I'm 48, breastfeeding a three year old (usually just night and morning). Feeling quite laid low by bunch of symptoms but not sure which are the effects of perimenopause, which are related to having an energetic toddler, which are breastfeeding-related and also some could be to do with being overweight. I'm tired ALL THE TIME and I know that everyone with a todder is, but it seems beyond what can be explained, because even when I get rest, I'm never rested. Although occasionally there are - surges? Where for some reason i wake up fully energised and feel like a totally different person. But it's only once every month or two.
I was having IVF for some years before having a baby at 45 and I also (to help conceive) got quite fit and lost four stones in a year, before putting it all back on in pregnancy. So overall I have completely lost touch with my body and don't know what my proper hormone levels should be anymore.
Pre baby my period was down to every two months; I didn't get it back till he was 3 and have had one in November and one in February, both very heavy (but it was always quite heavy). I've no libido and everything down there is dry and often itchy.
Worst effect though is that I'm sort of ... unsatisfied and flat all the time. Distracted, anxious, I can't relax and I don't find much pleasure in anything. Yet I have the world's most lovely child, who is really relatively easy to look after with no problems other than those any toddlers has, and a great supportive partner who does as much as he possibly can to help. I'm now coming to believe that I'm not just fed up about the various minor issues in my life that I've been focusing on, it's actually a hormonal reaction.
So - sorry for the length - any suggestions? I had a batch of blood tests (thyroid etc) about a year ago when I told the doctor how exhausted I was, nothing showed up. I'm not on any medications, just take a general multivitamin. Are there any online groups here for parents my age with toddlers?