I'm a runner, 52, and though I now alternate exercise biking and running because of knees etc. I still go for a run 3 or so times a week. I notice when exercising hard, how debilitating hot flushes are, and experiencing them in this way really made me realise that hot flushes are NOT JUST hot flushes, they are system/body-wide and really do take a heavy toll overall. I think they're harder on us than we perhaps think since we (or me at least) tend to focus on the heat and sweat, obviously, because that's most apparent.
But because I don't notice the heat/sweating as much while exercising because I'm already hot and sweaty, I very much notice what else comes with the flush: suddenly, this exhaustion and weakness and the feeling I can't go on and will collapse in a heap. I slow down, it passes. But right at that moment, it's also a real emotional slump: I feel like giving up, stopping, walking/getting off the bike. 'Oh Bugger it" sort of thing.
I wonder if others have noticed this. I'm glad I worked out that I should just keep going, at a slower pace, till the "flush" passes. And to not let the "hopelessness" feeling that seems to come with it get me down too much. i.e. to name it "just another bloody hot flush, grrrrr. plod plod plod."
