Menopause exhaustion

[MrsRossPoldark]

How is it possible to feel so exhausted at the end of the day? I'm fit and healthy (even though I've given up running for a bit due to knee problems, not menopause texted). I cycle to work, walk the dog & am generally very active but last few weeks I'm so tired I could cry by about 5pm! Hardly ever see hubby as I go to bed earlier than him anyway but now I'm completely crashed out as soon as I hit the mattress! He works afh all week so by the time he's back on a Friday I'm good for nothing at all.

...related... Not ...texted..!

Yep, the joys. If we're not out I'm in bed before 10, which is before the 15 year old. And I'm like an old woman getting out of bed in the morning. My day between getting up and going to bed is alright though generally.

Do you get night sweats? I have been finding I do, waking up 5/6 times a night. I am totally sleep deprived. My GP has just prescribed HRT gel for me to stop the night sweats. It is early days yet but I hope it kicks in in around two weeks time.

Apparently if we are waking several times a night, the "good" sleep our body needs, it is just not getting, hence the feeling of total exhaustion.

KittiKat: No night sweats [I did that last year!], don't get up during the night [I'm so tired I sleep like the proverbial]

ThroughThickAndThin01: same here - in bed 10:30; DS16 in bed about midnight; DS18 at 2am usually!; DH anywhere between 1 & 3 am [and yes, he says he does try to wake me 'to talk to me' - yeah right - without success & I don't have a headache, I'm just out for the count].

I work p-t and am usually home by 2pm, then have to take a nap before I get going again!

I've had this a few years am 57 now. Started menopause at 52, 3 years of intense hot flashes and night sweats then it calmed down. I still have a dodgy thermostat and get very over heated in bed.
The fatigue though. I used to wonder how I would ever have coped with a full time job when my part time hours left me on my knees.
I've recently discovered I have an inflammatory arthritis and fatigue is a symptom. I don't know whether this was a factor years ago though.

Done a day course "Leadership in running fitness" ha bloody ha!

Couldn't run during practicals as my knees are so sore now. Having Physio & doing exercises daily to strengthen but if anything it's getting worse. As a result of the consant pain I'm struggling to finish the housework when I got back and getting up & down stairs is such a bloody trial!

X-rays show actual knees are fine, but tracking incorrectly hence the pain but that can't be causing the fatigue surely. I'm so tired by the evening i can hardly stand up!

MrsRossPoldark - have you been to the doc about your extreme triedness/exhaustion? You really should. This is not normal! You should have a full blood test. There are many reasons for this of which sex hormones are one (oestrogen and testosterone although the latter is not generally tested for). Thyroid function is another. Iron and vits are others. How old are you and whereabouts in menopause? Joint pain is also a symptoms of menopause.

IfItoldyouIdHavetoKillYou - I presume you are not on HRT? This could help although I don't know anything about inflammaotry arthritis and you have my sympathies there.

Bellaciao: had full blood tests earlier this year which confirmed peri-menopause. No other issues [not anaemic, thyroid, etc].

Incidentally, had a further test recently to look for Lyme disease [I got bitten by some horrible bugs in June this year and exactly the same time the previous year, causing a horrendous reaction and still have bruising where I was bitten on both occasions] which came back negative, as we had read a lot recently about extreme fatigue and joint pain being caused by Lyme D].

Had xrays two weeks ago which showed no sign of arthritis. Just mis-aligned kneecaps which is now being treated by sports physio, to hopefully sort that out and get back running.

Can't use HRT due to breast cancer 11 years ago [is it really that long ago?!].

So, assuming the fatigue is all due to menopausal symptoms? Poor DH isn't 'getting anything' as I just fall deeply asleep as soon as I look at the bed, if not before!

Sorry to hear about your BC MrsRossPoldark - and I can understand why you can't take HRT. Not wanting to labour the point though re blood tests, but did you get the exact reading for your thyroid test ie TSH and dfo you have an earlier one to compare it with. The doctors' ref range is not necessarily the one in which women feel well so it is still worth just making sure that you don't fall into the borderline category. Vit D has been mentioned on another thread too ( and other vit deficiencies can cause fatigue).

The other hormone I mentioned is testosterone but this would bnot be prescribed without oestrogen.

The only other thing that will deal with hot flushes.sweats (if you can't take hRT) are some of the SSRI's and Clonidine. They are all listed here on the Menopause Matters website: www.menopausematters.co.uk/prescribed.php

It is possible to use vaginal oestrogen for VA issues even if you have had BC, so no need to suffer in that department!

Did the blood tests look at your oestradiol/FSH levels just at least so that you would know whether this could be a cause (depending where you are in meno one test doesn't necessarily mean much!)?