To want to know why I feel so tired/ill all the time!!

[Bamboozle30001]

I'm 41, 5ft 7in 12 stone and I strength train for half an hour 4 days a week. I do under 20k steps due to being a cleaner 5 days a week. I eat very well and log my food on myfitnesspal.

Last week doctors thought my gallbladder was inflamed but, bloods, urine and a further physical exam all came back fine. Then why for the love of God am I am ALWAYS tired?Energy drinks or black coffee do nothing. I sleep for 8 hours.

I'd had a previous blood test a few weeks back as I suspected perimenopause but apart from high reading of b12...which I have no idea where that came from as I don't eat much in the way of the foods mentioned that are fortified, or take vitamin supplements either. I do have fibroids, but still I constantly feel tired and just generally unwell. Like the feeling that you're coming down with a cold, just run down all the bastard time.

Would it be worth getting a private doctor and see if there's any other tests or something because I am fed up of feeling like this.

According tonl myfitnesspal I get enough based on the 50 30 20 set up, but i will increase even more.

My dd had been diagnosed eds we went to a private rheumatologist as waiting lists are about 2 years, and he did a few checks on her hands and said she’s hyper mobile and said it’s likely eds.
She is hyper mobile but not as much as I am and I was surprised at the diagnosis.
It was actually our second appointment and she was scanned for rheumatoid arthritis and other tests.

We would be the other way round to you and your dd. I am probably a 9/9 and she would probably be a 5 but i don’t have eds symptoms.
She also has fibromyalgia, under active thyroid and probably pots and mcas, we are in the process of investigating pots and although the mcas test came back negative it was taken in it straight after a flare so im not sure the result is totally accurate but trying to get anyone to listen is like banging my head off the wall.

Don’t be ridiculous. The symptoms are real. Educate yourself

Waking up at 4am everyday is likely to be a massive cause of your chronic tiredness and ill feeling.

I have friends who used Nutrition Geeks

Yes I this can’t be helping. You likely do need more rest.

Hello OP, just wanted to hand over some and hope you feel much better soon. I had blood tests at the GP as I was struggling to recover from a virus and had been feeling wiped out for months. I had borderline ferritin and borderline vit D. After a few weeks of supplements I started feeling a lot more human.

Advice on this thread re. a whole food diet without the energy drinks/powders/waffles, together with required vit supplements, seems sensible to me. But I do hope you have the support of a good GP too x

The iron you've got is higher than a normal multivitamin, but not proper high dose. Use those up to start with but then go to an actual pharmacy counter and ask for high strength supplement - they will be able to give you much stronger ones than you can buy off the shelf. Mine is 305mg (ferrous fumerate).

Take it on a completely empty stomach - with plain vitamin C. Not a multivitamin, not C with zinc. Other minerals stop you absorbing the iron properly. So do caffeine. And dairy. And some of the compounds in pulses. No food or drink other than water for at least 1 hour before and after, ideally 2.

And as others said, the energy drink is doing you no good at all. Find another treat. Even a scoop of ice cream would be a better option.

Thank you so much

Most food intolerance tests are utter rubbish. Food diary and elimination diet is the only reliable option if you suspect you have one.

Cut out caffeine. It's incredibly addictive - the short lived energy burst it supplies fades very quickly. You then slump and crave more caffeine until your next hit. It's a vicious circle.

Expect awful withdrawal headaches for the first few days.

You poor thing, you sound very overwhelmed and ping-ponging from hoped-for-solution to hoped-for-solution.

I'd write a list of all the suggestions and then order them by most likely / easiest to implement.

Personally I would

• cut out energy drinks. I know people who drank a lot of them as students and felt much better when they gave them up. Sorry. Even if not the ultimate cause, they are terrible for you. I'd find something else to view as a treat.
• I'd cut out caffeine in general, as it is known to increase anxiety, so I wonder if you'd feel less anxious without it. I know several people who felt much less anxious when they cut it out. Hopefully also improved iron adsorption and improved sleep.
• reduce water intake to 1.5-2l per day.
• Start an iron supplement take with a satsuma/vitamin C source.

After that,

• I'd swap 0% yoghurt to full fat Greek yoghurt as 0% is upf with added junk.
• I'd cut out protein powder (or at least check the ingredients - some has a lot of sugar and unknown stuff added).
• breakfast can be anything you like if it's not upf. So full fat Greek yoghurt with chopped fruit on top. Left over chicken from dinner. Peanut butter on toast. Porridge. Eggs and nuts. Any food can be breakfast food!

After that, if I still felt the same, I'd be exploring further testing.

I feel ok today. Ive just taken the iron tablets i got from amazon, along with the ones i got from the shop (i had those this morning) and Im feeling pretty good. Lunch I had lettuce, tomatoes, avocado woth 2% fat mince and a dijon mustard dressing with some full fat greek yoghurt.

I had a black coffee instead of my pipeline punch though.

Just make sure you dont have the coffee within an hour of the iron tablets. Its best to take the iron first thing then wait at least an hour for coffee or tea.

Shit..... Im having a second cuppa now. Whats gonna happen will I get the runs or something?

The iron won’t absorb - better to have orange juice

Honestly do not underestimate perimenopause. I did and was much like you from 41-45. Started HRT and my god the difference is very noticeable in energy levels.

Yes this ... ferrous fumarate is not expensive to buy.

Also that wasn’t my experience at all. My experience was my periods became a bloodbath needing medication to stop them as I was also bleeding for weeks at a time.

Please speak to your GP about perimenopause and just because they are young doesn’t mean you’ll get fobbed off. All the symptoms you describe sound so similar to the ones I had.

I'll have to buy it online somehow as i have mentioned to doctors i suspect it is but get told no. My periods have always been heavy but since having our ds, i have to wear incontinence nappies when im on. I have fibroids but my periods used to last for a week, now they last 4 or 5 days. I have 2 or 3 days of flooding then it goes.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have been tired pretty much all my life haha. Having a child made it worse and im lucky to have a very involved dh with our son. He has and still does the lions share for caring for ds, such as playing and bath time etc. I had pnd but I have missed out on so much time to bond with ds as ive been tired. I dont have the energy to play with him much at all and for the last few weeks of summer holidays he just sat watching telly whilst playing with his toys.

If you drink too much water your body will just dispose of it in the normal way. I wouldn't worry about that.

As an above poster said - you have a full on physical job, a 5 year old, and you are strength training 4 x a week.

That is a pretty exhausting life and you are in your early 40's... you may be perimenopausal. It could be that your life is just full on, combined with your age/ hormones.

Check thyroid please. Also what are you doing to alight your soul
x

I probably havent explained my jobs well but i really dont do much. I clean for 2 hours innthe morning, then i go home, take our son tonschool or dh does if hes wfh. Then i exercise, sit on my arse, have lunch,then a shower then leave for another 2 hour cleaning job then go home, have dinner, sit, then put ds to bed then i go to sleep.