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[Chrislm]

I have been pretty seriously sporty all my life - cycling, running and rowing competitively and training to be able to do these things. I have slowed down a bit as I've got older (and work commitments have got in the way of training schedules at times), but at 50 I still cycle and run long distances and until very recently competed.

I am really interested to know how other sporty women out there are finding going through the menopause.

I started to notice things changing about a year ago. Sometimes I would feel great and would be fizzing with energy. Other times I would do a normal training session and would feel so wiped out afterwards I would have to go home and sleep.

About four months ago I started to feel really quite rubbish a lot of the time.

I struggled to breath comfortably when I was running (it was like I was suddenly unfit) and my longer training sessions started to fill me with dread. I started to sleep badly and wake in the night which would leave me drained in the morning and struggling to go out and train. I also started getting aches in my joints and muscles soreness like I have never known.

 Around the same time, I also started getting bad hot flushes and something like morning sickness.

I began taking sequential HRT just over 3 months ago (I still have fairly regular periods) and felt better almost immediately. The breathing difficulties and sore muscles and joints have disappeared and I have got my old energy levels back. The hot flushes and nausea have also stopped completely. The only thing that seems different is that I need more sleep than I did before - at least 8 hours a night, and often I could sleep longer if allowed!

One thing that has surprised me is how little information (or even on line chat) there is in the UK about the impact of menopause on sport. I found some stuff from the US and Australia, but very little in the UK.

I would love hear other women's experiences. I was surprised and (I'm sorry to say) slightly ashamed when I couldn't 'manage' my symptoms for myself. I think I had always thought that because I was fit, I would breeze through the menopause. Instead, I have been only too aware of the physical changes that my declining hormones levels have caused.

I should add that I now feel great and I am very happy indeed that I made the decision to start taking HRT. I would probably have gone into it more easily if I had been able to find out more about the impact on sporting performance. I have wondered whether sporty women are more reluctant to discuss the changes that menopause brings. Or perhaps there just aren't many sporty women talking about it!

Anyhow, if you are one, please share your experience and thoughts.

[honeybun]

Not really sporty at all but did enjoy badminton, tennis and horse riding. I really don't think just because you are fit and sporty you can expect Mother Nature to treat you any differently. Your cycle eventually will stop just like every other woman on the planet. Some float through and some just don't.

I would imagine that the fitter you are then the healthier your body will be.....but....meno does not respect that. Perhaps with the help of HRT you will be able to keep up with your fitness regime. On the other hand as an athletic person you will be used to listening to your body. If it hurts then don't do it. We all have to slow down and adjust at some point.
Is it meno or just the fact you are getting a bit older.
After all how many professional athletes go on into their late 40s and 50s.
I admire anyone who has this level of activity as I just can't anymore. Hopefully the HRT will enable you to carry on what you enjoy.

Just do what you are comfortable with and don't push too hard.


Honeyb
X

[Evenstar]

I wouldn't say I was sporty, but I have always been very active I perform in our carnivals down here every Autumn and have an 8 year old daughter that I home school, so I am constantly on the go with her.
      I am 51 and have had night sweats and flushes, although not had any for a few months now although my periods are very few and far between.
          I do find I get more aches and pains now, that's for sure and I have been very tired, but I am on antihistamines for hayfever, so it could be due to that as they do tend to make me drowsy.
       It really does seem to be that the menopause hits everyone completely differently and its impossible to compare one woman's meno journey to another.
    Sounds as if HRT is doing you good though and I'm sure being very fit must help. Hats off to you, I hope you can continue doing sports for as long as you want to. x

[Chrislm]

Thank you Honeybun and Evenstar. You are right of course! It is difficult to distinguish between the gradual process of ageing and the menopause. I am sure that some of what I am attributing to the 'change' may have been coming on slowly as I have got older. I am sure I am very tuned in to myself physically - it has been almost an obsession for so long!

Good luck to you both with your own transition

[wombat62]

Energy levels do fluctuate, I've not been a "high energy person" but have always enjoyed dance style exercise and try to keep the Zumba up! However, some days I'm like the girl in Fame and other days it's hard work.

I also have days when I don't feel any different to when I was younger and other days you get this crashing fatigue which you just can't shake off. Although I have found that sometimes the day when the fatigue hits I also feel a bit dehydrated so make sure you keep liquid levels up.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason how the M is going to affect you. My Mum had hardly anything and yet I've suffered more.

