Adele Johnston, a Scottish double gold bodybuilding champion, suffered from a range of symptoms including hair loss, bleeding gums, heart palpitations, itchy skin, and painfully swollen genitals. For years, she endured scans and painful tests to determine what was causing her illness. Eventually, it was discovered that she was in her early perimenopause, a stage that occurs before a woman’s period stops. Generally, this stage begins when a woman is 46 years old, but Adele was in her early 30s at the time.
Adele’s grueling diets and fitness routines left her constantly hungry and exhausted. She admits that she was pushing her body to its limits both physically and mentally. “Bodybuilding is an extreme sport, and I wasn’t healthy,” she said. Furthermore, she suffered from heart palpitations, cold sweats, and bloating in her abdomen. She even suffered from pain in her vulva, which caused her to stand at her desk during work.
Adele is now a menopause coach, as her debilitating symptoms forced her to resign from her position as an operational resilience manager in an investment bank. She is now on HRT and a Mirena coil, which completely stops her monthly periods. She is currently feeling better and is not willing to discontinue the medication to see if her cycle has recovered.
Vicky McCann, the chairwoman of the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation, has responded to this subject by stating that any possible link between bodybuilding and early perimenopause is an interesting area of research. Jessica Watson, the co-founder of menopause education organization Gloriah, has stated that she has come across many other stories like Adele’s and that more research is needed into the causes of early menopause
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