Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: Lucky Stone on May 04, 2012, 06:16:18 PM
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My GP has said in the past that tiredness is a meno symptom but honestly .... yesterday afternoon I went out to help OH in the garden as we were burning the top dressing off a tree. It took about 5 hours of trudging up and down the garden with heavy bits of branch, dodging the bonfire flames to get them on and then the clearing up. After about 2 hours I was tired but it had to be finished and I didn't want to desert him so I plodded on, literally at the end. I felt exhausted. Bed at 10 and slept through but today I've felt awful, just completely washed out, bit like when I have a migraine. I know I overdid it but it worries me that I can be SO tired after what was really an afternoon in the garden. Does anyone else get this tired? :-X I'm only 50 and feel I should be able to physically cope better than this. >:(
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Well, I wouldn't call 5 hours of trudging up and down the garden with heavy bits of branch, dodging the bonfire flames to get them on and then the clearing up just an afternoon in the garden!! :o
Unless you're used to regular physical exercise, I'd say that it's natural that you'd be tired after that; I know that I would be!
Bette x
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Hi Lucky Stone,
meno exhaustion can be excrutiating but I have to agree with Bette here - 5 hrs for anyone doing heavy work in the garden is some serious (and tiring) exercise!
Have an early night tonight and hopefully you will feel much better over the weekend :)
xx
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Tiredness is very normal in meno. All your work in garden sounds pretty strenuous to me . I seem to tire more easily now so it must be a meno symptom.
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5 hours of gardening! Well done you I say! I used to be knackered after 1 hour! Meno tiredness is not uncommon though. It can wipe you out. You've probably done too much and may take a couple of days to recuperate. Chill over the weekend and I'm sure you'll feel much better. :)
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hi Luckystone, i use to get very tired and feel unwell with it, however since going onto HRT i feel i have got my energy back again tenfold.
I would strongly agree with the other ladies that was heavy gardening i am not surprised you were exhausted.
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Crumbs, it sounds like you've had a really busy day in the garden. Sometimes I feel exhausted getting out of bed in the morning! I know what you mean though. I went for a 3 mile walk with a friend yesterday and my back suddenly started to hurt badly when I was walking uphill. I had to sit down and recover for a while. I am finding I have to pace myself more, when I never even thought about it 2 years ago. I am 50 years like you and was quite fit! :) I find if I have had a particularly active day, I can feel wiped out the following day, especially at work, as I have an active job. Its really annoying!
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Dear Lucky Stone
I know just how you feel. I am fifty-seven. I never thought that after fifty when I really felt menopause hit me really hard that my physical strength would diminish. The thing is I now feel that I have to work harder than ever. I am working in a physically demanding part-time job and I am worried that I no longer have the stamina. My sleep is terrible. I could once drop off at a reasonable time but now it is the early hours and I can wake in the night abruptly with sweating. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed as if I cant cope. I am also a wife and mother and cant say that I have had the support that I would really like through all of this. I am sure there are thousands of other women 'in the same boat' silently struggling on. Five hours work in the garden is gruelling but you were trying to help your OH which was highly commendable. Yes we feel wiped out more easily and yes it must be down to the hormones. Loads of women over fifty are struggling with their sleep, sweating, the emotional rollercoaster ride, panic etc. We are expected to be carers to grandchildren, the elderly, our families, no wonder we are under strain and many worried about their finances too. Sorry to ramble on but sending empathy.
Meg
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I suppose it is a combination of lowering hormones and getting older. Sleep problems don't help. I always wake up about 3 times a night now, hot, but try not to worry about it and go back to sleep. Some mornings I feel as if i have been to an all night party but without any of the fun!!! :D Hormones are on a roller coster. Just hoping that it all settles down, once the periods stop and the hormones settled down to a lower level. My sister who is 57 felt bad for a while, but now she has been through it, she feels well, apart from the fact she had to have a hysterectomy last month due to fibroids! She's kept her ovaries and managing well without any meds! She stopped her periods at 54. She walks to work every day, which must be at least 1 mile!
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We are getting older so physical strength will diminish both for men and women. 57 is not young. We may feel young but we aren't. Unless we work hard on keeping our muscles strong they will naturally waste. Things such as pilates and yoga and, the recommendation of my fibromyalgia consultant, tai chi, all help to keep our strength and our suppleness.
