My body suddenly...urgh.

[PeriChaos]

Since puberty I've had curves but, post pregnancy aside, never been fat.

Suddenly, a hideous clash of 2 operations, lockdowns and peri have made me huge. Ok, so I'm not that huge but I'm at least a stone over my usual weight and I feel huge.

My clothes don't fit me.

My breasts (which I thought were supposed to shrink during the menopause)? Are enormous. I've been properly measured and they have gone from an E cup to an H they look unwieldy and feel heavy.
I'm only 5ft 3 so my breasts in particular look like I'm wielding two zeppelins on my chest.
My hips feel huge.
I look about 6 months pregnant.

I'm not eating a lot, one meal a day and a cereal bar is normal.

It's all making me feel low.

I'm exercising, albeit gently, every day. I have to build up slowly because the two operations were big ones, so it all takes time.

It's like invasion of the body snatchers.

I have tried to write this in a humorous way, but I'm crying as I write it. I do know that there are many bigger problems in the world.

Can anyone offer advice/experience/help?
Or is this just how I am now?

Thank you

Happily I have no idea what the deleted post said. I'm guessing that it was unpleasant.

Still, I hope that the pp finds happiness.

My advice is to really overhaul your diet, and I recommend you investigate the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet for menopause.

@PeriChaos

Happily I have no idea what the deleted post said. I'm guessing that it was unpleasant.

Still, I hope that the pp finds happiness.

Spammer promoting her blog.

Do you have other menopause symptoms? If so, have you considered HRT?

Weight gain is caused by lack of oestrogen, as are most of the menopause symptoms. (Well, that’s probably simplistic, but it’s how I understand it!)

Hugs. Sometimes life feels like it’s all coming down on us at once. Our bodies we feel we can control and when we don’t like ourselves it’s hard to focus.
Remember you’ve had 2 ops, that’s a huge thing to recover from. Lockdown has meant most of us have gained weight.
Try and look at some meals that will mentally make you feel good as well as keep you busy, eat breakfast. Have a pamper eve, face mask and foot pack always cheers me up.
As for your boobs, well I’m jealous but I know you’re upset..things will settle down.

I hear you. I have a bit of a tummy (above waist) for the first time. Largely down to too much holiday chips and ice-cream, but my weight never went there before. I know it will go (back running and watching the food intake a bit) but still makes me feel urghh.

Are you on HRT? Lack of oestrogen makes our bodies hold onto/store fat as our fat cells produce oestrgen (something like that...am not a scientist/medical person)...hence menopausal weight gain. Boob expansion also linked to hormones.

If you are on HRT do you need a dose change? If not on HRT is it something you'd consider?

Yes I'm on HRT, Evorel Conti one of my ops was a partial hysterectomy, which was hideous.

The other op was an emergency during the second lockdown, I was convinced I was going to catch Covid and die. In fact, I did catch Covid in hospital, not too badly, but it really put the brakes on my recovery, which hasn't helped with my lack of movement.

Less than 3 years ago I was running 5k 4 or 5 times a week. Admittedly I was crap at it, though hey, I was trying and it was keeping me in shape.

Thank you SizeEleven for telling me what the missing post was. It's good to know that it wasn't a personal attack.

Onedayatatime45 I know, the boobs are truly astonishing. Like when there's a person in the town centre on market day wearing stilts and full circus garb, they are so incongruous amongst the fruit and veg seller, and the people wearing knock-off sports gear that you can't help staring. DH is especially happy with the breasts-of-doom.

At the risk of turning into a general moaning thread I'm lonely too. I haven't seen my friends who all live away for 2 years and I don't see it happening before the end of this year either. My best friend died just coming up for 2 years ago. She was 46. I had my 1st operation 2 days after her cremation, which put the fear of bejaysus into me.

My brother also mid 40s is being tested for cancer.

Maybe I'm depressed, if I am I'm certainly not alone. Maybe I have every reason to be struck low, in two years I've had a lot chucked at me. I know that many people have.

All in all it's a bit of a crap shoot.

Sorry. This thread wasn't supposed to go this way. It was just supposed to be about how much weight I have gained.

OTOH I think that it all goes towards me not feeling like being active. As it has been so long since I did proper exercise I will have to start from the beginning.

Sometimes we need to get it all out and it sounds like you've had a hell of a time of it.

Do you need more oestrogen maybe? Are you on progesterone at all (am guessing not with the hysterectomy..as you don't officially need it to protect your uterus). Just that I actually feel better during the Progesterone elements of my HRT...it is supposedly the calming hormone...Just done a quick (very quick) Google and it can be prescribed for post-hysterectomy women. May not be of any use to you but just thought it worth a mention? Our hormones are so important a d if you are out of balance it could affect so many things.

