To ask how tired you feel most days?

[Blushingviolet]

I am 40 and I am exhausted. I have a reasonably demanding full time job and two kids and all I can do is work and that’s it. I can’t go out or do anything and my weekends are spent recovering from the working week. In the week I’m up at 6am and on the go until about 10pm when my kids finally go to bed.

im having to use my half hour lunch break for a sleep in the car. I am absolutely exhausted. I sit down on the sofa and go to sleep at any given opportunity.

is this just how old age is? I will say I had bloods about six months ago and my iron level came back at 12 but the Gp said the range was from 11 up to about 300 or so I think?
She also said that my B12 levels were amongst the lowest she’s ever seen and recommended I had a supplement but I’ve not bothered because I can’t believe it’ll make that much difference. I took it sporadically initially but then gave up.

How tired is normal for my age?

I think it could well be your B12 - low levels can make you very feel very tired.
It will take some time to improve on tablets and longer if you don’t take them consistently.

I started a similar thread earlier on the Menopause board! I'm quite a bit older than you - nearer to 50 - and I have this sometimes. It's not constant for me though, just a few days every month or so, so I assume fluctuating hormone levels. In your case I'd say you're too young for it to be age and would go back to the GP to see if you can get any answers.

40 is not old age!

That doesn’t sound normal, especially needing a sleep at lunchtime, not able to do anything outside of work, and your weekends spent recovering from the working week.

How is your sleep at night? What time do you go to bed? Do you feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning? How do you feel after exercise?

Your tiredness, seems excessive ,you should get it checked out.I am ten years older and don't feel as tired as you.It doesn't sound right.Areyour kids very small?
Even then sounds a bit excessive.

No that’s not normal. You need to find out what your b12 results were and what the labs reference range was. It’s possible the gp didn’t deal with the results as seriously as they could have.

You've basically just explained the reason why you feel so tired and also explained you've not bothered to try and fix it...
Take a multivitamin, take b12 tablets , make sure your diet is good and increase physical activity, start slow and build up and guarantee your energy levels will improve. simple.

No, my kids are late primary / early secondary.
I do have a chronic condition which means sometimes my sleep is disrupted and probably once a week I get a night where I might only get an hour or so.

Im just so tired. I make plans but have to cancel because push comes to shove I’d rather sleep than anything else.
I rarely ever exercise because by the time I’ve finished work and sorted my kids it’s late and then at the weekend I’m just too tired.

56, work part time 29 hours , do all the care for elderly mother , personal trainer 4 times a week .. I literally have nothing extra left to give. Most nights I’m in bed by 21:00 and do not even suggest anything social after 7pm. I cannot wait to retire and have a rest from all the shit that drains me… work of course I mean work !

A while ago I went through a phase of sleeping constantly I had bloods done and my folate was low it must have been caused by my diet as I was not eating much at all. I took the tablets as prescribed and I've never felt that tired since, I was dubious about them making a difference too. I think you've made a mistake not taking the tablets. I've never felt like I did then, I would sleep whenever I sat on the sofa.

Exhausted, but also simultaneously unable to sleep. Good old perimenopause!!!

Have a course of B12 injections.

I did used to feel like this when I was severely anaemic so I don’t understand why you aren’t taking the medication they advised?

after they sorted out my anaemia (I had surgery which was the only solution for me) I did still feel rubbish a lot and sorry to say it was pretty much my diet. I was not sleeping well, waking up, tired all day but when I changed what I eat and got more exercise I feel so much better.

you need to go back and talk to them about your deficiencies and address those and then hopefully this will set you on a better path

This! Take the supplements plus OTC iron supplement (with orange juice to help absorb it) and give it time to work. If no improvement go back to the doctor.
If your kids aren't already helping you out in any way get them involved to take some of the load off you.

Vitamin , the word is made from vital and amine, which is a word for unknown substance.
Vitamins are vital to health. We literally die if we don’t have them.

you are short of two things that cause a kind of anaemia, the biggest symptom of which is exhaustion.

take iron and get some massive doses of B12 to get your levels to normal.

A level biology taught me this, so take your Drs advice and take the things that will literally save your life, and stop the exhaustion

And red blood cells take three months to be completely replaced, so it will take at least that long to properly Feel better.

Low B12 can cause irreversible nerve damage, so get started this evening on a high dose if you can get to a supermarket

I’ve said YABU as you’ve literally been told your B12 was through the floor and you’ve done nothing about it.
Also, if 12 is your actual ferritin level that’s too low as well.

B12 and low iron will absolutely make you feel as tired as this. Get another blood test and correct those things first.

Also, one a day iron vitamins won’t be strong enough. They will just ‘maintain’ your level as it is now. You’d need stronger ones

I have low b12 and a daily vitamin tablet really makes a difference. I also have a high strength vitamin D. The doc said I could have b12 injections if taking a vitamin tablet didn’t work.

I've got pernicious aneamia and I know that being low on B12 can cause all kinds of physical and mental symptoms and ultimately kill you.

Stop being so flippant and take responsibility for your own health.

Seems very ridiculous to go to a doctor ask why you're so tired, they advice you on your B12 levels and you go "fuck that" and then wonder why you're still tired?? Why waste the doctors time if you're not going to pay any attention to what they say??

You're getting older, your body is changing and you need some supplements to help you. It's shit but factual! Sort the B12, take some extra strength vit D and see how you get on.

Pick up some supplements in the grocery shop and start taking them - it’s a relatively easy healthy habit to start with and if you can get a small bit of momentum going it might feel easier to make some other changes.

I feel absolutely exhausted most days. 43, live a nice life - minimal stress, older children, part time worker etc - had bloods taken and nothing to show which is frustrating

I expected low iron, as I'm prone to that, but nope!

Most days I feel like I'm walking through treacle

Your iron levels are quite low (was that serum ferritin). Take the supplements, you can get sublingual b12, I just take a vitamin c tablet with my iron.

@Blushingviolet low b12 can be brutal and make you feel like shit. I had extremely low levels in last tri of pregnancy I was very poorly and had a crash course of injections and literally felt alive again.