To think it’s not normal and ‘just my age’ to be this tired?

[Pompomfloofball]

I’m 42.
I have to children - 16 and 9 and I work four days a week. I’m also a t1 diabetic which does possibly not help and my diet isn’t good. I take a multivitamin and B12.
I am absolutely exhausted - like all the time. I am now turning down things with friends and family because I am just simply too tired. On my non working day the kids say, ‘what are we doing?’and even though it’s the holiday I have to say - nothing. I need to sleep.
in the term time I have been spending my non working day asleep after the school run.

Overnight I get 7 hours sleep and I wake up just thinking about when I can go back to sleep. I’ve just been asleep for three hours despite not getting up took 9am today. When I’m working from home it is inevitable that I’ll fall asleep - even if I don’t mean to.
Im exhausted after a short walk.

I saw the GP and he basically said you aren’t 20 anymore and you’re in peri so what do you expect. He grudgingly booked bloods for this week for me.

I’m not overweight - bmi is around 19/20. I don’t smoke / vape or drink. My diet is sketchy - I am not interested in food because of being t1 possibly and I know I don’t have much iron or really any fresh food.

Essentially is it normal to be so exhausted at 42 that I cannot do everyday stuff and what I actually want is to spend all day, every day asleep. Even getting up and dressed some days is a huge effort and I’m exhausted again afterwards.

Am I just lazy??

two
think it missed my w!

I agree it’s not normal to be so tired.
I’m 59 and definitely often feel tired. but never to the degree of turning down daytime activities as I’m so tired! Definitely some more tests are in order.

So you “don’t have much iron”

might be worth addressing that then OP

sounds like your diet does need some big improvements . Literally we are what we eat.

I think you have answered your own question actually. Its all in the diet. Your bloods will also give an indication of anything lacking.

Work out a sensible level of food that you can easily manage with your T1 - a good mix of proteins, veg/fruit and some carbs, your diabetic nurse can likely help with this. Make sure you are eating smaller, more regular meals and drink plenty of fluids.

Stick to it for a month and see how you feel.

Anaemia seems likely.
I felt better after improving my diet tho and Eve better after starting hrt

Sounds like you have a poor diet and don’t get enough sleep. I would work on changing them.

If you’re honest

what is a normal’s day intake of food op?

Piece of toast.
Bag of crisps at lunchtime.
Maybe a bar of chocolate. Mid afternoon
couple of pieces of toast in the evening.
usually eat out once a week and will have pasta or something then.

but it’s always been like that and I’ve not felt like this before. My bloods are less predictable thanks to peri and they are much easier if I don’t eat a lot. I’ve not seen anyone in person since before Covid and trust me - they aren’t interested.
Would being low in iron make me THIS tired?

Seven hours is not enough sleep so you’re in constant sleep deficit. You need to adjust your bedtime.

Your diet is shocking. Basically you’re malnourished. You need protein, fresh fruit and vegetables. No wonder you’re exhausted.

What's your hba1c like? Given one of the symptoms of diabetes is tiredness, you're probably always going to struggle to some extent unless your hba1c is that of a non diabetic (which according to my consultant is near on impossible to achieve as a T1). I am also a T1 btw and would say tiredness is a huge issue for me.

But your diet sounds quite carb heavy for a T1. While I can't eliminate the tiredness and have to accept I'll never have the hba1c of a non diabetic, I find eating less carbs does help to a degree

I was recently borderline anemic and you sound exactly the same as I was when I went to the doctor. Only difference is that I was also breathless with physical exertion.

Being T1 means you should take all the more interest in your diet - my child is T1.

Sounds like you’ve got away with that diet for a long time but now it’s not enough to even keep you awake. I’ve been there myself, when I’ve stopped noticing what I’m eating and ended up surviving on carb spikes then crashing.

