bicycling and hot-flashes
 

I cycled a lot through my mid twenties, and then, after more than 25 years away from a bike, I started cycling again about 3 years ago (first on an exercise bike, and then, after 6 months, on the road). About two years ago, I started getting hot flashes with increasing frequency, so that now I get them several times a day, and, more annoyingly, they wake me several times a night. During those two years, medical issues have forced me to stop riding three times for a month or more (a bad crash, a surgery, and wrist problems). Each time I had to stop riding, the hot flashes stopped almost completely within a few weeks, and then started up again as soon as I started riding again. If weather or a cold keep me off the bike for a shorter time, the hot flashes taper.

I thought exercise was supposed to alleviate hot flashes, not make them worse.

Has anyone else experienced this? It's not enough to make me stop riding, but it is driving me nuts! I asked my gynocologist, who is not a cyclist, and she hadn't heard anything about an association between cycling and hot flashes.

If it's relevant, I rode about 2900 miles last year (and that's after I was off the bike entirely for weeks due to the crash and the surgery), and am at more than 400 miles so far in 2013. I am slow and fat. Except on the steepest hills, I don't push so hard that I can't carry on a conversation.

(I am not ready to start taking a dangerous drug or to stop riding, but I would like it to stop!)

Here's suggestions from a male, who has never had a hot flash but has a friend who has. I think your hot flashes become activated when you cycle because your body experiences the exercise and thinks you are young and healthy so you undergo and physiological change. When you stop cycling you revert back to the old weary body. So, what I suggest is more cycling and add in some healthy food and gym workouts, and you will morph over to the new healthier version, sans the hot flashes. This is what I would do anyway but I happy for you to note that I have a man's body and things are different for us.

I won't speculate about it, having zero qualification. I have not seen a woman coming to 50+ and raising this question in the past. I'd first suggest attempting to use the search tools to find what has been said about this on the site, if anything. Some of the members are medical people, and someone who knows something might chime in.

Another source might be a womens' forum. I know there used to be a secretive woman-only forum where "womens' topics" could be discussed, if desired. I have never seen it; I believe it was hidden very well. One of the moderators, I think it was Siu Blue Wind, was in charge of it, and a PM to her might clarify that situation.

There are some women on 50+, and it's possible some of them may have some experience or insight. I think it is acceptable etiquette here to PM a member to seek assistance. I'd suggest Yen, Beverly, Boudiccia (not totally sure of her spelling), Siu Blue Wind, Pamestique, and Miss Kenton. All are very nice people. I don't know if any of them have seen that particular problem.

Have you tried an open Google search? Perhaps "menopause and cycling?" Or a keyword search "cycling" and "menopause?"

If yer 50 plus like most of us I think a doctor vist would be a good Idea.
A complete physical, blood work, stress test, etc.. This is commonly recomended when returning to or starting Intense physical excersise..

Actually I did that Google search just now and found a few decent hits. One was to a thread on bikejournal.com, "Cycling and Menopause." One woman shared that hot flashes became worse while cycling, and thought (I think) it was attributable to her endocrine system. There were other links as well, but I'll leave them to you.

I also agree with the general advice to see what the doctor says.

Hi teacherlady,
I've read your post and see that you have already talked to your Ob/Gyn and she really had no suggestions for you. I'm afraid I have nothing, either. I am one of the lucky few that have never suffered hot flashes.

My best friend has been dealing with them for a number of years and though she has tried a number of things, including herbal supplements, nothing has worked for her. I do know that many women find the hot flashes are most often triggered by stress. Do you think it is possible that your anticipation of experiencing a hot flash while riding causes you such stress that it actually triggers the hot flash?

I imagine that you already drink a good amount of cool water before you ride and carry lots of water with you when you ride in an effort to keep your body temperature down, yes?

Exercise is still new territory to medical science -- but they are increasingly becoming aware of the effect that exercise has on the body and the brain -- particularly aerobic exercise.

Basically, they are increasingly becoming aware that it has multiple effects (mostly all healthy) -- but their knowledge of the underlying physiology of those affects is still very rudimentary. But, one of those affects is on the endocrine system and neurotransmitters -- it changes the chemical balances in your brain and in your body. So, for you, hot flashes may be one of the effects.

A book by John Ratey, MD "Spark -- The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" has a chapter on the affect of exercise on: "Hormonal Changes: The Impact on Women's Brain Health". It doesn't directly address your concern -- but it does offer a lot of information that may be related to it.

In addition, you mention that you are overweight. Another new area of research for medical science is on adipose tissue. Historically, we have believed that fat cells were inert and simply stored energy. Increasingly researchers are becoming aware that fat is actually a sort of endocrine gland that secretes various hormones and such.
... perhaps your fat cells do not approve of your exercise and are fighting back? :lol:

In any event, I hope that you continue to cycle -- and do so safely with no more accidents.

Thanks! Actually, I had done a Google search, and hadn't found anything useful. I just registered at Bikejournal.com, but I guess I didn't have the right search terms. Would you be willing to post a link to the thread on cycling and menopause?

Nothing like waking up all night after a tough ride!

My wife, (JoLynn), has been "suffering" the HF's for several years, I asked her if riding made them worse and she said, no, no difference, exersize wise. She's also told me her's aare worse at "night". Sometimes she has them so often she perfers to call them, "cold flashes" as the short time the "heat" turns down inbetween the multi-flashes. I know when she's flashing on the bike, her pace "slowes" and she looks like she want's to, "KILL" something so I just slow down! Now she's never gotten mad or anything like that but it can be quite wearing on her if were on a longer ride! Hope you find something that helps, JoLynn can't take the meds, they make her clot so she just "suffers", :(

teacherlady, check out the Team Estrogen Health Issues forum http://forums.teamestrogen.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70
Type hot flashes into search - you are not alone!

