Tired and hungover feeling all the time

[RedHeadedSnippet]

Even when not drinking! I’m so lethargic, tired and headachey. I’ve tried cutting things out in my diet (eg careful with sugar or not drinking alcohol, which I did for 3 months) Nothing makes a difference! In fact having a glass of wine helps keep me awake a little longer when I do have it, otherwise I’m ready for bed at 4 or 5. For info im 44, average weight. Went to doctor a year ago and bloods were normal.

My anxiety has also gone through the roof. What a state!

So many doctors really are absolutely shit at knowing anything about the menopause. I despair.

Yes it’s weird isn’t it - if I have to stay up late it’s the only thing that will keep me going

Sounds like you need full bloods done.

You’re not too young for the menopause, different women different ages and very, very different experiences!
What is your daily routine? Has anything changed?

@RedHeadedSnippet this was exactly me, to the extent that I gave up drinking anything at all and still felt hungover every morning (and really dehydrated all the time). But I’ve just been diagnosed with sleep apnoea which explains so much of my symptoms.

Does your partner say if you snore? DH and I usually have separate rooms as he snores; but I went away for a break with a friend sharing a hotel room, and she told me she could hear me stopping breathing in the night. It took me ages to convince my GP to refer me to the sleep clinic, but it turns out I do have sleep apnoea and this is causing my fatigue, headaches, dehydration, sinus problems and reflux (and probably other stuff too!) Go and speak to your GP for an assessment just in case.

If you are getting repeat blood tests, I think earlyish morning is best for thyroid. Maybe someone can confirm? Not all doctors know this - I had very different results with a fasting morning test and an early afternoon test. I don't think anyone has mentioned iron yet - low iron could make you tired, and/or low iron stores (ferritin), and the 'normal' range doesn't mean optimal, so you could have 'normal' results and it might still be too low for you.

I hope you get to the bottom of this, sounds miserable.

Perimenopause

Spot on @AllLopsided. Early morning is best for thyroid tests as thyroid hormones rise naturally throughout the day.

Also, biotin (or vitamin b7) can interfere with thyroid tests. It's in supplements and some foods are high in it.

Hence general best practice is to have your thyroid tested early morning on an empty stomach.

As an aside though, your symptoms sound exactly like mine when my ferritin was really low (it got down to 4 at its lowest point).

I second others that have warned that the NHS ranges for test results aren't exactly geared to feeling "optimal"!

I was like this for years until I was investigated for something else & a blood test came back as showing me severely Vitamin D deficient.
Now my Vit D levels are normal but I do have to take 2000iu of Vit D everyday as if I go lower or miss it for a good few days I can tell as I start to feel lethargic & everything aches especially my legs.

44 is absolutely not too young for perimenopause. I started mid 30s, my first symptoms were anxiety and palpitations.

Do you feel tired in the back of the crown of your head? That’s when I know I need to up my Vit D. Weirdly precise.

This.
My GP told me all my bloods were normal.I got a copy which showed my B12 was one point inside the normal range, far too low. A course of B12 loading injections later I felt so much better.

Low ferritin? Makes you feel like you're wading through treacle from the second you wake up

I have ME/CFS and this is familiar. It's a diagnosis of exclusion, though - it basically means tested for all possible causes, none found, symptoms real. With an unknown cause, there's no effective treatment.

So what I'm saying is I really, really hope you don't have it too. Please do keep going back to your doctor and don't downplay it. Some of your tests should identify a cause, hopefully one that's easily treated like a nutritional or hormonal deficiency, or even something like heart failure (!) that can be well managed.

Fingers crossed

Thank again all - I will ask for an early morning appt (that’s so helpful to know re thyroid @AllLopsided). I’ll also get new bloods and then I’ll ask to see the results. I might post on here as I doubt it will mean anything to me!

last time checked I was told iron, vit d etc all good.

no snoring

No change, daily routine is up and get kids to school, work (mostly) from home, cook dinner for everybody, kids to bed, bed myself. I take advantage of working from home to rest when I need to and there are times (especially before my period) where I feel so exhausted I go to bed early (say 4,5,6) and leave my husband to deal with the dinner and kids because I’m just too headachey and tired. I seem to get bursts of this being extra bad around ovulation and pre-period. But honestly it feels like I only feel ok for a few days every month.

These were my perimenopause symptoms from around 40. Until 47, doctors were saying my ‘bloods didn’t indicate this’ but I’m sure it started well before doctors were prepared to help me. Also accompanied by sulphite allergy in wine. (There is an Ullo filter you can buy for wine which makes a difference.) My anxiety went through the roof - something that had never troubled me before. HRT has helped and I seem to be out the other side now after several years. Regular exercise also helped me, which is so difficult to feel like doing when you are knackered, but it helps if you can find something you like doing.

Thyroid function?

Ha! @ocelot3, I got the sulphite allergy with menopause, too. And dairy. Those sulphite-eating sprays & filters work for me, shame there isn't one for cheese.

I was like this in perimenopause, no amount of sleep helped. It passed but it was brutal.

Dehydration?

I saw Liz Earle do an Instagram post saying you could achieve the same effect by stirring a stainless steel spoon in wine before drinking

Yep. I saw that but don’t buy it. My sleep is too important to take the risk when I know the filters work!

I’m 3 days post a 10 day period now and feel wiped out again, like I’m ovulating. Another early night for me. I’ve had enough of the whole thing and am headed back to the gp - have an appt in 2 weeks. Thanks everybody for all this helpful advice, it’s meant i can go being clear about optimum timing for blood treats and given me a bit more
confidence to push for something over than another dismissal. Cheers!