the route in advance and decide they can't join the ride due to infrequent stops.

[zoom-zoom]

I've had a few discussions recently with another woman about planning bike routes that include frequent enough potty breaks for some of the older men in the group. She tends to think it's not really that important of an issue since they can just find a tree somewhere, but I've maintained that we never know when other folks on a group ride might need to stop more often. This thread is providing some good information and validating my efforts to find bathrooms in some areas where they tend to be few and far between -- I've spent more than a few hours studying online maps in search of stores and gas stations and then driving around to visit them and confirm whether they have public restrooms or not. Of course part of my motivation is that sometimes I have an off day and need to stop more than normal, but it's useful to know that there might be one or two silent sufferers in the group, or women who look at the route in advance and decide they can't join the ride due to infrequent stops.

And women like me who prefer bib shorts! I'm not above dropping and going behind a shrub when out for a run, but on the bike it requires disrobing almost entirely.

[zoom-zoom]

Ugh, 21 day cycles, bleh.

Mine were super irregular for like the last 6 or 7 years before they finally stopped. Sometimes two weeks, sometimes nine. I went through more pregnancy tests ...

I had one oddball stretch recently with a longer cycle (26 days...still short by most people's definition), followed by an 11 day cycle. But I blame it on fat loss wonkiness, as I dropped ~16#s in the first 3 months of the year. Now I'm back to 23-24 days, on average.

[emily_in_nc]

I typically have to stop to pee about an hour into a morning ride, and have attributed that to my morning coffee habit, not menopause (I am post-menopausal at age 54), but could be a bit of both. Once I pee once, I'm good for the rest of the ride, typically, even if it lasts 3-4 hours. It's a pain to have to plan rides around that one pee stop. DH never has to stop that soon, it seems. We especially had a problem last summer when we were in Walla Walla, WA for 2.5 months. Most of the routes we came up with had a pee stop 1.5 to 2 hours in, and there was very little privacy/cover along the way to stop before that. I did finally locate one port-a-john, which saved me several times. But often I'd have to change up the route to get to one of the very few rest rooms (at a city park) that was even a possibility in the largely rural area in a timely fashion.

I just wish there were more public rest rooms everywhere!

[OakLeaf]

I just wish there were more public rest rooms everywhere!

Hear, hear!

About a mile from me there's an elementary school, and a community baseball league plays there, so from April through September there are a couple of portajohns set up between the road and the school building. There are ALWAYS people using those toilets - semi drivers, people in company cars driving on business, even cops. I don't know what all those people do when it isn't baseball season. Even the parks close their restrooms out of season, since they're unheated; one of the municipal parks in a neighboring town sets up a portajohn in winter, but just that one.

[Crankin]

My friend Brant has a whole Facebook album devoted to porta potties. Really. Me, I am not fascinated and I have no problem going behind a bush. However, most of the riding I do is not that rural. There are lots of porta potties around here. However, there is one playground in Acton that is no longer used for baseball and last year they did not put the porta potty there. This was a stop on our bike rally ride... we called the town and they brought it out. It's not back yet this year, though.
I limit my coffee on days that i have a long ride. Usually I pee every hour, all morning, and obviously, can't do that on a ride. However, as I said before, something happens to my body on long rides. Yesterday, I rode for over 3 hours, almost 50 miles and I only went once, at the lunch stop. I barely went when I got back. I am not dehydrated, it's clear and all that, but it takes about 2 hours after I get home, and then I start going more. It's like my system shuts down.

[Marian]

I use depends pads when I ride. I know every possible place to stop on my route, and I make the stop even if I do not have to go real bad.

[VerRobinson]

Menopause symptoms include irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, sleep difficulties, and irritability. Menopause treatments may include hormone replacement therapy or herbal.I would suggest you to try some ayurvedic ways like making use of hot bags, specific yoga exercises , proper and healthy life style. Also try to use coupelle menstruelle during periods, so that you don't have to change it at least till 12 hours, and your menstrual hygiene is also properly maintained.