Perimenopause and Endurance Athletes
So, after another sleepless night, I think I may be perimenopausal. I’ve noticed a pattern of depression before my period, which is out of sync with how I normally feel. I had noticeable heart palpitations a few months ago, and have been getting hot at night sometimes.
To be honest I don’t really want to admit to it, because, well, the word menopausal has many negative connotations to me. Maybe I just don’t want to admit that I’m getting older, just yet; However I also know that until I accept this part of myself then I’m not going to be feeling more positive any time soon!
During the last few months, I have found that there is information for women out there, but as symptoms can be so different. I could attribute my feelings and symptoms to so many other things. It feels a bit like being in the dark. I have talked to friends about it, and we all feel a little bit confused.
Symptoms of perimenopause can vary but here are a few of them
- Changing periods – length of cycle, duration of period
- Hot flushes
- Night sweats
- Insomnia
- Fatigue – tiredness or a loss of zest
- Anxiety, mood swings, irritability and depression
- A feeling of being invisible and a loss of confidence
- Decreased libido or sex drive
- Vaginal dryness
- Breast tenderness
- Bloating
- Increased PMS
- Urinary leakage or urgency
- Aches and pains in muscles and joints
- Heart palpitations
What to do?
The last few months I have found myself in a very dark place, at times, and its hard to know what to do about it. Standard advice for perimenopausal women is to get your nutrition right, exercise, get enough sleep etc, but there is not much information out there for women who are already doing these things, and who are also training for endurance events. The standard advice of exercising may not be the best option here. If you are training a lot, then your stress levels may be raised, so it might not actually be the best thing for someone who is already pushing themselves close to their limits.
It may be more beneficial to incorporate a bit more recovery, and some strength work at this time in your life. You can watch my FaceBook live that goes in to more detail by clicking below.
A lot of information is also for menopausal women, who have already stopped their periods. So what happens in-between? It seems to be a kind of no mans land, possibly because everyone is so different in how they experience this transition. It makes it difficult to study. There is no way of knowing if you are perimenopausal, as the tests that can detect it are based on hormone levels, which fluctuate throughout the month anyway.
Future research
It would be interesting to see some research in this area, but I’m pretty sure that perimenopausal women and endurance are not going to be the focus of many scientific studies in the near future. Talking about it can help us to realise that we are not the only ones going through it, and may help you to feel supported. I’d be interested to hear anyone else’s experience during this time, so feel free to get in touch if you have any ideas or information that you want to share.
If you’re looking for some more resources I have listed a few below, and you can read about my experience at a race when I was suffering with symptoms here
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