I don’t understand why I’ve put a stone on!

[Oldcrockpot]

Over the last 2-3 months I’ve gained a few pounds a week for no apparent reason and am a stone heavier! I can’t be pregnant as my periods have been heavy, very irregular and all over the place (this is not new, but they haven’t been as heavy as this since I had the coil about 18 months ago). No notable changes in routine or diet.

Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone and what was it? All my clothes are tight and I feel like a bloater!

(I am 39 and a healthy weight- but now getting to the top end of that! Have the coil and no new medication etc)

Is it a recently fitted coil?

Metabolism doesn’t slow to that extent and like a PP said, it’s an extra few biscuits or chocolate bar every day while moving about less that can do this but also see the GP to get checked out for sure.

I was unwell for a couple of weeks and initially I dropped off 2lbs (water I expect) the first few days then gained 6lbs very quickly (water plus moving a lot less) so I can see how easily it happens if you are less active but still eating similarly or eat a bit extra

Nobody's saying otherwise, just that it's something to be considered.

But for many women, perimenopause causes lots of quite major health and lifestyle problems, unfortunately, and it's too often dismissed or fobbed off as something else.

It's completely undermining that everything a woman experiences from 35 to 60 is diminished as peri. Not to mention the fact that every woman is told it will involve her becoming a fat, dried up, brain fogged basket case. Menopause is a social contagion at the moment.

Same age and this has happened to me too. When I actually measured (weighed) my portions I was eating way too much. I also have injuries my Achilles so not doing any cardio either.

I have been doing a 1500kcal for the past 2 weeks and have lost about 1.5kg/2lbs. Its hard going especially the first week so my plan is to maintain this for a couple of weeks and then go for a bit more.

I spoke to a few older women who said the same happened to them at this age. So it doesn’t seem that unusual.

I also have focused on ensuring that I get the right amount of protein a day and veggies as well as reducing calories has helped enormously with the hunger.

Please make an appointment with your GP. This happened to me and I assumed it was peri menopause. It turned out to be stage 3 uterine cancer.

You say “can’t be pregnant” .. but have you actually done a test to rule it out? Unlikely yes. Impossible no

Definitely get thyroid checked. I had this very rapid and unpredictable weight gain with a wonky thyroid.

@Lastonightadjsavedmylife
Eat more move less ....learn another phrase.

This is me OP. I was curious for a while before realising that, yes, I think I probably am eating more than ever and moving less. Also my metabolism is slowing down.

I've decided to accept the stone but no more and am making conscious decisions to watch the snacks.

Me too, I was all why am I gaining. The simple truth was I was eating more and moving less. The whole oh it’s peri! Is just nonsense. Not everything is about peri or meno. Unless the op has a signficant thyroid issue she’s moving less and eating more over the last 8-10 weeks she’s talking about.

Literally whatever thing you post the answer will always inevitably be perimenopause.

“I tripped and fell and now my knee hurts” “have you considered it might be perimenopause?”

“I suffer from anxiety” “OP you are almost definitely perimenopausal”

“I’m struggling at work” “you’re probably in peri”

I was in a cafe the other day and a woman ballsed up her order and tried to blame the poor waitress. I’d heard her place the order so I told her the waitress was right and she glared at me and then was like “well, I’m perimenopausal so I do make mistakes”.

While it’s good that people are talking about women’s health this obsession over perimenopause only really became a thing post-Davina. Before that people just got on with stuff.

Yes I’m seeing it on here a lot too. And it’s surprised me. Absolutely everything is now put down to peri or meno by some posters. Like for all women soon as we hit late 30s in the ops case, it’s all down hill and we have no personal responsibility any more. The op might not even be in peri, the woman’s 39. And every single one of us knows you don’t gain a stone in a few weeks due to peri anyway,

I definitely have friends who are suggestible when it comes to health and now convinced they're paralysed with brain fog etc etc etc.

Well for generations upon generations, women have actually coped and actually had careers, achieved significant milestones, raised families, held down multiple jobs despite this apparently debilitating condition that means they can’t function like a human being anymore.

Indeed. All these corporate networks dedicated to the ineptitude of the broiler hens drive me insane. (Maybe those emotions are peri!?!?!)

Yes apparently now we hit our late 30s and it’s game over. We are at the behest of our hormones.never to function well again. We will get fat, be confused, be anxious.

yes some women have bad symptoms and they need to speak to their doctors if they do. But for the vast majority of us, and statistics prove it, we are fully able to function in society. We are not fat quivering wrecks in the corner.

Peri can increase fatigue and appetite. That's why some people gain weight. Not everyone!

Yes it probably is peri 😂
But yes. Hey, I’ve got a good idea, let just reverse all the progress made to disprove the offensive myths that women are ruled by their hormones and liable to burst into tears/be in a mood on their period by telling the world that from their late 30s, women are basically unable to think clearly and liable to going crazy and it’s all the time, not just once a month and it lasts for a decade! Awesome idea.

Actually, the trend towards ascribing everything to menopause or peri-menopause isn't a new phenomenon, it's a reversion to the norm of how women were treated in the seventies and earlier when women were frequently dismissed and their symptoms written off as "women's issues". It is a hugely dangerous trend.

And not the vast majority. And the vast majority are not even in peri at 39.

Could be thyroid. I'm also 39 and had been suffering from extreme tiredness and brain fog. I chalked it down to having a 2 year old who doesn't sleep well but then my weight started creeping too..but like you I was suddenly several kilos heavier with no explanation, if anything I'd been doing more exercise and eating better so made no sense.
As the GP to check my iron for the tiredness and he also did thyroid, turned out I had severe hypothyroidism. A symptom of which is weight gain. Can also make periods irregular and heavy.
Definitely worth getting checked out.

No, that's not true at all.

Metabolism changes in perimenopause. I only need 1400 calories now, any more than that I gain weight.

I gained 2 stone going to the gym 5 times a week and eating exactly the same as before. I didn't realise how much my body had changed.

Cortisol also increases during perimenopause which can lead to weight gain. The cruel irony is that Cardio exercise also increases cortisol.

Fat cells contain oestrogen. As our natural.oestrogen decreases the body starts to look for oestrogen elsewhere, so the body does all it can to create fat cells. Hence metabolism changes and the body hoes into overdrive creating Cortisol.

Weight gain doesn't happen for everyone, but it does for many and they are not eating more and moving less. Losing it is very difficult gor those who put it on.

Yes I agree. And even going back further than that - women’s sensitive nature and volatile emotions were used to justify rules that they couldn’t be lawyers and doctors. It’s offensive bullshit and works against us.

Please do get checked for thyroid and for ovarian issues, OP. It's very important. If those are excluded, you can start to look at your diet and exercise. But time is of the essence with this issue, so GP first and ask explicitly for a thyroid check and scan to consider ovarian complications.