I would say you diet is poor. Are you having your thyroid checked? That can cause awful fatigue. Hope you get some answers

Are your periods heavy, that could cause anemia

Anaemia made me as tired as you sound. I could not get to the top of the stairs without feeling breathless, had to have a snooze at lunchtime etc - it crept up on me over a couple of years, I didn't notice a sudden dramatic change so I just put it down to peri. Eventually I did go and see the doctor and my iron levels were virtually non-existent. High dose of iron sorted me out with a noticeable difference within about a week!

My a1c last time (six months ago - I didn’t see anyone but had a two min call with a consultant following a blood test) was 46. So pretty tight. It always has been. It usually between 44 and 48.

It sucks because I agree it is a large part of feeling so exhausted but no one ever sees how hard it is to just manage it 24/7 and I look healthy so no allowance is made.
I read when we are outside of target range our bodies have to work 7 times harder just to live.

I know my diet is poor. Unfortunately the hassle of keeping myself alive every day makes me inclined to not bother much beyond that 🤣

I think the answer likely lies in your diet.

Food is the medicine our body uses to fuel us. Quite literally the petrol we put in our car.

You may also be eating things that are triggering your diabetes (I'm no expert on this!)

I would consider revisiting the foundations:

• how is your sleep?
• are you drinking plenty of water a day? Suggest also adding a green tea.
• make sure you have a fruit and or veg at every meal and try for majority wholefoods
• get a walk or some exercise in every day (doesn't need to be extreme, even just 15 mins in the living room doing some squats if not much time).
• consider stress. Stress can make us tired no matter what else is going on!
• talk to your doctor.

I appreciate you said you've always eaten this way and you were fine but our bodies tend to be less forgiving with time!

I know eating healthier can feel intimidating when you've not for a while so some fairly easy go tos:

• hummus and carrots/Cucumber
• brown toast with peanut better, sliced banana and dark chocolate
• small bowl of Blueberries and walnuts
• apple with peanut butter
• Fish, peas, Broccoli and sweet potato
• cous cous with veg

Science also suggests women need more sleep ESPECIALLY during peri. So if you can possibly have 8-9 hours (and I appreciate not always possible) that might help.

My periods aren’t heavy but are now every two or three weeks. They’ve always been between 26 and 28 days so never long cycles but I’ve had three since Christmas which were only 12 days apart. And the others have been more like 21-24 days.

I have a T1 friend, for whom menopause played absolute hell with her sugars. If you're not on a pump yet this could make a big difference, as they can use AI to "learn" how your body works and adjust accordingly.

Food is fuel for the body.. You're putting in carbs and it sounds like you're eating extremely low cal as well as a diet lacking in essential nutrients like protein and fat and vitamins. If your iron's on the low side and you don't get enough sleep, you've got multiple lifestyle factors contributing to your tiredness on top of your diabetes.

Garbage in, garbage out. You can't expect to feel well when you put crap into your body and don't take care of yourself. It's eventually going to take a significant health toll.

This is me, it started in early 40s, now 50.

I spend my days off asleep. I finish work at 4 and need to lie down from exhaustion.

I try and get an hour nap on my lunch break and am in bed by 930.

The tiredness is unreal.

Bloods are perfect, I get b12 injections and hrt.

Go to gym 3 times a week and force myself to do a minimum of 10k steps a day except for the weekend where I just stay in bed sleeping

This is me, it started in early 40s, now 50.

I spend my days off asleep. I finish work at 4 and need to lie down from exhaustion.

I try and get an hour nap on my lunch break and am in bed by 930.

The tiredness is unreal.

Bloods are perfect, I get b12 injections and hrt.

Go to gym 3 times a week and force myself to do a minimum of 10k steps a day except for the weekend where I just stay in bed sleeping

Thank you - yes I have a closed loop system. It’s actually made my control slightly worse but I do now have fewer nights broken sleep (I used to wake up every hour or so and manually check my sugars) so I’ve accepted it.
the closed loop system is scared to let you go low so will let me sit at around 10mmol for hours unless I correct it - which I do. It doesn’t give me enough background insulin generally. But overall I’ve accept the slight increase in a1c as the trade off for sleeping better overnight.