Hello I am Debi and I am..

a Facebook addict. My daughter finally confronted me this AM with this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-stiles/help-im-addicted-to-faceb_b_166726.html

Now I find myself losing hours and hours and finding random people on these social networking sites. Is that a bad thing? I love it and do not want to quit. If I start receiving naked pictures, well the I may consider it (well depends I guess)..ha!

My whole world has opened up with Facebook. I keep daily track of my closest friends, my family, even random people I haven't seen in years. It is the next best thing to having a job except you don't have to work!

Random thoughts by a menopausal athlete....

I just realized I am one of those women! I am my grandmother, one of those post menopausal "older women". Will someone please let my psyche in on this? My teenage mind and soul does not know this yet on a lot of levels. As someone said, menopause is like adolescence only in reverse. Traumatic, dramatic, emotional...

I came to this realization on a more clear level recently although my body has been trying to tell me for about 4 years now..Lab work says:

Estrogen: ZERO
Progesterone: ZERO
Testosterone (women have this too): A LITTLE
DHEA: A LITTLE

As Dread Pirate says, I am an empty vessel. Now on alot of levels this is a relief. The hot flashes, the fog brain, memory loss, difficulties sleeping, etc. has a reason. Yes it is nature's way of f%^*ing with your whole life, that is all. Did I mention anger and anoyance is part of this huge life change? I am especially annoyed that I went to my gynecologist 4 years ago regarding my sleep issues, who sent me to a sleep doctor instead of checking my hormones. And this person specializes in women's issues? He is male..not that that should matter-but I am pissed!! The sleep doctor (also male) did what he does: prescribe meds. Again, no mention of hormones, or menopause..It is not like I am in my 20's or something. Is menopause a taboo subject or something in the medical world? OK here is the biggest lesson I am learning throughout this whole process. There is no doctor, medical professional who is going to take charge of my health. EVER!! I am in charge of my body, my medical care, my health research, my treatments, health records, disease prevention..I have known this but for some reason my denial would not let me do this around menopause until now..

Well, anyway to make a long story short, I am now armed with several hormone creams that I get to slather on a couple of times a day, which seems like a pain in the ass but if it helps all of the above, I will be happy. I had another weird lab value that needs to be followed but I am not too concerned with that..

Oh and just for kicks, I stopped drinking coffee, which gets a bad rap with some folks, others feel it is a cure all for disease prevention. So I am going down the middle and drinking green tea...also taking more supplements, vitamin C, Vitamin D and calcium, etc...

My training is going well. Running is my predominate sport at the moment although somehow, in a weak moment, DP talked me into, inspired me to, something..anyways I ended up in a 2 hour spin class at 5:30 AM yesterday. A class that lasts 10 weeks and is run by a bipolar crazy ex-pro cyclist who thinks it is fun to yell at people on spin bikes. BUT, I have taken his class many times in years past, and know it helps with overall fitness...and it is REALLY hard when you are in it..I am committed however because H is convinced I will never do all 10 sessions (just watch me buddy) and DP will be there every week so I am held accountable to people...
I am just in the mood to change things up a bit..thus the spin class. I am also looking into a different weight routine, the current one is boring me to death..

We added another event to our ever growing calendar: The Tour de Phoenix, the first week in April. Invited by friends with a place to stay and someone taking our bikes-how could we say no? The wind should be familiar!

I am still doing running class on Fridays..it sucks like the spin class but will make me faster and sore and probably more bitchy but the end may be a good placing at Buffalo Springs half IM..

Did I mention that H and I are looking at this? Please God, let me come to my senses before I do another IM this year!

Update from the Rocky Mountains..

Here I sit gazing out the window at Becca's house. The sun is shining here in Colorado and the air always seems crisper here. I am here to see Becca, Dan and of course little Hadley:

This is a funny picture of her. It is fun to dress up little babies and laugh!

Something I hope she doesn't remember as trauma..

Being almost 3 months old, she is not doing too many tricks yet but she does coo and smile, fart, poop and sleep. She is such a mellow baby-I think she has her mom's temperament!

