It's like someone pulled the plug right outa me and drained me of all energy! I cannot bring myself to do much of anything anymore. I do my job and that's it. If I don't feel like doing something, I cannot force myself for anything to get it done.

I slept til 8:00 o'clock this morning. Unloaded the dishwasher, sat on the sofa, then went back to bed around 1:00 o'clock and slept the rest of the afternoon.

I am not depressed. I have almost no anxiety, but I wonder if all the years of struggling with depression and anxiety, working 10 hour days, 5 days a week and then the weekend time I had to put in also, hasn't taken a much greater toll on me than I realized. I've not been working much at all in the past 7 months, so it's not that I haven't had time to rest. I've had plenty!

I feel totally listless! Even when I feel rested, I still have very little motivation.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I just need to know how to combat it.

Oh, and I do exercise. Not as much as before. I will break if I need it, but it seems I need it moreso now than ever.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi tidalwaves,

I'm so sorry that you are going through such fatigue. I agree that all the prior things that you experienced probably did take a toll upon you and now you are just drained. It may take some time to rebuild your system. My husband had a horrible loss of energy, I would call it a total physical breakdown of sorts. He literally could not function without several naps a day.

Anyway, I just know that there is no easy fix, and you must listen to your body and it will get better with time. For my husband it took 2 years of complete fatigue, and then he started to rebuild his stamina. He suffered with horrible depression and anxiety, I think it took a toll on him and this may be what you are experiencing.

To build things back up, he started to eat better foods, we juice every day now. He takes a few really good supplements and he has worked hard at not letting everything get to him. He's just a very fragile person mentally. I think that stress over long periods of time will just drain your system. I really feel for you, I think you have to take as much of the load off yourself as possible.

Big hugs, Juliann

Juliann, Thank you so much for your reply. It use to be that if something needed to be done, I could not rest until it was completed. Now, everything seems to be going to the pig pen. I feel like such a slouch!

Hi Tidal, I know exactly where you are coming from and I think that Julianne is probably right. WE as women push ourselves to be everything to everyone for so long that eventually out bodies get tired. I went through alot in the last 3 years, more than what I want to go into on here but it was very tiring. I will say, Business burned twice, rebuilt, grandmother passed away in front of me, son's best friend almost died in a car accident, 7 kids at our high school my son's senior year died....... It was almost too much to bear. This is a big part of the iceberg but certainly not all of it! It sounds like you need a MUCH needed vacation where you can just relax and sleep! If you can't do that right now, then maybe a hot bath with candles and a glass of wine. A good book, anything that is relaxing to you! And if you need to sleep, then sleep. Go easy on yourself for a while and it will get better!!! Just keep leaning on us:)

HUGS

Kim

I know I had bouts with fatique, though they didn't last too long but were very trying to say the least. I just tried to eat well, made sure i took my vitamins and took special care in keeping hydrated(this is a big fault of mine). I know that if I am lacking in fluids I tend to get lethargic and feel better after getting some fluids in me.
So sorry you are feeling so rough.
Hugs TW!!

Tidal....boy do I know how you feel. I've been kinda useless with this headache situation I have myself and I'm sooo tired sometimes. May I suggest you go to your dr. and get blood work done and talk to them. It's probably menopause but you should have it looked into anyway,

Hugs,
Karen

Tidal,

Add me to the list ---I'm struggling with fatigue too. I have adrenal fatigue and thyroid problems tho --- have you had your adrenals and thyroid levels checked? It's just a thought since many women at our age seem to have these problems, and apparently, it's becoming more and more common. Progesterone has a big part to play in our wellbeing -- it does in mine anyway -- I'm currently taking P/C to see if it helps with my cortisol and testosterone levels which are very low at the moment. It's a constant battle isn't it? I hope you feel better soon ....



((hugs)))

I don't know how you who work full time jobs even do it, although, I have done it all of my life until just recently.

