Crashing Fatigue
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
Over the course of the past year, I wonder just how many
times I’ve responded to that question with this one word: “Tired.”
I have friends who will now answer it for me. “How are you? Wait. I know. You’re tired,
right?” Yawn. “Right.”
Truth is, “Tired” doesn’t quite cover it, but if I were to
respond with the unabridged accurate answer, I might fall asleep mid-sentence. Plus, it would make me sound whiney and I
hate sounding like a whiney 50-year-old.
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
“I feel like an exhausted zombie with serious jet lag who overdosed on Benadryl. I’m so overwhelmingly tired, I can’t think or
see straight and I am at serious risk of walking into a wall, collapsing into a
heap on the floor. (Which may work as a nice place to nap. Don’t tempt me.)”
“Crashing Fatigue” – that’s the official perimenopausal term
for this prevalent symptom of the middle-aged woman. I find it to be such a satisfying phrase,
don’t you? Crashing Fatigue. It’s not just tired, or sleepy or even
exhausted. No - I’ve actually crashed. Run out of gas and collapsed. Get the paddles charged and call “clear” because that’s the only way this girl’s getting revived. What’s more, this sudden attack of
exhaustion can hit at ANY time of the day!
You can be assured however; this symptom will rarely hit you at night
time. (That’s when insomnia comes to visit.)
You may assume that your exhaustion is a direct result of
the lack of sleep you acquired last night, and whereas, that may play a part in
your level of tiredness, there is actually more at work in your body which may
be causing you to feel more tired than is reasonable. Another phrase used for this particular
symptom is “Adrenal Fatigue.” Without forcing you to re-live the horrors of Biology class, let me just comment on the basics. Your
adrenal glands are two small endocrine organs that sit atop your kidneys and
their primary responsibility is to release necessary hormones that help you
deal with the stressors of life. Typically,
this works well for most of us, however, during these years of change, estrogen
begins to play a huge role on the effectiveness of those adrenal hormones. It’s almost as if estrogen is busy cancelling
out helpful hormones that typically give us energy to do the stuff of
life. Bottom line: Your body feels like
its run a marathon just after pushing a piano up hill, when in reality all you did
was make a pot of coffee and throw a load of laundry in the washing
machine.
Now, consider how a woman might feel who experiences
crashing fatigue, insomnia, hot flashes, mood swings, and internal changes she
did not instigate. I’m thinking she
might be a little cranky from time to time.
(I think my husband would concur!)
Some of the suggested treatments for management of hot flashes, may also
help with crashing fatigue – particularly those that target estrogen or
progesterone levels. Besides that, here
are a few other suggestions:
·
Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep at night
·
Be sure that your night-time environment is
conducive to sleep. (dark, quiet, etc.)
·
Deep Massage may help you relax, as well as help
balance those helpful adrenal hormones.
·
Eat a HEALTHY diet, including energy-boosting
snacks as needed:
Include
vitamin C, Bs, and iron (as anemia can cause add to your tiredness)
·
A 20 minute power nap is often all it takes to
rev up your engine again, giving you enough energy to keep going. At least until the next napping opportunity.
·
Exercise but don’t over exert!
If fatigue
feels like it’s dragging on from days into weeks, it may be time to consult
with your physician as more may be going on.
Generally speaking however, as with the rest of the perimenopausal
symptoms, you will return to some semblance of “normal” once your hormones find
balance again. In the meantime – take
time to relax, read a book, take a nap, and don’t worry too much about what’s
not getting done.
Rest assured
- It’ll all be there when you wake up.
And now...I'm thinking it's time for a nap. G'night, Friends!
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