I have managed to run a couple of times here. Yesterday did a 10 miler and yes-those speed workouts seem to be helping a bit..Eric has been holding "Run form and drills" ie; "Run and Die", every Friday. I have been to two so far..that last one almost killed me. My HR was so high I could not breathe at times. It doesn't help that there is a 30 something 6 foot really athletic triathlete running with us..he pushes us into another decade..I roped Cindy into going with me last Friday. It was a selfish move..I wanted someone to suffer with me to be honest..

Today I missed the workout (oh well)..because of being here. I am babysitting tonite-that will be fun. I love the little ones! But oh, how I tear up when she cries! I am sure that is something hormonal. The patience and strength it takes to raise a little one is beyond my capability...that makes me feel old..

The rest of my training has gone to hell since I have been here but that's OK. Lots of time before Buffalo Springs, the OC Marathon..

Tomorrow I am off to take the big plane home...

January..

Totals for January:

Bike-150 miles
Run-70 miles
Swim 900 yds.

Weights: 3 hrs. 30 min.
Snowshoeing: 2 times..

I think I need to get my arse in the pool!

And now a word about the big "M"

Listen, if you are male, or under the age of 35, you probably won't give a crap about this post, so STOP reading NOW! I didn't care 20 years ago. Although I probably should have..

Let's just say that I have become increasingly aware of the fact that I want to break up with my gynecologist that I have been seeing for 15 years or so. He has thrown hormones at me for years, with never really listening to me and my symptoms of the big "M". I found some office samples of this in my medicine cabinet today which I never took. I had no idea what they were, why he was giving them to me although I had a vague idea it had something to do with hot flashes 3 years ago. I have dabbled in HRT over the years, although there were always males involved in my decisions of what to take. The "expert" in bio identical hormones at the local compounding pharmacist (male), although a phone conversation about my symptoms just didn't do it for me as far as following my progress as I lathered on the hormone cream everyday hoping for a miracle for the "7 dwarfs of menopause":

Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful, and All Dried Up.

I coined this phrase from Suzane Sommers, who was on Oprah yesterday and discussing bioidenticals HRTs as if they were the second coming...If every middle aged woman in America does not go out and get these hormones today as result of her testimony, I would be shocked. She (and Robin Mcgraw, Phil's wife) said that she has NEVER felt BETTER in her LIFE, EVER! And she is 60 years old...
I WANT SOME OF THAT!

So I am on a quest to deal with my own hormonal issues this year, 2009. The hormones Dr. D has given me in the past have either
A: not worked or
B: made me gain weight.
B does it make me feel fantastic because our wonderful culture has decided that skinny is good! Now why can't I live in this culture, where fat is beautiful? OK, that is a bit extreme and these women are abused and suffering health risks but why do we have to feel like we are fat if we are over 20 BMI?
This may be something I never get over..

So back to my quest to deal with menopause. I went to see a Nurse Practitioner this week who specializes in HRT, bio identical hormone replacement to be exact. She actually ordered blood tests? Imagine that! I asked that the test results be sent to me also (you can do that you know-a little known fact). I have my own medical file with notes and test results for other things. It is time that we all become in charge of our own health care, as we watch the HMO's take over the world. Just give a menopausal woman a reason to be pissed and here I am pissed at the health care system! Do you know that doctors are expected to see 5 patients an hour?.I digress..

Oprah is waking up all women of the world to this issue! I LURV Oprah! She and I are the same age so each year she gives us info about whatever stage in life she is going through so all I have to do is follow her along and I get all the ideas and info I want for whatever life stage I am in.

Along with my new medical approach to the big "M" I am armed with new books:

"The Wisdom of Menopause" by Christiane Northrup, MD-the guru of menopause
"What's Age Got to Do With It?" by Robin McGraw-yes Dr. Phil's wife..it is actually quite good and yes she is my age too.
I am about to get Suzanne Somers book: "Breakthrough" also...She is a bit extreme and has gobs of money to invest in supplements and doctors but I am like a sponge right now around this issue.

Also found this website, where women seem to contemplate the latest menopause issues as well.

I have been having symptoms of "perimenopause" for probably 20 years but the real deal crept up on me about 3 years ago. I have been to many different medical professionals about the symptoms but never really have gotten to the bottom of all of it. Maybe this is a fantasy that hormones, vitamins or eating differently will cure me-I would like a quick fix for my sleepless nights and hot flashes!

Tune in for more on the "Big M"..