To have had a week off exercise due to perimenopause exhaustion

[Cheeseplease1976]

I am 48, In perimenopause and really feeling like I am fighting against the weight gain! I do 2 high impact interval classes a week, run once a week and then walk a lot to. I suspect I am not doing enough exercise but I have been increasing it gradually as trying to get fit.

But I am bloody exhausted and this week have just needed a week off from it and I feel ridiculous. I am not even doing loads really but I feel achy and old. My joints ache, my knee has been dodgy and I had to have a nana nap yesterday after a walk!

I am getting my bloods checked but I am pretty sure it’s perimenopause because it varies with my cycle.

Anyone else find this? I feel like I am young still in the big scheme of things but I feel like a granny at times 😬

"Feel like a granny" is a nasty phrase. So stereotypical. At 48 you are quite old enough to be an actual granny.

Do it.

I’m having a nice gentle bike ride instead of swimming today as the peri-menopause fucked up my sleep last night.

Btw vitamin B can help fatigue.

It's absolutely fine. It's counter-productive to exercise when you are fatigued.

However, you do need to address the issue, by checking bloods and / or investigating HRT options.

You could take iron tablets? Do you think you eat enough iron rich foods?

At 48 you are mostly likely peri meno - it’s classic age. Unless you have done through early meno for various reasons it’s safe to say every 48 year old female is peri. It’s like puberty - no escaping it!

When I don't feel like HIIT or a run, I find a yoga or barre workout on YouTube and do that for 30mins or so. I particularly like Nourish Move Love's power yoga and barre. It makes me feel so much better.

Definitely get the iron levels checked. I have been feeling wiped out for months and have rationed myself on exercise as it was too tiring.
My levels were found to be very low but not anemic (periods have been awful) and I am now taking tranexamic acid and iron tablets and already feel much better.

Do you enjoy the exercise you do? I genuinely enjoy most exercise that I do but I love to skate. So when I'm feeling tired or not in the mood to exercise for various reasons, I still want to skate because even though it is exercise, that's not it's function to me. So it could be worth finding your thing that while technically exercise, is to just something you love doing and will only ever skip when you know your body really needs the rest.

It sounds like you are doing plenty of exercise.
Running will aggravate your knee, perhaps you need to swap that for something else.
I need a nap the day after I drink, and I only have two glasses !
Perhaps you need to look at your diet.

The is might be of interest:

www.newsonhealth.co.uk/uploads/2021/07/Perimenopause-and-HRT-Feb-22-2.pdf

I'm the same age and I don't think YABU. Sometimes we have to listen to our body and take some days off.
That said, I do find that sometimes just getting started will cause the fatigue to pass. Sometimes taking a 10-15 minute nap in the afternoon will give me the energy to do a lot more later. It's time well invested.
A check up sounds like a good idea. If all is well there, can you schedule the exercise earlier in the day, when you have more energy?

I frequently feel really tired in the afternoon, but if I make myself go for a walk I don’t feel tired when I get back.
Sometimes you have to push through it.

You’re doing enough exercise but maybe add in a stretching class. I do one which is a mix of yoga, pilates and tai chi - good for joints, muscles, tone and balance among other things

@over50andfab

You’re doing enough exercise but maybe add in a stretching class. I do one which is a mix of yoga, pilates and tai chi - good for joints, muscles, tone and balance among other things

That sounds like what I’m looking for. I want to stretch my body to improve my flexibility, and maintain it.

I would suggest you need to incorporate more weightlifting into your routine. Mainly because of this:

I am not even doing loads really but I feel achy and old. My joints ache, my knee has been dodgy

A lot of people think that lifting weights is ‘bad’ for your joints, and it’s not the case at all. It’s so important to resistance train and increase your protein intake as you get older. Otherwise you’re just doing cardio and not really building much muscle or strengthening your joints.

It’s not bad at all to take some time off, but I would suggest something like 2 decent weightlifting sessions per week, one cardio session and one HIIT session.