THis saturday I did absolutely nothing all day ,, finally made it to the grocery store around 4 in the afternoon. I get home from work and if I dont have to be somewhere I just go upstairs put on my pj's and crawl in bed on my heating pad and watch tv. this is so not me ,, anyone else getting alot more tv in on the couch or in bed ??

Hi

I am post, and I find myself doing this a bit as well. I am finding the heat is getting to me a bit as well...

Suzanne

I'm sleeping and sitting watching TV a lot more now. I do know my problem is not just peri but the fact that I quit working two years ago due to my terrible anxiety issues. I hate it.

Off the couch? Who even makes it THAT far???!!! I don't even wanna get out of bed anymore (sure makes it easier to go back to bed...one less step! Hey, maybe I'm onto something!)

I think it's great that most of you can go out to work. I gave up my teaching practice when all this started and have never really returned to work.
As for watching TV and laying in bed, well, it depends on how I'm feeling. If I've just had a heavy period, I'll stay in bed for several days just to recover. This time of life ***** -

ladybugs .. you made me laugh out loud !! I have actually thought about telling my husband I just cant get up and go to work anymore ,, I have a vacation comming next month ,, ahhhh sedona for a week then the beach,, lots of spa time I hope I do notice I feel much better on weekends when I can just lay in bed/couch.

Yep, me and my couch and reruns are starting to be best buds!! I work also, and going through this nightmare while still working is the pits.
I have very little motivation at times to do anything...and I put off going out as much as possible!
Pretty pathetic huh?!!!

AFTER A FEW HOURS OF BEING UP AND WORKING AROUND THE HOUSE AND RUNNING ERRANDS I AM READY FOR A NAP OR JUST THE BED LOL. SEEM LIKE I HAVE ENERGY FOR LIKE 4HR. THEN AFTER THAT I AM TIRED AND WANT TO RELAX IN BED. NOT THAT I'M SO SLEEPY JUST WIPED OUT. I THINK I SPEND MORE TIME IN BED THEN AWAKE DOING STUFF LOL

This is a really good question to have asked. There have been many times when I have convinced myself that I am just a shiftless bum - or - seriously ill, because the drive to go back to bed has trumped the strong desire to do any number of things. Stuff around the house, in the garden, with friends, work commitments. Things I really want to do, not just the 'should do' stuff that I can put off. I have found some days that no force of will can overcome the need to crash and to stay crashed. (This is partly why I ask my question elsewhere about feeling disabled.) Let's hear it for DVDs and full cable.

So your Saturday of doing absolutely nothing is familiar to me. I have gone several days in a row without doing much of anything. Sometimes I don't even take a shower Then when I feel better, I am in a craze of playing catch up.

Have you been tested for Adrenal fatigue? Another thing is to have your thyroid checked: T4, T3 and TSH.

Fatigue is a real bummer!

my blood work is all normal. Yea ..I definately play the catch up game,,, one sunday I felt pretty good so cooked an entire weeks worth of food because I wasnt sure when I would start to feel bad again and wanted there to be food in the house for the kids to eat. My husband actually helped with dinner last night ,, I couldnt believe it. This week is crazy ,, work all day, , then last night teach water aerobics, tonight sons concert, tomorrow night other sons concert, thursday night booster meeting, friday night meeting with boss at YMCA... so maybe theres a reason I stay on the couch when I can,, I cant do all this anymore and am seriously going to have to cut back. Everyday when the alarm goes off I struggle with "should I call in sick ?" not sure how much longer I can go at this pace, somethings gotta give.

No wonder you are tired! Perfectly normal reaction under those circumstances.

I agree - good heavens, who wouldn't be tired with all you're doing? It made me tired just reading about it!

I think for years and years we women are always running, doing many things at once. Peri-menopause (and let's just say it - approaching middle-age!) requires a slowing down. If we suddenly can't get up off the couch, I think our bodies are WISELY telling us what they need!

I am now post-menopausal, age 56, and definitely can't go at the pace I did in my 40's. For many years I pushed myself hard to do many things, taking care of everyone else, but ignoring my own need to rest. I remember working full-time (teaching English at college level), volunteering, cleaning the house, taking classes, preparing meals, raising a rebellious teen, trying to get stories published, doing laundry, remembering the birthdays of every individual in BOTH my and my husband's families, and sometimes cooking for 30 people during the holidays! At this point, I have NO IDEA how I managed all of this.