Lucky Stone - five hours of this type of work is an amazing achievement. One word of caution though - I have learnt to my cost that after a certain age you must be careful with lifting heavy things. I always protected my back but forgot about the prolapse risk. We think of our men and the possibility of getting hernias but forget about the way our own bodies are made up. Before you lift pull up your pelvic floor as much as possible. Sorry - a bit off topic there but I am trying to spread the word! :D
Taz x
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I agree with you Taz, suddenly aches and pains start and its important to keep ourselves fit with exercise and diet. We do have to pay more attention to our bodies, telling us when it is enough! I was recently diagnosed with mild arthritis in my right shoulder and bursitis, so have started using my left arm more to open car doors etc! :( X
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Isn't it funny how we see everyone else getting older but it's never going to happen to us? :) Sorry about your shoulder Pixie - hope that it isn't too painful.
taz x
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Hi Taz, Thanks it seems to be getting better slowly, but doesn't help as always very active! Some of my friends are going walking up Snowdonia over 24 hours and they are all 'getting on a bit'. I imagine there will be a few casualties, can't think of anything more exhausting. When we all get through this, we should treat ourselves to some pottering about in India, like 'The Exotic Marigold Hotel'. Its a feel good film about older folk being adventurous and brave :)
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Meno tiredness,oh yes...know that one.
I now have to plan that the day after a gig i will be a knackered zombie, aching all over like i just did the gym...even if i get a lie in to catch up on sleep I am still worn out next day :'(
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How on earth to the ageing rockers do it?
Taz x :crutch:
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Ah well....for a start they have roadies and spa treatments...lol
not like us semi pros who load and unload, drive there and back, set up, take down all ourselves AND strutt about onstage for 2 hours in between....lol
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From where I am, I see 57 as being very young! Don't waste these precious years feeling old. Age is only a number. I had worse fibro in late fifties and oddly it is better post meno so maybe that is why I don't see a necessarily downhill progression of aging.
I just read my post and not sore it makes much sense.
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No, it does make sense, Trey! It's easy for us to panic and assume that the problems we're having now will automatically get worse, when we may well find that they actually improve or, at least, don't continue to worsen (especially meno-related ones.)
Bette x
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I think after 5 hours in the garden you should have a :medal:. I would have found that tiring ten years ago when I was in my early 40s.
I find I can do physical things albeit slower than before...it just takes longer to get over it now. I try to pace myself and no longer feel guilty having a break and putting my feet up for a little while.
I really thought that at nearly 52 I would be doing less but it has not worked out that way. My son left home for a year so that meant less washing etc.......he then moved back in and is now in a job that requires a clean shirt every day and as he works really long hours I am back to having more stuff to do. My mother is nearly 90 and is needing more help all the time. Heaven only knows when I get to sit back and say......now its my time......I will probably be too old to enjoy it by then ::)
Honeyb
x
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Maybe have a cup of tea and a break :Devery so often, during the gardening! Mind you, I would be up and down to the toilet then istead!! I don't know how these ageing rockers do it Taz, especially Keith Richards! My mum is good at 80years. She has osteoporosis, a toe amputated, a toe straightened, life threatening illness in the past and she still manages to walk to town and back every day - 1 mile. She's more fit than I am. X
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Thats great, I know an old lady of 98years that still goes gambling in the casino in Bournemouth once a week! :D
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What i can't understand about excercise is that they tell us it is good for us and to keep fit and active and you will hopefully live to a ripe old age, well look at mr tortoise he can live to well past his 100's and you don't see him dashing about. I say take it easy. ;)
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Yes that makes sense about the tortoise! They keep telling us that 40 in the new 60 etc. When I was a child, everyone of my age had a blue rinse. Theres a bloke I know who is 63 and goes windsurfing, plays in a band nearly every night and did a bungee jump on his birthday. He has a bad back and heart problems yet does all this! I can't help admiring him, getting on with his life like this. :D
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Can't thank everyone enough for the posts :D I was still a bit tired yesterday but today I feel back to normal. We've been here about 8 years and when we moved in, I did a lot of this stuff i.e. burning bits of tree, hauling things around the garden and I don't ever recall feeling that bad afterwards. But hey, it's 8 years!! I did stop for the odd sit down but it was only a couple of minutes at a time so I suppose it wasn't enough. And good point about the pelvic floor thingies, something my late aunt used to remind me about.
Makes you laugh, though! If I could afford the cost (which I can't), I've always wanted to walk to the South Pole. We're talking about 60 days on the polar plateau hauling a sledge weighing in excess of 10 stones, not to mention erecting and dismantling the tent etc. After my tree hauling, I commented to OH that, finance or not, that ambition will now never be realised :( Shame :)
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Hi Lucky stone
I just read your post about exhaustion - havent been online for ages - and I totally symapthise. Its hellish. I am 58 - oops no I mean 59, as of last week - and I could sometimes sleep all day. BTw I think 5 hours in the garden is a tad excessive. Imagine 5 hours of any exercise - you would be done in! I can go to bed at 1 am and get up around 10 - have breakfast and could still go back to bed for a few hours. And thats without any hours in the garden.
Hope you recovered from your marathon gardening session and my advice is - hire a gardener next time and stay indorors with a mug of coffee and a good book
PG
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Hi palmagirl - Snap I was 59 last week - agree 5 hours hard gardening is a lot Lucky Stone and well done for doing it!
