Menopause and running

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fraggle Apr 2021 6:22pm, 10 Apr 2021 2,795 posts	0 fraggle Question for the medics - I stopped HRT before my ankle op (yesterday) and the hot flushes have been bloody awful- when can I start back on it again? Have been given no advice on it 🙄
Ness Apr 2021 6:26pm, 10 Apr 2021 14,586 posts	0 Ness I’m not a medic, Fraggle, but when I had my hip resurfacing op in 2002, I recall having to wait for two weeks after becoming fully mobile before I could restart taking the pill. Perhaps HRT is the same.
fraggle Apr 2021 6:29pm, 10 Apr 2021 2,796 posts	0 fraggle thanks Ness, I guess its the clotting risk being higher if you're immobile ?
Ness Apr 2021 6:45pm, 10 Apr 2021 14,587 posts	0 Ness I would guess that yes. I said 2002 in my previous comment. It was actually 2003. Please excuse the typo. Think I waited til I was walking unaided but was over cautious. That was about six weeks. I could be wrong about that though. I do remember I was on blood thinners/warfarin initially after my op.
run free Apr 2021 3:56pm, 11 Apr 2021 4,764 posts	0 run free My periods have stopped since December, and since then my skin has been bliddy awful (rash everywhere) and sleep totally lacking. My fitbit has given an estimate of 8-14 hours sleep a week. Coping but sometimes want to a) rip the skin apart and b) just get up instead of keeping my eyes closed for most of the night
run free Apr 2021 3:57pm, 11 Apr 2021 4,765 posts	0 run free Am now gonna trying increasing vit A, oil of primrose and cod liver oil
GimmeMedals May 2021 12:29pm, 7 May 2021 20,899 posts	0 GimmeMedals I've read through a lot of the posts on here this morning, after finally giving in and phoning my GP to see about HRT. It has been so interesting to read everyone's comments. I had a sub-total hysterectomy 20 years ago when I was 35 and was led to believe that would result in early menopause, but that didn't happen so I thought I'd got away with it. Ha ha. I started with hot flushes maybe 3 years ago, but only in certain circumstances and when under a lot of stress, so I didn't think about the cause being hormonal and didn't think to note when they were happening, so timescales are vague. Thinking back over the past 3 years or so, I've had other symptoms, but because of the lack of frequent hot flushes, I hadn't made a connection with hormones - constant tiredness and sometimes exhaustion, feeling like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders when there was no cause, my mind working overtime in the night, along with the hip and knee aches. I put it all down to my job and being overweight. Since retiring, I'm less tired, but that's because I can sleep in longer after a disturbed night. I've had hot flushes daily for about a year now and get woken a couple of times each night with night sweats. I've had the bedroom window open in sub-zero temperatures and so swing between boiling hot and freezing cold. Mr GM has been fab and devised a system of layering the bedclothes to suit every stage of the flush - a sheet, topped with a thin doubled-over bedspread and then the quilt, so I can add or remove layers in seconds as needed. Meanwhile, he has de-camped to the spare room I have a small electric fan next to me in the living room which I turn on and off as needed during the day. I've got one in the motorhome too. I had decided to put up with the hot flushes and just let nature do its thing and that has been manageable during lockdown, but now we are starting to go out, it's more debilitating. Getting a hot flush when in a queue at the supermarket whilst wearing a face mask and my glasses getting steamed up leads to feelings of anxiety. Getting nauseous and dizzy when running or walking as a wave of heat fills my head causes irritation. I won't be able to switch on a fan if we are in a pub having a meal or at a friends house when it happens. Aching hips and knees have reduced in frequency in recent months but at 5am this morning, I was woken with a painful right hip and couldn't get back to sleep. So I read the Liz Earle menopause book that I downloaded a couple of weeks ago. It answered many of my questions and dispelled certain myths. I feel a bit stupid now for thinking that HRT delayed menopause and it would all start up again when you come off it, which was a factor in my decision to put up with it now. My GP was great - she phoned within 5 minutes of me asking for an appointment, booked me in for blood tests (on 17th) and has emailed me some reading material. Apologies for the length of this post - it has ended up much longer than I anticipated when I started to write it....
Ness May 2021 12:46pm, 7 May 2021 15,058 posts	0 Ness I had thought I’d manage without going on HRT, GM. I think it was because my mum was so negative about it. Her main reason for not wanting to take in was, from what I recall, because it caused the return of menstruation and weight gain for her. I haven’t experienced that and feel so much better now I’m not getting the menopausal issues I did have.
DrPhleecingD May 2021 12:49pm, 7 May 2021 52,469 posts	0 DrPhleecingD I’m a big fan of not suffering any more than you need to, and a big fan of taking all the hormones you need to have a better quality of life. That sounds horrible GM, and I hope HRT does the trick
Ness May 2021 12:50pm, 7 May 2021 15,059 posts	0 Ness BTW, I’ve been given progesterone tablets, one a day, and oestrogen gel to apply. The tablet I take just before bedtime. I think that’s to help with sleep. Might be wrong about that bit though.