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??

You need nutrients in your diet, and with T1 in the equation, it's probably worth seeking specialist support to diversify your diet safely in a controlled manner.

Healthy doesn't have to mean complicated and there's a huge amount of nutritious food that can be made and on your plate within 15 minutes.

I've heard that it's fairly common for T1s to retreat to restricted diets because of the relentless pressure of adapting insulin to keep the condition under control.

Get checked out and tested for deficiencies in case there is more specialised treatment needed, but deficiencies such as anaemia can certainly make people feel like the barely-living dead.

Your diet is shit. Sort it.

Start with a multi vitamin and 1 piece of fruit or veg a day, tiny changes

No it’s not normal to be this tired.

One thing I’ve noticed about getting older though (I’m 38) is that I can’t get by on a rubbish diet anymore. When I was younger I could eat nothing but biscuits all day and feel fine. That just doesn’t work anymore, and iron is absolutely critical to having enough energy in my experience.

So no it’s not normal to be this tired at your age, but I think it IS normal to find you can’t feel good with a rubbish diet anymore.

I was feeling very rough around this time last year. Tired, spaced out and blamed it on peri and grieving.

Bloods showed low iron levels and I had high blood pressure. I started taking iron and vit D and blood pressure tablets. I felt much more myself within a couple weeks.

Your diet sounds dreadful

and yes with children, approaching peri and working does mean feeling tired isn’t unusual especially if you don’t eat properly

your body needs energy at the right time to make use of it - decent breakfast and lunch and a huge diversity of fruit and veg to get all your minerals

Do NOT let your GP convince you this is an age thing OP. It pisses me off when they do that.

Also, do not let them tell you that your bloods are normal without looking at them yourself. NHS cut offs are far lower that optimum levels and it makes all the difference.

A year ago I felt like you and I’m about the same age. I had bloods - they all came back ‘normal’ except they weren’t. All were borderline. So I got strong iron tablets (from the chemist, don’t get the normal OTC ones) a strong Vit D supplement and paid for my own B12 injections and let me tell you, I feel better than I felt ten years ago. All my anxiety disappeared as well!

I was going to suggest seeing a GP but honestly you need to address your diet.

Just because it was fine in the past doesn’t mean it’s ok now and you’re not getting the nutrients your body needs. Lack of protein, fruit and veg, fibre and calcium are all concerning - have you thought about what simple swaps you can do? Even 1 or 2 of the below would make a big difference.. though I think you must realise you could do more?

Breakfast - whole meal toast, with whole nut butter and a banana, or egg/mushroom/spinach/beans. Cereal or a yoghurt?
Lunch/afternoon - crisps with a cheese salad sandwich, or some chopped up carrot/cucumber maybe a dollop of hummus. Handful of nuts alongside the crisps.
Dinner - there are a number of really easy, balanced meal cookbooks now. I like the rukmini iyer tray bakes (airfryered) as they do well for lunches too.

Dont guess what’s wrong with you. Go and see a doctor who will do all the checks on you. Although your diet sounds not good. It could be a number of things. A profession will know what checks to do

Being very low in iron would make you feel like the walking dead. I had it once after a poor diet during a difficult period ( not as bad as yours, no offence intended) and exhaustion was one of the symptoms. I could sleep 12 hours a day and not feel refreshed after it.

You want to feel better, but it really doesn't sound like you want to actually do anything for that to happen. Your diet is truly shocking. If your kids are actually eating anything remotely healthy, then eat the same as them. I don't see what the GP will do other than tell you to improve your diet.

Edit to add, multivitamins are not a replacement for actual food.

Whatever other issues you may have, your diet is terrible.

I felt like death at the end of last year on a much better diet than yours, but not eating enough and nowhere near enough protein. Menopause really changes things. I’m also
BMI 25 so not thin by any means but I just wasn’t eating enough to have energy.

Get some protein shakes or get a blender and some powder. Or get some bottles of Huel. You’ve got to eat some protein. Something you can drink is much easier than eating. I make an iced coffee with soya milk, instant coffee, protein powder and vanilla, I can’t eat in the morning and I feel SO MUCH better for getting that protein in first thing!

