Personal Stuff, part II - growing older.

I've hinted at it yesterday: Other health issues. During the last two or so years, I've had some troubles that all seemed more or less unrelated, and that were all sort of not so bad that they'd merit a visit at some doctor's, and too squishy to really pinpoint them. However, they were gradually getting worse.

It started when we were doing a bit of strength training during the second lockdown, as the pandemic was still causing things to be cancelled - which resulted, for me, not in a strength gain, but in joint problems instead. Those got better with less training, but there was still a rather persistent niggle, and it was very easy for me to overload or overstress them. (Also made my motivation for strength training take a very, very steep nosedive.)

There was also the weight gain, not really quick but still a good bit more noticeable than in the years before. My hair stopped growing, there was more hair loss, and the braid became shorter and shorter as well. I had dry eyes, and a dry mouth.

And then... more joint pains, and muscle pains. Tender knees, tender hips, tender fingers. I got the impression that in spite of bouldering regularly, I lost strength instead of gaining it (or even just maintaining), and when trying to do a bit more, it quickly resulted in... more pain, due to overstressing something. Plus I got more and more depressed, and things just looked ever bleaker. This all got worse over time, and I was really at a loss as to what was going on.

Until I finally, in a stroke of sheer and pure luck, I listened to a podcast about menopause.

The symptoms list? Oh, how familiar it sounded. All of it. Well, almost all of it - I'd never had the infamous hot flushes, which might have been a hint towards what was happening. The way it was, though, I never had considered menopause as a possible reason (and it's usually not expected to start in the early fourties with such an impact).

Long story short, having ticked off most of that symptoms list, I found myself a doctor specialising in hormonal treatments, got an appointment, left some blood there, and a few days later I got the results: Early menopause, with really low levels in both estrogen and progesterone. (Well. You can insert a bad joke about being early for a change here, if you like - I've missed enough deadlines in my life, or cut it very close, that I really don't mind.)

Based on that bloodwork, I'm now getting hormone replacement therapy, and things are so, so much better. There's still some issues, but we're also not yet finished with the stage of figuring out what the proper levels for me are. The most important thing, though, is that I'm feeling like myself again, and am functional once more. Now I just have to remember to take one of the magic capsules in the morning and in the evening to keep things peachy. (There's actually a reminder app running on my phone now, just for that. Works wonders.)

The betterment, by the way, was almost instant. There was a real, significant difference just a few days after starting therapy, on all levels. I'm still not where I used to be, but gradually, things are getting better again, and I feel like I'm making progress once more instead of just stalling or things getting worse.

So... what I learned, when reading up on the stuff: Menopause has a large impact on a woman's body, as there are estrogen and progesterone receptors about everywhere. EVERYWHERE. (Like in your brain.) Not getting enough of the stuff has an impact on overall health and well-being, including bone health and density, muscle strength (there's the explanation for my loss of bouldering strength) and cardiovascular health. There's a reason why women after a certain age have the same risk as men to get a stroke or a heart attack, and that's lower estrogen levels. Same reason for the brittle bones at a higher age.

Also - depressive mood swings, or full-out depression can be a result of too low levels of hormones. When dropping a pencil suddenly means that you feel like the day is ruined, because obviously you cannot do ANYTHING right... well. Not a very good situation.

Now mind you - every body is different, and there's some people that breeze through menopause and don't feel anything, but just in case you'll land in the other camp... if you're over 35, consider reading up a bit on menopause and peri-menopause (that's before the proper start of things stopping, so to say) just so you know what possible symptoms are. Maybe get your hormone levels checked on a day when you're feeling really good, at a known point within your cycle, so you have a baseline you can work from.

And once stuff starts happening... do consider a replacement therapy. These days, bioidentical hormones are available, which are what your own body would produce, and the side effects of those are very low. That includes the risk of cancer, which can be linked to non-bioidentical hormones that were used in some of the studies that caused a big scare about HRT some years ago. And in the sense of full disclosure: I was feeling so bad before the therapy started that I'd have gladly accepted a 10% increase of the risk for cancer, in exchange for feeling better again.

Now you're all up to date, and this blog will return to its usual shenanigans. Unless you have questions - then let me know, and I'll try to answer them!