How to keep your energy up...

[leanne963]

I am about 7 weeks pregnant and i have never been so exhausted in all my life. What with my final year of uni and a paid job and volunteering i am absolutely shattered. Last night i had a full 9 hours sleep and today i feel like i have had an all night drinking binge.
I know i can't have caffeine but what CAN i have to get my energy levels up!? What did you all do??

Hi leanna, are you taking any vitamins? If not, you might want to try a pregnancy multi-vitamin or at least an iron and folic acid supplement - low iron levels can increase feelings of tiredness.

I'm afraid though that it's one of the curses of the first trimester! It's a level of exhaustion that's difficult to describe to men the uninitiated. Try to rest as much as you can - maybe scale back on your volunteering hours until you feel a bit better? Try not to give into the temptation to eat sugary foods, they'll just give you yoyo highs and lows. Go for carby foods if possible that should give you slow-release energy.

It doesn't feel like it now, but it does get better! Once the placenta takes over at around the 11-12 week mark, you'll hopefully feel like a new woman!

Lucozade and tuc biscuits saw me through the early weeks. It does get better. :)

Aww thank you twiglet I'm taking folic acid but might be better to take the multi vitamins that pregnacare have! I just worry about taking iron as it constipated me bad! I feel like I am constantly moaning to my partner about how exhausted I am lol

And you can have some caffeine, just not loads and loads.
Slow release energy foods little and often is the key though.

Another vote for pregnancy vitamins with iron in.

You can have some caffeine. I think it's 200mg which is very roughly 4 cups of tea or cans of coke. Not sure about coffee as I don't drink it, but the nhs website is good for this type of information.

I'm not sure how much sleep you normally need but I went up to 10-12 hours a night for a while in the first trimester, so 9 hours won't have been enough for me! I went with listening to my body and going to bed when it told me to- even if it was 8pm.

Sounds like you've got quite alot on your plate, is there anything you can reduce (like the volunteering) to give you some chillout and extra sleeping time?

It does get better in the second trimester! Hope you're ok

I've been drinking lucozade isotonic, they are a god send

Thank you DrBlondie thing is I suffer from insomnia too so at night my body won't shut off even though I am knackard :( so annoying! I am gonna try and cut down on the voluntewring definitely! Can't wait to get my energy back!! :)

First trimester exhaustion is the worst. It does get better :)

I would just go with it. It will ease in a month or so when other lovely symptoms kick in

I found trying to eat protein (eg eggs) helped (rather than the crappy carbs I craved). Also trying to get exercise during the day meant I slept better at night.

Thanks roonerspism I can't seem to eat anything before early afternoon, every time I do it comes back up again! So it's also hard to keep my energy levels up with food! Lol

Multi vitamin. Lots of fruit. Our canteen has started diing smoothies which i find really help. And bed at 9pm every night!