I think you just have to go with how you are feeling, take advantage of the good days and look after yourself on the bad ones!

[Chrislm]

I was particularly interested in Wombat's comments about crashing fatigue and hydration levels. I have always obsessed about hydration and I did notice that I was significantly more dehydrated over the last year, despite drinking plenty. I put it down to the Black Cohosh I had started taking to deal with my perimenopause symptoms. Now I am not so sure.

Since I have been taking HRT I have noticed that I am more dehydrated, and more tired, when I am premenstrual, but most of the time I am fine. I wonder if there is a connection between hydration, or perhaps kidney function, and hormone levels and fatigue? Again, I would be really interested to know if this is something anyone else has noticed.

I am now into my 5th month of HRT and my cardio fitness levels have gone back to where they were about 3 or 4 years ago. I think my hormone levels have been changing gradually over a few years although I hadn't really noticed how much this was affecting my fitness until it became more extreme early this year. Victoria Pendleton doesn't have anything to fear from me sadly, but I am happy that I can really enjoy pushing myself again!

[Meg]

Dear Chrislm

Although I am not sporty, I do walk an awful lot and like to keep as healthy as possible, though battling with menopause has made me feel like hell.  When you take the part of the HRT with the progestin it is probably then that you feel more tired as most women seem to experience increased tiredness and many other side-effects from progestin, I guess you are lucky to find a dose or type that is OK.  Could you share with us what type of HRT you take.  I was interested to hear that you experienced the dreaded morning nausea as this has troubled me greatly and I know that it can be relieved with HRT therapy.  If your quality of living is better on the HRT therapy and you have felt better then that is worth a lot and I am really happy that you have found an answer, as good health is worth such a lot and menopause can wreak havoc with many women and take their previously good health from them.

Good wishes with the sport.

Meg

[Chrislm]

Hi Meg

Thank you.

I am taking Elleste Duet 1 mg and it has definitely really helped the morning sickness which suddenly hit me last Christmas.

I do seem to feel a bit more tired for about a week when I am taking the pills with progesterone, although it doesn't seem to be too bad. I don't sleep quite as well. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to last the whole time I am taking them though, just the first 6 days or so and then I am ok again.

I was reluctant to take HRT (like many women seem to be) and I would prefer it if I didn't have to, but for me, without doubt, I would rather take it and maintain my fitness (and general well being) than not.

C

[KimmyH]

Hi Chris

I'm not as sporty as you, I've never done anything competitive apart from the odd 5 or 10k, but I've always exercised and currently work out 5-6 times a week including 2 sessions with a personal trainer, so I like to think I'm fairly fit and I certainly notice changes in my body. 

I'm 44 and had a hysterectomy at 41.  I took HRT for the first year after and life was great, I felt great and exercised as normal, it was as if none of the problems or surgery had ever happened.  Then I started to get the old symptoms again and discovered that the HRT was aggravating my endometriosis, so I now take nothing and I'm in full blown menopause, I get hot flushes, mood swings, VA, the lot. But the killer for me is the night sweats & interrupted sleep, I feel so tired most of the time, and I keep getting headaches which is probably due to poor sleep.  Although I do find exercise helps to stave off the headaches. 

Like you there are days where I really don't think I'll make it to the end of a workout, and I've also had recent issues with breathing when running.  It's almost like I've become asthmatic, my throat feels like it's closing up and I start to wheeze.  I've never been asthmatic and never experienced this until a couple of years ago.   

I'd like to think I'm still a little young for the fatigue to be due to age, but I guess it's a combination of both. 

Glad to hear the HRT is working for you, if I could go back on it I'd jump at the chance.

Kim

[Chrislm]

Hi Kim

I am sorry that you are having to deal with this and you are definitely too young to be fatigued from age. It is almost certainly your hormones.

A friend of mine has had endometriosis for many years and was taking the pill to manage the symptoms until she turned 54 this year. She is now taking a low dose HRT preparation, Premique which she says is working very well for her. Is there any chance that you could try another type?

Interesting to hear that your breathing has been affected too. I have never been asthmatic either but it does feel like asthma when it s at its worst!

Good luck and I really hope you can carry on running. Feeling good about yourself is so important.

C