43 year old (obviously female) and struggling ALOT with the loss of fitness due to the perimenopause . For context, I seem to loose more and more time each month now in the luteal phase, where my body literally will not allow me to do even a recovery spin on TR. my heart rate is often sky high for ridiculous low wats and I end up bailing and wanting to cry after half an hour. The emotions are intense to say the least with the frustration of going from being really strong and powerful able to complete all my high end workouts to then , as I said, barely able to hold 80 watts. Has anyone taken HRT and found this to be beneficial?or taken progesterone or estrogen on their own? The AI ftp often falls in my luteal phase and I have now learned to ignore it as once I get my period my power comes backā¦ however itās definitely not improving and Iām getting increasingly frustrated by this fact. I basically have nearly 2 weeks of doing nothing more then recovery spins or low zone 2 . I know itās winter and all that but I was hoping I could atleast improve my zone 2. But I canāt even do that without my heart rate shooting up to tempo within the first 10 mins. Anyone else got any advice or condolences as Iām really struggling with this 
39 and wondering if this is starting to hit me too. My heart rate has been wierd since a rest week more than a month ago. Resting has been in the mid 60s when it was regularly in the mid 40s. Endurance heart rate jumped to 140+ when it is usually 120. Otoh, my power hasnāt notably suffered, so Iām trying to ignore HR.
No advice, just commiseration. I am going to see my GP soon to discuss. I was on a fairly high estrogen bcp until about 6 months ago and hated it for a variety of reasons, but I am wondering if dropping it and settling in at whatever my natural levels are in my āoldā age 
has brought this on.
You might want to give the podcast below a listen. My wife found it very helpful.
I second the suggestion of Dr. Mary Claire Haver. She has a book called āThe New Menopauseā which I found very helpful in navigating my perimenopause symptoms and finding a provider who takes them seriously. HRT is not for everyone, but it can be helpful for a much larger population than is currently taking hormones, due to the now debunked WHI study that supposedly showed that HRT increased cancer rates. If you want a deeper dive on that in particular, I highly recommend the book āEstrogen Mattersā by Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris. Both books have been very helpful to me and led me to look into HRT with my doctor.
How did the estrogen affect you if you donāt mind me asking ? I have been thinking itās the progesterone pill I need as I seem to suffer horrendously when the drop occurs after ovulationā¦ I had blood tests done back in August and it showed my levels were all low but doc tried to give me Citalopram ā¦ can confirm that 100% made things worse and I stopped it after a week. Dreadful stuff and I donāt need anti depressants they generally never agree with me . Have another appt next week now, but yeah , same with the resting hr , 2 weeks of every cycle now itās around 60, where it was 52 before, and in the first two weeks is around 55 now but still thatās okā¦ I know in the luteal phase we expect higher hr and lower power, and have dealt with that for many years, but the last year, itās been next level. I mean there are days I canāt even do a recovery spin. Itās so demoralising. Urgh.
Thank you !
Itās not clear to me if you are saying that you are stopping only because of high heart rate or if you feel physically unable to put out the power. If itās only because of elevated heart rate, you should try ignoring that and just riding by feel.
If youāre riding indoors, I would also consider if you have adequate cooling. What may have been adequate before may not be adequate now. Overheating will increase HR and make everything feel worse.
Aligning your worst week of your cycle with your rest week is something to consider as well.
Sorry youāre having a hard time. It seems perimenopause hits us all differently. I complained to my GYN about massive mood swings and feeling depressed and she suggested antidepressantsā¦ I said no thanks. I did a ton of listening and reading and can completely +1 on the Estrogen Matters book. I started using OTC progesterone and estrogen (estriol) creams because I felt more comfortable being able to quickly adjust the amounts until I felt ārightā, and I have found the estrogen in particular to be of massive help. I started feeling like myself again within about a week or so. Amazing. I only use the progesterone because I still have a cycle and they say you need it if you are taking estrogen to prevent certain types of cancers. Iāve also had my estrogen and progesterone levels tested - I could probably go higher on the estrogen based on the tests but Iām ok with where I am. I didnāt notice any changes with performance, but everyone is different. The other thing to consider is testosterone. My current GYN is very much pro-T. She says that T has an even bigger effect on our systems, and Iāve had that tested and itās incredibly low. I still race, so I donāt want to take T, but maybe someday Iāll consider it. I havenāt found good info about T either, so Iād rather get more educated before I consider it. But you might want to get it tested as well - a friend of mine found T to be the key for her. I also second the recommendation to find a doctor that will take you seriously. Everyone has such different symptoms.
Horrible nausea, frequent infections, and much longer non-period periods. But at least my skin looked good? Oh, and I didnāt get pregnant, so I guess that worked out. I was so relieved when my partner got a vacectomy, but now I seem all out of whack in totally new-to-me ways.
Mine seems to not be phasing in and outā¦ just solid ridiculousness. I just did 5 hours of endurance with my hear rate pegged around 165-170 bmp.
What zone is that for you HR wise? For me thatās subthreshold. The reason I pull my zone 2 workouts in frustration is because I know if I continued Iād be at threshold within 10 mins no doubt about itā¦
Also I stop often because my power isnāt there as well. And what is usually a breeze for me is suddenly like Iām riding through peanut butter mud. And the high hr just further confirms my body is saying get off the bike ! But itās so frustrating because I have been relying on these sessions for way more than fitness, itās my entire coping mechanism for life . So it really messes me up and the doom spiral and self loathing is insane as a result of a bailed workout that was barely hitting my low zone 2. I think I need a lot more time to recover from work too, as I do shift work and long shifts, and I find it increasingly hard now to train after a long shift , by that I mean the next day . I hadnāt thought about cooling , my house is pretty cold at the best of times but I do have a fan so maybe Iāll invest in another , a remote control one tho, as it drives me batty keep having to stop and adjust the fan speed sometimes 
Another thought I had is that your previous training load may not be sustainable right now. Your body is going through a lot of changes and thatās extra physical stress, plus the mental stress this is clearly causing you, plus work and general life stress. They all add ālife TSSā, even the mental parts (your nervous system feels it all). So that combined with altered hormones mean that you might be overtrained currently.