However I never think in terms of "Oh now I am 50-something so getting old so can't do so much". I think in terms of I'm a bit more sedentary than I used to be therefore I get more tired when i do physical exercise. When I make the effort and go walking ( even if only 30 mins) most days and attend fitness class - my energy levels increase so can cope with more. I just put it down to the more you do the more you can do. I need to get off my .... and be more active ( but being self-employed part of my day is on the comp at home).
However still feel exhausted next day after the strenuous body conditioning class I go to but am using muscles to extreme that I don't normally use. So I feel the same after gardening - but more like 2 hours. I should do more.
I absolutely agree with whoever said on the thread 50s is young - I do not feel old at all!!
No need to overdo it all in one go - just gradually get fitter.
HRT definitley helpos - it is positive feedback - makes you feel less tired ( and more sleep) so you do more, and the more you do (activity) the better you feel ( endorphins kicking in).
Having said that I love the feeling of exhaustion that comes from physical exercise because I know it;s done my body good and it is proper exhaustion ( unlike from lack of sleep which makes you feel cheated..). As long as you give your body time to rest if you overdo it a bit - until more used to it - then it can only be good ( of course making sure you don't strain your back etc).
Bit of a ramble but hope you can see what I mean.....
Hurdity x
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I think exhaustion is all part of the lousy deal! I can carry on for a few weeks and then have a day of utter collapse when even getting up to make a cuppa wears me out and I shuffle around the house with the shakes like a 90 year old. Have had blood tests - all normal so it has to be a meno symptom.
Oh for the luxury of being able to have a day in bed (lol)
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I have been decorating since the weekend and boy...........did I start feeling it last night - felt as though my insides are going to drop out (the feeling of when you know a period is about to start!!!) - I think I have started my prolapse off again as I am achy so much down below and my lower back too - was also doing the normal housey things in between painting......you know.........washing, cooking tidying up ???
Today I am taking it a little easier - casserole in the oven for dinner later, made Panetonne for hubby, his favourite, done the washing and now sorting through all my mags an taking out the interesting pages and recipes - magazines all over the lounge floor - but it is good to get rid of ones I no longer need :)
Oh joy ???
Feeling tired today, but at the moment can cope with it - I think it is the withdrawal from my HRT too that is kicking in now :(
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I just want to say that if you have a prolapse and you have stopped HRT then this can worsen rapidly - I know because it happened to me and I didn't give it a thought before I came off it.
Taz x :(
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Yes Taz - I know you are right as the feeling as come on ten-fold this past week - I think I may have to go back to have a word with the Dr and see if there is another HRT I can try - I just don't like the constant bleeds but then I cannot have this awful feeling down below either - it is now driving me mad - my core muscles are shot anyway since having my anterior repair 3 yrs ago - I feel like a 90 yr old - just constant aching :(
Fed up with all this - I may ask to be referred to a gynae as this is now getting me down - it has never been right since my op - but no-one will listen :(
I am getting paranoid now that I have something sinister going on :'(
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Have you had a look at this forum Cheeky http://www.hysterectomy-association.org.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=56 There are lots of women who have one op only to find that another is then needed so you are not alone and this is what I am sure will happen to me too - hyster for womb prolapse and then more prolapsing after of the other organs >:(
I think that you would benefit from trying another HRT - sorry but I don't know which one you were on before?
Taz x
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Hi Hurdity
I am just back from a city break holiday - and walked about for 5 hours! Honest to god after all my advice to Luckystone about doing exercise fr 5 hours too. But the point of this post isnt to talk about exhaustion - altho hubby and I were quite tired after all the trudging about - its to confess that I wore STUPID SHOES on the walk and have ruined my poor old tendons. And me with a chirop appt next Tuesday! Normally I would wear good supportive sandals like my Merrill ones that I left at home. This time I was to be seen wearing light sandshoe things Convers I think they are. At 59 I now know without a doubt that I cannot ever do this again. Heels toes and the side of my calves are throbbing. I know what you are saying about the positive mindset of staying active when you are in your 50s - and I do. But correct footwear is A MUST ladies. Apologies to all you ladies who already know this
PG
X
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Hi Taz & Susan,
I was on Elestte Solo 1mg tab for 5 months - came off as I kept having bleeds and my last one would not stop - had 5 days of bleed then constant spotting, it lasted for nearly 3 weeks, until I stopped the tablet!
I was on Elestte Solo patch before - again I kept having constant bleeds, plus headaches, nausea and generally feeling like yuck, so came off the patch for 2 months before the doctor wanted me to try the 1mg tablet (as my other symptoms came back - flushes, irritability, moods etc). I have to say HRT does make me feel much better in myself!