When I got hit with severe depression during the worst of my peri (in 2004), I would ask my counselor, "Is it okay that I want to rest? I seem to want to rest all the time!" Like resting is abnormal! NO other animal in God's Kingdom runs all the time - only human females!

Peri-menopause, I really think, is about "pushing the birdies out of the nest." Time for Mama Bird to get some rest and relaxation.

Enjoy your down time! It can be lovely to lie in bed watching TV, with a soothing heating pad nearby! One of the best things as I look back at the peri years, is that they taught me to dawdle again, sip my coffee, realize the world doesn't go to hell in a handbasket if I'm not always "on call" to others.

(((HUGS)))
JJ

Sound advice !! I actually feel good today ,, (or at least right now), I seem to have gotten through the 12 - 15 days of He|| that goes with my cycles these days. The worst symptoms started comming when my periods started moving further apart. Do you remember how long after your periods started moving further apart you actually stopped ? For the last 3 years or so my periods have been very close together ,, then just in march or so they started getting further apart.. thats when all he|| broke loose with the awful Gerd, anxiety, body aches .. etc.

Spent most of Memorial Day weekend under the covers. Spent almost all of this past Sunday on the couch. I am definitely feeling the unpredictable mood swings, sadness, rumination about the past and wanting to be alone. I really hope this is not all that life has in store for me from here on out (I'm 47).

My goodness Didgens, no wonder you are exhausted!!! Clearly your body is trying to tell you something...slow down a little, take a break...REST! You can't just stop supporting your childrens' efforts in school, etc. so maybe it's time to take a look at what you CAN eliminate from your schedule. Once your children are grown and on their own maybe you can pick it back up but for now (and especially while you are in the hell that is peri) give yourself a break, Girl. I am going to go lay down now ... I'm exhausted just reading your post! Take care of yourself and go get some pampering. You deserve it once in a while.
Hugs to you,
Jan

Oh Gooooooodd! I am NOT alone in my Bed-a-Thon! I am NOT dying of some foreign disease, and I am NOT lazy!
I think I love all of you

We must be sisters from a different mister, lol. Seriously, I'm doing that right now in my bed. Pretty much what I do every day (for 2 months and though not proud of it, still have no plans to do otherwise in the near future, sad I know unless I absolutely need to leave the house or attend something (which I try to avoid at all costs). At least you are going to work. Today my accomplishment was going to the store because my husband said he didn't feel like it (he goes every day and comes home and cooks dinner too, lucky guy), he had the gall to have a backache... doesn't he know it's all about me me me!! LOL Ughhh!! Mich

I'd be a rich woman if I got paid for the amount of time I spend resting during this time of my life.

I spent three days in the house, reading, lounging, reading email, facebook. When I described the last 3 days to friends, they asked was I sick. It felt great, and as soon as I get an opportunity I will do it again.

Too much time just lying in front of tv falling asleep most of time I think I could easily spend all day in bed if I was by myself but don't feel guilty about it now( not sure if this is good or bad)

I agree 100% with what you just said. No one in the house understands how I can be so tired when I do nothing all day. What they dont understand is that it is a lot of work going to bathroom every five minutes to poo and throw-up. lol ( when will I feel normal again?)

I think what goes missing during and after all the peri and meno torture is that 'drive' and 'motivation' we all used to have to do things during the day. Part of it's a combintation of depression, fatigue, lack of energy or just plain feeling like we've been hit in the head with a frying pan! I have good days where I can get boatloads of stuff done and others I just laze around in bed late in the morning or just sit at the computer trolling my forums and email. But I do think that it's slowly getter better the farther I get from peri into menopause. I've been getting more and more energy and motivation to do things as time goes by. Maybe there's hope for us all.

thats good to hear .. I went about 3 months without a period after I first posted here ,, and toward the end of that 3 months I actually started to feel pretty good .. I thought ,, hey ,, if this is how I will feel at the end ... then Im ok with it.. but then bam .. 2 periods in a row and I went back to feeling just horrible .. now on day 42 hoping again that its the end.. spent all day sat on the couch again .. but it was a very rainy day so It was great .. had to be out and about yesterday though ... I did quit teaching water aerobics so that is one commitment off my plate. more time to go home and just veg. I know i need the exercise but I will get back to it eventually. I did find last week when i went back to my vitamins and mag/cal and I added 1 glass of soymilk into my diet that I felt pretty good.. ahhhh,,, some more rainy weekend days please ..