I suggest that you take a full week off the bike and just try to rest as much as possible. Then, when you get back on the bike, ride only using RPE, no HR, power or other data. Donāt worry about not performing like your usual self. Just ride endurance or tempo by feel and get some hours in
I highly suggest that you get two fans of this type, they cool so much better than regular fans. Put one in front pointed at your chest and one behind pointed at your back.
And of course you should work with an OB/GYN.
Usually Iāll hit 170s on a long threshold interval. 160s for sweet spot. Endurance should be around 120-130. Intervals said I spent nealry 2 hours at anerobic heart rate. And resting:
The line in June is when I went off BCPs.
From my experience yesterday, just turn off the heart rate fields. When I stopped looking at heart rate, I would not have guessed it was so high, and I found my HR actually lowered when I stopped looking at it and panicking.
That saidā¦ thanks to those who recommended thr podcast. I may feel out my pcp on taking some lower level of hormone therapy. I am a little confused why it sounds like itās so easy to get high dosage birth control but harder to get low dosage hrt. So much to learn.
To be honest, to me that looks more like either your HRM has packed in, or youāve picked up a virus or have some other illness. Or maybe youāre sleeping worse because the weather has changed?
I would think a hormonal change would be a bit slower, and not so suddenly over the course of a month.
That image is a year of data, with the line at about 6 months ago (early June). Given that I was on a high dosage bcp for ~2 years and then abruptly stopped taking it, I am not sure the data seems suspect. (I did replace my HRM battery as soon as this started happening thinking that was the issue, but the resting heart rate comes from my watch and both are showing the same trend.)
What I mean is, if you ignore the line when you stopped bcp, then your RHR seems fairly similar until about mid-October, and then goes up pretty steadily in November. Maybe there is just something about the last weeks that made it change?
Iām sorry youāre dealing with this right now @CharlotteMiles. I can totally relate to how demoralising it is to feel like youāre losing a source of confidence, strength and joy, in cycling. Youāll find a solution though and youāll look back on this as one of those blips in your athletic journey.
There are so many options when it comes to hormonal therapy, so with a little bit of work to find a good doctor and some trial and error, I am confident you can get back to your normal self soon.
Making sure you find a well-informed, patient and understanding doctor to explore your options should be your top priority at the moment. They can also make sure to rule out any other factors that could be contributing/ causing your symptoms.
Itās easier said than done, but donāt turn cycling into a source of stress. For now, especially while we are in the off-season, do what makes you feel good. If you can only ride in zone 1 at the moment, do that. You would be surprised at how quickly your fitness will return when you are in full health and your body is working with you. It will come. Donāt panic. Pushing yourself now out of fear of losing fitness will only dig a deeper hole.
As you start to explore solutions, the training approach that is right for you in this stage of life will become more clear. It may be that you land on a Masterās Training Plan. Or you might find that you can handle even more intensity than you could previouslt. Let that unfold at the pace your body is guiding you.
I hope you find comfort from having a community of women here who can relate to your experience of having to navigate changing hormone levels and athletic performance. Itās hard but weāre here 
. Be kind to yourself.
Thank you @SarahLaverty ,
and thank you every one else who has taken the time to comment and share your advise and or woes. Itās all been very helpful and much appreciated!
I rode my XC bike out today for 2 hours and tried really hard not to look at any data, tho I did have to check in here and there for hr to make sure it wasnāt going crazy when I felt it was (and it was) but being outside again was good. It was pretty much zone 2 hr and recovery power 
If youāre in the uk right now then you know this is the first day it hasnāt been stormy weather or snow ,I tried a turbo session (recess) on Saturday and it was a disaster, 80 watts saw my hr up to threshold when I tried to push on through 
So,for context this year my training has tanked somewhat spectacularly as on Boxing Day I went otb on my XC bike on a downhill drop jump and broke my collarbone,and my thumb, which also suffered a completely torn UCL. So after surgery for both in January I have a metal plate and 7 screws in my shoulder and had my thumb cast and the ligament sewn back onā¦. The recovery was long , opposite arms aswell so really struggled to remain independent. Anyways this year was all about getting my fitness back and getting over the fact this years race season was over before it had even begun ! I feel iv fought so hard to get myself back , and now to be floored by hormones (which were causing me problems last year but not this bad) itās so frustrating as my fitness has been declining slowly since August, .when Iād just managed to get it almost back (ftp and vo2 max were looking really good )my mental health has taken a real nose dive to say the least.but the docs answers of antidepressants arenāt welcome. I have listened to the podcast , and have the audio book to listen to. thank you, and will discuss hormones with doc Thursday. I had previously managed to factor in my pre period week with a rest week last year, but this year , well the last few months , itās been 2 weeks of disruption ,which really messes up a training plan so I quit. (Was on a masters XC this time last year and this year I just was on the masters general build but couldnāt even do that 
cycling has definitely become a source of stress the last year, but I cant give up trying to make it better as itās all I live for 
Ughāthe crashes make it so much harder! So does having to ride indoors. If you werenāt so far away, Iād insist you come over to the other side of the world to where the weather has finally turned nice. I hope you keep us updated.