And exercise wise.. if you have to start from the beginning, so be it. Cut yourself some slack! And remember each time, however much you do/far you go, it is better than sitting on the sofa.

Luckily, I see an excellent female gynaecologist. I'm due to see her early next month and I will ask her about progesterone then.

Thank you SizeEleven, you are absolutely right in everything you say. Just a quick once around the block (not euphemism) is better than another day WFH in my pyjamas.

Get your thyroid function checked out too. Peri can often put it out of whack.

@PeriChaos If I can read the crossings-out properly (!) you said you had a partial hyster.

Does that mean you still have your ovaries or they left your cervix?

Just querying that because unless you still have a cervix (but no uterus) you don't need progestogens. If you have a cervix and had endo, for example, there is a small chance the endo could be there still, hence the need for progestogen.

I'm sure your gynae knows this, but just mentioning it.

Thyroid function is a good idea BobaFettOnMyBedsideTable, it may just be peri, and I'm sure that to some extent it is. My symptoms don't entirely chime with everything peri. I've done loads of reading up so I do know that there are many peri symptoms.

JinglingHellsBells they took my cervix, my ovaries are still there, which is good in some ways and frustrating in others. I have been plagued by ovarian cysts in the past, while I realise that my gynae wanted to do the minimum possible it still seems strange.

You will need time to recover after these operations. I had sciatica last year, could not move, and I gained a lot of weight. Now I take it slowly. Every walk is something to be proud of.

Oh goodness! Please be kind to yourself. How about waiting until next year to try and lose the weight properly but for now go for walks in nice places and eat food thst you know nourishes your body.

Wheni first started taking HRT my boobs swelled hugely but they went back to normal eventually

I've found it terribly slow to lose weight since menopause. I had a surgical menopause so mine happened all at once. Sadly, like you, it made no difference to my over-sized boobs.

I've had success following the principles in 'Why we eat (too much)' by Andrew Jenkinson. It's popular on MN and has its own thread - the basic idea is cutting out processed food. You've mentioned eating cereal bars, for example - in this way of eating, you'd replace those with fresh fruit.

It's still very slow but it does eventually come off. I've lost about 3 stone since January when I started - another stone to go.

Wishing you luck.

Yes same here , every time I get on the scales they are going up ....but I'm eating less ! I've had my thyroid checked that's all OK but my periods are becoming irregular. Its all round my middle, I'm doing Joe Wicks abs which is really working but I can't eat any less than I already do.
I walk everywhere, gave up booze and snacks, I should be skinny !!

@PeriChaos Unless there is something we don't know, you only need estrogen as your HRT. Progestogens are only needed for women with a womb. Wondering why you are on a combined patch?

Has your Dr explained the reasons behind this?

Progestogens can be the reason for weight gain (although in theory they aren't shown to affect weight) but some women do feel very bloated on combined/continuous HRT.

Estrogen-only is safer anyway, so you should raise this with your dr.

Although I'm glad that it's not just me I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

In particular, your weight loss is incredible SquirryTheSquirrel, good for you.

Personally, I know that my diet is pretty good, I stopped drinking before my first op and I haven't had a drink since. The answer for me is exercise, my body is crying out for more movement too.

JinglingHellsBells I don't know why I'm on an oestrogen + progesterone patch. It was my gynae who prescribed it and she is very well respected in her field.

One problem, and a possible reason for the patches, is that I have Coeliac Disease. There is a general reluctance amongst Drs in general to prescribe anything to be taken orally.

@PeriChaos You don't need progesterone- have a google and every meno dr will tell you that. Look at the info on the website of Dr Louise Newson.

Is she a meno gynaecologist? (PM me her name?)

You really do need to query it.

Hi OP, this has struck a cord with me.

I'm 5'4" and have always been about 8.5 -9 stone. But since hitting menopause in the last year, I've gone up to 11 stone. I just don't recognize myself.
It's a combination of giving birth to twins 18 months ago, lockdown, no time to exercise, menopause.
Next week, I'm going to start trying to reduce the weight. My plan is to cut out bread, walk 45 mins a day, light dinner, no snacks after dinner. I can't go on HRT, due to a DVT.

user1471604848 I'm sorry that you and others are suffering too, this does seem to be a 'thing'. It also sounds like your situation is very similar to mine. I haven't given birth to twins, that aside I think that lockdown + peri has been a perfect storm.

It reads too that like me your diet is already healthy and when you're like that it is difficult to make many changes. Like you I'm not eating much in the first place!

Yesterday I walked 12000 steps, later in the day I had a vaccination, so I feel like I have mild flu today so I only walked 3000.

Earlier in this thread I said that I think that exercise is the answer for me, as soon as I am feeling better I will get back to the walking then eventually build up to running.