Put peanut butter and a banana on your toast.

Find something you like eating that’s nutritious and won’t fuck up your diabetes and just eat it. Eat protein with every meal. Greek yogurt, an egg or a tin of tuna is easy. Food gives you energy! You will feel better and can then tackle potential deficiencies.

@Pompomfloofball

I never usually reply to these threads but really your 'diet' is beyond shocking.
You eat one meal a week. No wonder you are excessively tired. Your body is running on fumes
Just eat something, anything

Here’s the thing in case you’ve missed it:

The reason you feel so tired is because you are barely eating enough to keep body and soul together. And what you are eating has very little value. Your body has managed so far but no longer.
So if you want nothing to change, do nothing.
If you want to feel better; eat better. It’s that simple.

Change your gp and get comprehensive blood tests and hormone checks

Also, could you be depressed. Depression is a physical illness too!

The phrase to use at the gp’s is; that “this level of fatigue is seriously affecting my ability to parent, do my job and manage my every day life”

Boiled egg for breakfast
Tuna salad for lunch
Chicken casserole for dinner
(for example)

Snacks: grapes, nuts and seeds,

(Frozen food is your friend :
frozen salmon steak and frozen veg on a tray and cook in oven)

Drink more water

Go to bed same time as your dc two nights a week

Take vit D, B12 and magnesium glyconate

Take a holiday or sick leave - call in help from family and friends - respond to the red flags your body is waving and tackle this before your health is further compromised.

If you are reluctant to do this for yourself, do it for your dc, but you deserve to feel better op!

Good luck 💐

OP be honest with yourself
Do you have a eating disorder?

You are starving yourself. That's why you are tired all the time - 2 or 3 bits of toast, some crisps and a chocolate bar is going to be under 1000 calories a day, could even be under 700 or 800 if the chocolate bar is something like a 2 finger kitkat.

Not only is what you are eating crap, it's also not enough to properly sustain you, so your body is shutting down all but essential activity to reduce the energy you burn.

And it's a bit obvious you do know that's a big part of the issue, really.
Have you told your GP how little you are eating

Low iron on top of diabetes can definitely make you feel absolutely exhausted!! As a healthcare professional my advice would be -

1. Bloods- which you have done, wait and see what they show, your diabetes might not be as well controlled or anaemia may be worse and that can all be treated if so. May also show something else going on (fighting infection etc) which would cause tiredness. Pre Men doesn’t help!
2. Sorry if I’ve missed this but do you do any exercise? I know you probably feel like you don’t have the energy but it does help, even a small walk every evening to get some fresh air.
3. Start eating better (and more!), even for your diabetes alone! Less refined carbs and sugars, more of the good stuff (I’m sure you know what that is!) Surely your blood sugars on this diet are very low? Hypoglycaemia tiredness is unbearable.
4. Drink water ++
5. Try and get a little more sleep.
6. Try multivitamins x

I was the same and my bloods showed low in folate so I take folic acid now and it made a huge improvement

When you have one autoimmune condition it can be quiet common to get a second. Try to get tested for thyroid, adrenal glands (cortisol) and anemia

Overnight I get 7 hours sleep change your pattern to get nine hours - you are not getting enough sleep.

Sort out your diet.

I think you need to look at the basics.

Nope, definitely not normal. Could you book in with a female GP and ask for full bloods to be taken?

Your diet's appalling. It may not be the whole problem but it is at least a part of it. I think you've just got away with it til now, but you're feeling it now peri and general getting older have kicked in.

I feel like this but I have an underactive thyroid (and also no children). I’d love to wake up feeling refreshed and energised. I can sympathise.

I’d start with getting your bloods done - could just be a vitamin deficiency, but a good place to start.

Haven't RTT but possibly fibromyalgia. It causes that crushing fatigue and desperate need to sleep

You sound malnourished. I suspect an eating disorder or at least disordered eating.

Why not eat as a family OP?