I hate going to my GP as they do not seem bothered with the whole Menopause/HRT thing! >:(
Thanks girls x
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Isn't that an oestrogen only HRT? Which progesterone were you using Cheeky?
Taz x
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Hi Taz & Susan,
Yes it is Oestrogen only!
I have the Mirena for the progesterone! X
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I have started using my Kegel Machine again today- I cannot remember the last time I used it 😞
I remember my physio saying that if I was suffering I was to use it and ramp it up! Funny how you don't remember things until you are feeling at your worse - I can but try!
So going back to basics 😉
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Hi Susan,
I was put on Vagifem a year after my op by the physio I was referred to by my consultant - I had just started HRT then too - a couple of months later we moved to a different county and my new GP took me off it as she said I was having far too much eostrogen and it was not healthy - I tried to explain to her that I was only to use it to try and strengthen my muscles for a while!
It has been a nightmare here with the GP's since I moved!
But........I do have about 5 boxes of Vagifem as I stored them - so I could always revert back to them for a a few weeks to see if it helps ;)
I do desperately need to lose a couple of stone to, but it is getting me down as I want to exercise but this feeling down below gets me down - but I am going to start the exercise bike to strengthen me a little - plus I have a pelvic floor dvd too to start to try and strengthen those a little more too! To be honest I have been very lazy this past year to not helped myself at all! And.....as I am a hands on lady and when I have a project I stick with it - so have been doing lots of decorating and housey things since we moved - I really do not do myself any favours, but I am not a woman who can just sit about, I have to keep myself busy ???
I have done my Kegels these past couple of nights and I have to say, they are helping a little - so I will keep this up everynight for about a month then see how they are and maybe drop to a couple of nights a week as I will do my dvd too!
Oh.......as you say, it is soooooooo easy to forget to keep things going when you are feeling good - then as you say......whoosh.............it hits you like a brick!!!!!!!!
I will get there..........eventually xxxxxxx
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H cheeky - I stored some Vagifem but it went out of date really quickly. :(
With the pelvic floor exercises they have to be done everyday and it can take a good three months for any real difference to be noticed. It is best to get a programme set for you by a pelvic floor specialist nurse but as this is probably not available to you then a regime of ten long, slow pull ups with a ten second hold at the end of each pull up at least ten times a day will start you off. You should also do quick "winks" of the pelvic floor - pull it up quickly and sharply five times at the end of every set of ten long holds. What type of prolapse do you have?
Taz x
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Taz - yes I have my re-training regime for manual pelvic floors and Kegel programme from my previous physio, so I have started that again - I will do my Kegel machine (well it is actually Neurotrac Machine, recommended again by my physio) for the next 3 months and hopefully this will get it back on track again - it does feel very different these past 2 days since using the machine than it has for the past week - thank goodness! I had an Anterior Muscle Repair with TVT Sept 2008! My muscles have been so weak since the op - I went back to my consultant a yr after my op to get checked out and he said they were very, very weak so hence he referred me to a phyisotherpaist who dealt with Pelvic disorders! ::)
Susan - not sure if the Vagi helped or not really as I was not on it long enough as the GP when I moved took it off my repeat and frightened me to death when she said I was getting too much oestrogen due to me being on the patch too! ???
Mrs P - yes I must check the date on my packs, but a GP friend of mine has told me before that drugs/medication etc will still work after the sell by date - the manufacturers put it on there to cover themselves ;)
Thanks ladies, just off now to check the use by date!!! xxxxxxx
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not sure if the Vagi helped or not really as I was not on it long enough as the GP when I moved took it off my repeat and frightened me to death when she said I was getting too much oestrogen due to me being on the patch too! And is this the same gp who refused to refer you to a meno clinic because she couldn't see what they'd do for you which she couldn't?! Well, get their facts straight for a start!!!! :beat: :bang: :rant:
Bette x
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Hi Bette - no it was the first practice that I went to when I first moved area - I never went back after that consultation, then registered at the practice that I am still with now - but this practice did give me the Vagifem again, prescribed by the nurse practitioner (as I took my letter from my physio in Oxfordshire explaining why I needed to be on the Vagifem) - but when I went to see the GP (who was the senior partner) when I was struggling with my HRT, he again took me off it saying that I did not need it as I was getting the oestrogen from the HRT - but he was terrible with any information regarding HRT, so I went to the female GP there, who is the one who told me she would not refer me to the menopause clinic as they could not do anything different that she could do!!!!!!!! :o
My stored Vagifem (I have 5 boxes of 15) runs out in 2013, so another year left to use them!
Thanks girls for all your replies xxxxxxx
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Hi All,
Think I am in the same position as Jax. I also am a stage performer and after a gig (like last night) the following day I feel lousy. Tired, sick and fit for nothing but vegging on the sofa!