When Adele Johnston was bodybuilding, she was either hungry all the time or tired because of her diet and exercise.
She has been a Scottish double gold bodybuilding champion. Their hair started to fall out, their gums would bleed, their heart would beat faster, their skin would itch and their genitals would become swollen and painful.
After years of scans and painful tests, it was revealed that these were early ‘perimenopause’ symptoms. This is the stage before a woman’s menstrual cycle is completely over.
It usually begins when women reach the age of 46. But Adele was in her 30s when she faced this painful situation.
While speaking, she said, “For many years, I was putting too much physical and mental stress on my body. Bodybuilding is an extreme sport and I was not in good health.
You could see my ribs and bones. I was very thin. My body didn’t look right and wasn’t healthy and I put myself on a strict diet against my own wisdom and knowledge.
“I was always hungry and never full.”
When she was a bodybuilder, she was five feet eight inches tall and weighed only 53 kg.
“I started questioning why I had premature perimenopause and I asked many doctors if it was because of bodybuilding,” she says.
She says she was told, ‘It’s possible, but there’s never been any research on it.’
Dr Heather Currie, a gynecologist at NHS Dumfries and Galloway, says Adele’s periods may have ‘stopped’ due to intense bodybuilding.
He said, “In any serious situation, you have to question what impact it might have on you.” I often say do everything in moderation.
“Nothing is good in excess or less than necessary.”
“If the period stops, you can understand why some people have (perimenopausal) symptoms.”
Dr Heather serves the Scottish Government on menopause and women’s health. He said that if Adele quit bodybuilding, her figure could ‘go back to normal’.
“Maybe this effect is due to bodybuilding, but they will never know,” he said.
Adele has now stopped bodybuilding but is now undergoing hormone replacement therapy and has had an IUD inserted which has stopped her periods completely. This is done to help with their perimenopausal symptoms.
Adele, 40, is feeling much better now and isn’t ready to stop the medication to see if her periods have improved.
“I had terrible perimenopausal symptoms,” she says. My heart was beating fast and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I couldn’t sleep at night because I was so tired, I had cold sweats and itches all over my body.’
“My vulva was so painful that I had to work standing up in the office. My stomach was bloated and my gums were bleeding and my hair was falling out. It was very painful.
‘Because I have a Merina coil (IUD) in and feel like my hormones are stable, I don’t want to take it out and see if there’s bleeding.’
Usually, women stop menstruating at the age of 51 and this is called menopause. Perimenopause usually begins before age 46.
This is the time when many women find that they have unpredictable periods and have feelings or physical problems that they did not have before.
And when you don’t have a period for 12 consecutive months, you go through menopause.
Vicky McCann, chairwoman of the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation, said any possible link between bodybuilding and early perimenopause was a ‘very interesting topic’.
Jessica Watson is the co-founder of Gloria, a menopause education organization. She says she has heard many stories about Adele.
He added, “There is an urgent need to better identify and research the causes of early menopause.”
Adele was previously an operational resilience manager at an investment bank but has since left that job to become a menopause coach.
“My (perimenopausal) symptoms eventually forced me to quit my job,” she says.
‘When I was going through perimenopause, the company I was working for wasn’t able to support me with my needs.’
‘I asked for reduced working hours for six weeks so I could adjust to hormone replacement therapy but they refused.’
“My physical condition was so bad that I was hardly working. My husband said, quit work, we will find something else.
Adele says she was very upset about leaving her job.
“I was very scared to say goodbye to my salary, pension, facilities and career. But in this situation, I saw an opportunity to become a menopause coach so I could help people through what happened to me.”
“Bodybuilding is an exciting and glamorous sport, but behind the scenes we have to take care of the health implications,” he said.