I think this is it:

http://www.bikejournal.com/thread.as...8C432B7C244%7D

The specific post I found before is post 25 in that thread, by "pkq."

I hope it helps!

It also looks like Miss Jean has got your back!

Isn't a problem for me...unless I just don't notice the power surges because my core temp is already cranking the internal furnace from the biking exercise itself. Then again I'm well past the stage where those power hits were annoying. :)

It could be that the excercise is raising your core temps, and when the surge hits it throws your body's already heightened internal temp right up to red line.

Black Cohash has been the centuries old remedy for heavy power surges. Vitex for the low or mild warm flashes. Both herbs, so they are available just about anywhere. They do work, and they don't mess up your system. You might want to try them first to help regulate those surges, then see how things go when you throw biking into the mix.

Good luck!

PS - when you hit 50 posts ask Siu for a key to the woman's forum.

Unfortunately, biking doesn't always make pretty rainbows and sunshine magically appear. My sister has the same problem you experience with hot flashes. She takes along icewater when she exercises, which helps a little.

For me, I have restless legs syndrome. It is bad enough that I must take drugs or I will not sleep for hours. It is far worse on days that I bike a lot. Right now it is an hour before bedtime and my legs are already going weird on me. I live with it and am thankful they now have drugs, despite all the jokes about the drugs being a cure in search of a disease.

I love the Team Estrogen forums but when medical matters are discussed the "woo" tends to come out, which drives me a bit nuts. For example, people saying they won't take drugs but will take "natural Chinese herb preparations" that their acupuncturist suggests.

My wife says she notices no difference with biking or not. But she's always doing some exercise, and hasn't had to stop for any long time periods.

I will say that she often thinks that some treatment or another (e.g. pro-gest cream) help with the hot flashes, but my impression is there is no change, and she is experiencing a placebo effect. She says she has fewer now, but when she snuggles up in the middle of the night, I can count down silently from 20, and when I reach zero, there's a nuclear explosion of sweat. It's been like that for a few years now.

My point is, that it would be worth keeping a log of you hot flashes, to make sure that you are really experiencing changes that are synchronized with your biking.

Monica had some hot spells when menopause started some years ago, she said that exercise relieved them for her. Not hard, pushing things exercise, just some activity to get her circulation up a bit. She did not what any hormone replacement so she would just adapt and get through things, after all she has done in caring for me post-operative and in my numerous complications, I owed her the support for anything she chose to do.

Edit: +1 for the OP getting her Key from a moderator for the "Women's Forum" and participating there.

Bill

I wish I could be more helpful, but I don't think the heating-up I get when I ride is the same as the hot flashes I get when I'm off the bike. Maybe it's just exercise heating up your body?

And I second the womens' forum key suggestion. We need more voices over there. It's too quiet a forum for its own good.

My spouse of 58 (!) years has the following recollections of hot flashes:
She is an avid cyclist and cannot recall ever having hot flashes while bicycling; and she has covered over 230,000 miles pedaling on tandems with me and still rides 4 times a week at age 78.
While her flashes were years ago, they were quite severe for a number of years, but never on the bike.
Growin' old s not for sissies, but in this case you'll eventually be old enough to outgrow the flashes!
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

FWIW: My wife is in her late 50s, exercises and rides regularly and has frequent hot flashes. She says she experiences no difference in hot flashes whether riding, exercising, or not.

Fellow Flasher here and an ultra cyclist. Also writing a paper on menopausal symptoms and exercise. Endurance exercise definately increased both frequency and severity of HF amongst our ladies. But there are a variety of important physiologic changes that also happen at menopause thathave the potential of being a big deal as you age- such as the acceleration of the loss of lean muscle mass and bone mass. That loss is almost impossible to get back the older you are. Also menopause is strongly connected to increasing belly fat. We're finding that fat to be particularly dangerous to cardiovascular and brain health (and btw belly fat is strongly connected to flashing in non exercisers). Bottom line exercising at this time of your life is really important- both to maintain your muscles&bones and to reduce belly fat. And exercising will also improve your sleep and moods! It has its benefits when riding on a below-freezing day too! :). Good health to you and happy pedaling!

All in all our bodys are only designed to last about 35 years so as we push past those years we have to adapt in many ways - Please consider a work up for hormonal supplementation if you are older - It is a good thing - Especially for athletes - Female hormones will help your female joints maintain flexibility - They will also help you absorb calcium - They can prevent early wrinkling of skin and movement of adipose to areas you don't want it - They help your female brain stay female and often they slow down the frequency of hot flashes - There are restrictions like Smoking, Blood Clots, Cancer but if you do not have these things they are proven relatively safe (that is safer than some bike rides) - For female athletes without ovaries I usually prescribe EstraTest which is low dose estrogen and testosterone...

I used to say that, too, but I've learned that it's misleading. True the average lifespan of prehistoric man was around 35 years, but there were individuals who lived to what we would call old age (um, our age). People died earlier due to accidents, and disease which is now curable, but lucky individuals lived much longer. Back in those days, a bad cut on your arm could be fatal.

I didn't notice any change in my hot flashes from exercise, but then I exercise quite a bit. I did notice that alcohol tended to make them a bit worse. When I cut back on wine with dinner it cut the flashes somewhat.

Cbad,
Interesting about the alcohol and the wine consumption, Monica drinks a glass of a red or a white, depending on her taste that evening and she said it helped her with the hot spells. Maybe for her it calmed the chemical instigator for the spell and for you it makes it worse. I know alcohol can make you flush sometimes. She and I don't drink anything else so no comparison there, I had to stop my nightly scotch when the kidney failure hit me last summer. Did you or do you use any HR supplements or RX, if you don't mind my asking?

Bill