Ok, its now 4th Dec. Snowdonia Marathon is done and dusted and I must say it was the highlight of the month. Who would of thought that running up and down long hills could be so enjoyable. The long weeks of training finally complete and as we head there I have already agreed that I will only ever do this one, once. Well I can tell you now that after the first 5 miles I had changed my mind. The scenery of the mountains and peaks of Snowdonia are a view to behold. Once we got up the first hill (Pen y Pass) we were euphoric. I know if you are not a runner, you will think I am mad, but running with 2 good friends who are great company made it doubly better.
A week after Snowdonia, I travel to Zurich to visit my sister and her family. This is a lone trip, one that is quite familiar to me (and I have happy travelling alone). I take my kit as I know my sister will have a busy hour getting her son to work so there will be opportunities to get out and run if I want to. She too is suffering the same as me though. She has always suffered with anxiety and depression, however her symptoms are getting worse. Her sleep pattern is terrible, she has extreme insomnia, night sweats, hot flushes and terrible brain fog. I take all my prescriptions with me so she can speak to her gynaecologist. Despite living in Switzerland it seems she is having similar issues with professionals understanding how to prescribe as back here in the UK.
I spent a lovely 5 days with them, they really do look after me very well, my sister spoils me and we enjoy some lovely time together whilst her son is in work. I find a canal to run a few mornings and then we head off into Oerlikorn or the city to visit the wine ships. We used to do this years ago. My sister used to love wine, but just like me she can no longer tolerate it and abstains as much as I do. THIS IS A CHANGE, OR MAYBE JUST PART OF THE CHANGE
When I return home, it seems that Chris really did miss me. He collects me from the bus station and gives me the biggest hug. I must admit, our relationship hasn’t been great since I have been suffering with menopause symptoms, so the break has really improved things. I had suggested we have relationship counselling. Not because I thought we were in trouble; I just felt like we needed someone to help us on the next part of our journey. Recently I have been talking to him a lot about the menopause. I feel he needs to understand the way I am, because the things I once found easy to tolerate are now very difficult for me, and I can tell he’s not tolerating that very well. For example, I can’t socialise like I used to. We used to go out regularly drinking and partying with friends and he doesn’t understand I can’t do this anymore. Well, that’s not strictly true. Its just if I do I suffer badly for days with palpitations, night sweats, brain fog etc. So I have deemed it just not worth it.
So 10 days after Zurich we are heading to San Francisco and Las Vegas. Never been before but we are both really excited. Usually when we have a trip like this we head to the airport early and head straight to the Caviar House for lunch and wine. No different this time except its just one glass of wine for me.
We have an amazing time – Vegas was out of this world. We did the grand canyon tour, Cirque du Soleil and went to see Rod Stewart. Lots of junk food which can’t be avoided in Vegas (I challenge anyone to eat healthily in Vegas). The best I had was a slice of tomato in a burger 🙂
Breakfast was hash browns and a night cap with the good old Mr JD. I knew I was going to be paying for this at some point. We did head to the supermarket to snack on fruit during our tourism however a mixture of alcohol and processed food – my nemesis despite it being enjoyable.
During November I now have to admit that I didn’t take my progesterone. I didn’t want to have a period whilst I was away so of course, just taking Oestrogen was making me feel great. I had also increased the dosage to 100mcg and this was beginning to take effect. My libido was feeling really good, I am sleeping well and my mood improved. Perfect holiday feeling!
We returned home Saturday evening on 24th November. I purposely didn’t sleep on the flight home because I knew I wouldn’t sleep Saturday night otherwise and I had a canicross race with the dog on Sunday morning – couldn’t risk it. I went to bed at 7pm and got up just before 7 the next morning so I hoped that I had got my routine quickly back to normal.
THIS IS WHERE IT ALL GOES TITS UP!
The race with Sandy was great, I really enjoyed it, got home and did what you do on a Sunday. Went to bed feeling suitable tired.
Sunday night – awake at 2:30 am
Monday Night – awake 1:30 – 5am
Tuesday night – asleep from 9:30pm – 11:30am (that was a shock!)
Wednesday night – awake until 1am
Thursday night – awake until 1am then up at 7am
During the week I haven’t been able to exercise, run, go to pilates. I have had the week from hell. Although before I started this section of my blog I re- read previous ones. I laughed out loud at the amount of times I have had a bad time but simply forget about it. I finally dragged myself out for a run on Friday, volunteered at parkrun Saturday and everything was getting restored.
So note to self
Hangover food/alcohol plus jet lag = a week off with a miserable Lisa. (I only managed 3 things per day this week.
1 Take a shower
2 Take Sandy for a walk
3 Cook dinner
Even Chris told me to get out and go to Pilates on Thursday night. Think he was worried about me because every day he came home from work, he found me laying on the sofa doing naff all.
But, its the beginning of December, the season of goodwill and I am back to normal – well not the normal I used to be before perimenopause, the normal I accept since
Until next time
TTFN
How the Menopause nearly beat me 