Kar, I will have to see my dr. if it doesn't change soon, but I'm trying to wait for my health insurance to kick in.

I have to go shopping today, cause I slept all day yesterday instead of doing what I should have done. Let's just see how today goes.

I know all of us are dealing with this to some degree.

I would love to have even a small portion of my energy back.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

bev

I'm tired all of the time too, even after waking up I'm still tired... It seems that it never goes away... I don't know if it is the adrenals which are low...vitamin d which is low or thyroid which is low...or could it be the female hormones which are low.... How does one fix this? Sometimes sleep just helps me to deal and takes me away to a better time...sometimes I just don't want to wake up...

It's hard! I just hope you are lucky to find some answers!


TJ

Hi Tidal,

I can't offer any advice since I'm not sure what is going on but I'll share my experience this week. I was on a rotine of taking .75 of estrogel in the am and .45 ml of progesterone at night. Like you, I was feeling listless and only doing what needed to be done and struggling with that. I went to see a new doc who gave me estramist in 1.53 dose and 200 mg of Prometruim. She told me to drop the P until March and then only for the 1st 14 days and cycle it every other month. So since Thursday I have been using the estrogel twice a day and no P. (I wanted to use the estrogel while I have it and will start on the evamist once it's gone).

This morning I told my husband that I thought maybe the old me was coming back. I feel much more motivated.. however for the past 2 nights I haven't slept as well as I have and yesterday around 8pm and today at noon I can hardly keep my eyes opend. I'm not tired, just sleepy as though I've been drugged.

And of course to throw a wrench into things I have also since Thursday tried to reintroduce wheat into my diet to determine if I'm gluten sensitive or if it were only my hormones out of whack and both times I became sleepy was about an hour after eating wheat???

Anyway.. not sure if anything in this post will help or not but thought I would share.

Hope you are back to your old self soon... along with the rest of us. :-)

I feel like I'm reading a post I may have written about myself. I just started my thyroid medication today. I'm hoping the dosage is dead on so I can feel more energetic asap. I have to start working at 3 am this week, & its going to throw a wrench into the works I think. Sorry to hear you are feeling so exhausted too. I too feel like I could sleep sleep sleep.

It seems like I need to be pressured to get things done. If I have one opportunity with a short margin of time to do something, then I will do it. Otherwise, I put it off. I tried the Acai juice from Mona Vie and I really think it gives me energy. I thought it was just another money-making scheme, so after we had a couple of bottles we decided to stop drinking it, and noticed a definite slump after just a few days. I work full time so I only have one chance in the evenings to do the laundry and dishes. On weekends I have to clean the house because it's my only chance; otherwise, I have to wait another whole week and watch it get really bad. I do think that working forces me into a kind of schedule because if I'm on vacation, I start putting everything off. I know what you mean about being tired; most nights I only get 5-1/2 or 6 hours of sleep because I just can't get to bed any earlier and then I have to get up to go to work. More than once I've closed my eyes at my desk in the afternoon and I could just let go. Probably my head would fall down with a big clunk so that keeps me awake, thinking how embarrassing it would be, LOL.

I seem to be doing much better this week for some reason. I am still not getting enough sleep, so may be why I need to crash on the weekend. I'm learning that when my brain tells me to rest..............I need to REST!

Tidal, I can relate to the fatigue. It's all I can do lately to go to work and then come home and collapse. Here's my "advice" ....
Be good to yourself and go with your tiredness. Let yourself sleep, relax, "do nothing". For us as women, I think it's very hard to do. The self imposed guilt/responsiblity is a part of who we are - if things don't get done because we took care of ourselves (ie, slept, rested, etc.) is huge at times. I would encourage you to just take care of yourself as much as possible.

I don't mean to minimize the fatigue - I know it's HUGE and for me at times, feels very discouraging. I know that eventually (!) it will cycle out, even for a little bit and that helps. Hang in there, I'm right there with you, Kathleen