So tired, so very, very, verrryyyyy tire-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[KittenKong]

So I can't be doing with this. Flipping exhausted all the time, making me feel groggy and pretty low/fed up. I have no energy!

Can something be done? Is this it? Have I tuned into a flipping hibernating bear?

That’s exactly how I feel every day I’ve got no motivation to do anything & have to really push myself . I’ve been on three pumps of Oestrogel & Utrogestan for three months & I’m not feeling the benefits atall , a few of my friends say their full of energy after starting hrt I’m so deflated 💤

I was feeling okay no periods for 6 months 😀 then I got a random one and feel dreadful! Pale , no energy , headache etc.. I wish my periods would just fuck off and leave me alone!

I feel better after starting to have two Epsom salt baths a week. I soak for about 15-20 minutes. It might be psychological, but it’s got rid of the occasional exhaustion I was getting.

DH thinks I just need ‘a bit of fresh air’... men don’t get this do they?

Hypothyroid?
Vit D deficiency?
Definitely a thing with perimenopause and menopause....
Can feel like wading through treacle...
GP can check bloods for low thyroxine, and a Vit D supplement over the counter can also work wonders. 1,000iu a day is minimum, I would try 2,000iu a day(50mcg) for a week and see if it helps.

I’ve had them all checked. Slightly low thyroid function and I need to get it retested. I’m just feeling so olllllld and decrepit.

Yep, I could nap three times a day and still sleep at night.

Have you tried any form of HRT?

Yep...45 in March and totally exhausted.

Two years ago I never stopped from dawn to dusk - now I can't get started.

Me too. Also on HRT. My thyroid measurements are heading in the wrong direction but still normal. I'm low in ferritin too. I sleep for 7ish hours but wake up yawning.

Me too. Not anaemic, thyroid normal, HRT four months, feel shattered most of the time.

I'm 50 and can't take HRT ( I have another health problem that means it's not advised). I'm SO tired, until I go to bed and then I'm hot and uncomfortable and can't sleep. I take sage capsules for the flushes which have been very good but I'm going to try the Epsom salts. Every winter I take a high dose vit D and am about to start again (I take it equinox to equinox on advice from my neurologist) and I'm hoping that might give me a boost.

Best thing is periods are easing off. I'd one last August and then in May. Heavy as fuck and clots everywhere. Both times I was visiting my MIL and in May badly stained her mattress. Going there again this weekend so hope it doesn't trigger it again. Can't wait to be clear for a year!

It may not help everyone but I've found cutting back on starchy carbs and eating a lot more veg seems to have helped over time.

I also now take vitamin D and get in the midday sun as frequently as possible.

@weegiemum

I'm 50 and can't take HRT ( I have another health problem that means it's not advised). I'm SO tired, until I go to bed and then I'm hot and uncomfortable and can't sleep. I take sage capsules for the flushes which have been very good but I'm going to try the Epsom salts. Every winter I take a high dose vit D and am about to start again (I take it equinox to equinox on advice from my neurologist) and I'm hoping that might give me a boost.

Best thing is periods are easing off. I'd one last August and then in May. Heavy as fuck and clots everywhere. Both times I was visiting my MIL and in May badly stained her mattress. Going there again this weekend so hope it doesn't trigger it again. Can't wait to be clear for a year!

@weegiemum Has a menopause specialist said you can't use HRT?

It's just that there are lots of women being told they can't, when they can but their drs are mistaken and meno specialists would say it was fine.

@Tangledtresses
Well put!

I was on HRT but have had to come off it after diagnosis of estrogen positive breast cancer. I now to anastrozole to virtually eradicate estrogen. I was dreading it but it’s not been too bad.
I think that it’s the erratic swinging of estrogen levels that causes symptoms. Now I have virtually no hormone it is like the calm after the storm. Energy levels are a bit low but body has adjusted.

It's just that there are lots of women being told they can't, when they can but their drs are mistaken and meno specialists would say it was fine.

Yeah I have a condition that commonly women seem to think you can't take HRT with, I asked my consultant and he didn't know, despite it being a condition that disproportionately affects menopausal women. When I read the research papers I found that HRT is actually protective. I then went to see a specialist who prescribed it. The knowledge of some medical professionals is scandalous.

Yeah I was up for a few hours in the night and I have a hideously busy day - - week-- to cope with

Are there any ‘natural’ things you can take to help out?

The only ‘symptoms’ I seem to be having is the lack of energy. I’m a bit more blue than usual - but that could be my natural cheery nature + midlife ‘what have I don’t with my life?’ + being locked down for all these months (and I am someone who needs a bit of solitude or I go nutso).

How were your ferritin levels? GPs are notorious for saying they are fine, when they aren't and also claiming that low ferritin has no symptoms (although it was actually both my DD's paediatricians who claimed that!). I find I am on my knees if it is below 20 and feel my best above 30 (but can rarely get it that high).

My ferritin was marked as normal at 13 (on a range of 10-291 or something like that) but when I googled even NHS resources said under 50-70 was likely to be problematic. No one flagged it to me, I just looked at my results online. I've been talking ferrous fumerate and it's now at 46. Not sure I actually feel much better yet.

@JinglingHellsBells sadly yes, I did see a specialist. And it was recommended I don't have hrt, at least for now, due to a kidney condition I have - all very niche! So I'm stumbling on without it for the moment. The tiredness is the worst of it, after the occasional Texas Chainsaw Massacre event. Not anemic, not osteoporotic, otherwise fine. And the tiredness is also linked to another illness I suffer from.

You're right though, my GP had no idea, and my dh is a GP who said he'd have been referring me, even though there was gynaecology in his training. That was a long time ago!

I wonder sometimes @weegiemum if specialists don't keep up to date with anything outside their own sphere. Modern HRT is made from yams and it's body-identical, so is in fact exactly the same molecular structure as women's own. Kidney conditions are not listed anywhere as a contraindication for HRT. Obviously I don't know your body but if you feel you want to re-consider where you are, hormonally, see a menopause specialist .

Sorry @weegiemum if you meant you saw a menopause specialist (not one for kidneys!) Not all gynaes are specialists in menopause or hormones and if you are really struggling the best meno clinic in the country is the Chelsea and Westminster, London, where you GP can refer you from anywhere in the UK. They deal with women's more complicated meno issues. The drs there are also available for private appts.

Great, so now after 3 months of no period, I have woken up to the scene from The Godfather where they find the horses head in the bed. What is going on here? Is that normal (my periods had got really heavy before they stopped)?