Why You Feel So Tired All the Time - How to Beat Menopause Fatigue

It’s hardly uncommon to come face-to-face with various symptoms during the menopause years. Among the most bothersome menopause symptoms: menopause fatigue.

Yawn, yawn.

Like hot flashes and mood swings, menopausal fatigue is a common complaint that usually surfaces in the early years of menopause, during perimenopause, when your body is adjusting to your ever-shifting hormone levels.

It’s a familiar story: after a less-than-stellar night’s sleep, you’re dragging your you-know-what through your day, wondering how in the world you’ll make it until bedtime.

Will I ever sleep? becomes the refrain.

In this article, we’ll discuss the common reason you might have menopause fatigue and how to beat it.

If you want a solution to increase your energy levels, Alloy can help. We offer multiple menopause solutions from estradiol pills to estradiol patches. Browse our products today.

Common Reasons You Might Have Menopause Fatigue

When you consider menopause and it’s crazy-making symptoms, then add the phase of life you’re in, it’s pretty easy to understand that you might be suffering from fatigue.

• Hot flashes and night sweats: For some, it’s hot flashes and night sweats causing sleepless nights.

• Anxiety: For others, it’s a racing heart and anxiety. Emotions can take a lot out of you, sapping your energy.

• Midlife changes: You might be going through normal midlife changes that bump up against and coincide with menopause: changes in marital status, taking care of teenagers and/or aging parents, job responsibilities, financial worries, etc.

• Bathroom trips: For many, it’s middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom. (Our bladder muscles aren’t what they used to be.)

• Staying up late: You It might be that you’re staying up too late. Burning the midnight oil isn’t as easy as it was when you were in your 20s.

• Boredom: Are you bored? Among other things, boredom can cause fatigue. Maybe you’ve stopped working, or your work is no longer fulfilling. (Time to take up painting or piano again? A hobby will keep your mind engaged and your brain from atrophying.)

• Long napping: Napping can be restorative. But beware of naps longer than 30 minutes, which can cause brain fog and lethargy for the rest of the day and make it tough to fall asleep at night.

• Overburdened: You may be simply taking on too much. (Remember, “No” is a complete sentence.) Too many of us don’t use that simple word, which can save us so much time and energy. This means setting realistic goals and limits. Doing so can help you feel less stressed, harried, and rushed — and can lift the proverbial load off your shoulders. Keep to a simple equation of less stress = more energy.

Other Reasons Besides Menopause You Could be Tired

Naturally, it’s easy to pin your fatigue on menopause. And chances are good that many of its symptoms are to blame for your fatigue. But make sure not to ignore other symptoms and possible reasons you could be tired, like:

• Alcohol or drug use

• Too much — or too little — physical activity

• Certain medications, like antihistamines or cough medicines

• Medical conditions like anemia, diabetes, and cancer

• Depression or grief

• Thyroid disorders

• Stress

• Chronic fatigue syndrome

How to Beat Menopause Fatigue

What, you’re tired of feeling tired? We get it. If the tried-and-true warm milk and sheep-counting still fail to produce the zzzz’s you need, here are some sound suggestions to beat menopausal fatigue and improve your energy levels:

1. Exercise Daily

You might feel too fatigued to exercise, but once you get going, you’re bound to gain energy. Studies back up that fact, finding that physical activity improves sleep quality and duration and can be especially helpful for menopausal women with hot flashes and night sweats.

Exercise creates cellular changes that increase your body’s  energy levels. An added plus? Moving more helps boost oxygen and endorphin levels. Endorphins are those “feel good” neurotransmitters responsible for what’s known as a “runner’s high.”

But a word of caution for those looking to improve sleep quality: Try not to exercise too vigorously too close to bedtime (about one hour prior) when it can instead stimulate your body and mind, making sleep harder to come by.

2. Limit Caffeine Consumption

Reaching for more coffee to get you through your day might seem like a good idea, and it is, to a point. But drink too much and you risk insomnia. Experts suggest a daily limit of 400 mg of caffeine. (For reference, an 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains about 96 mg. of caffeine.) A word to the wise: Watch out for energy drinks. Some are known to contain high levels of caffeine.

Although too much is not great for sleep, some caffeine offers many positive health benefits due to its antioxidants and other active substances. These help curb internal inflammation and guard against diseases like Parkinson’s, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease. Also on the list: A lower risk of developing colorectal cancer.

3. Watch Your Alcohol Intake

That infamous “nightcap” could be counter-productive if it’s more than a little. Yes, alcohol acts as a sedative, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into a good night’s rest. Did you ever notice that when you drink too much, you toss and turn and never wake refreshed? In excess, alcohol use and consumption have been linked to insomnia. That’s because it can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, especially during REM or deep sleep, the phase that is essential for memory consolidation and dreaming.

Alcohol can also increase the risk of sleep apnea, another sleep-stealer, which is also dangerous to your health.

It’s best to keep to a single serving of alcohol, which translates to 12 ounces of beer or 5 ounces of wine.

4. Stay Consistent with Sleep Schedules

To sleep better and help your body adjust, aim for a routine bedtime and wake time each day, even on weekends. Also helpful: follow a consistent pre-bed routine, like disconnecting from electronics, listening to some relaxation music, soaking in a warm bath, and lowering the lights.

5. Create a Comfortable Sleep Environment

This includes a comfy mattress, pillows, and sheets, along with a cool temperature (experts advise about 65 degrees Fahrenheit). Also helpful: Keeping noise to a minimum with earplugs, headphones, or a white noise machine; blocking out light with blackout curtains or a sleep mask; eliminating clutter; using essential oils such as lavender.

6. Try Meditation

It has superpowers: It can eliminate stress and increase energy, according to this study, which also lauds meditation for improving health, reducing pain, helping to lower blood pressure, improving memory, and increasing efficiency.

7. Eliminate Electronics

Computers, TVs, and iPads all conspire against a good night’s sleep. That’s because they stimulate your brain plus emit blue light, which can interfere with a solid night’s rest. A good rule of thumb? Lights out about an hour before bedtime, or a total before-bed ban altogether.

8. Eat for Sleep

Just as spicy, greasy, heavy foods keep your stomach churning and keep you from sleeping well, there are foods that promote healthy sleep, too. Consider complex carbs like whole-grain bread, pasta, crackers, and brown rice; lean proteins like chicken, turkey, fish, and low-fat cheese; heart-healthy fats like peanut butter and nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios, and walnuts. Herbal tea and warm milk can be soothing beverages for bedtime, too. You can also look into a dietary or herbal supplement that could help improve sleep quality.

How Alloy Can Help with Menopause Symptoms

We know that menopausal symptoms are no joke, especially menopausal fatigue. Take our online assessment and talk to our team at Alloy today for more information on how to beat menopause fatigue. 

You can also view our available products. Alloy's recommended treatment for hot flashes/night sweats and similar menopause symptoms include:

• Estradiol Pills

• Estradiol Patches

• Evamist®/Estrogen Spray

• Estradiol Gels

Sources

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3. Danielle Pacheco. "Exercise and Sleep". Sleep Foundation. Dec 9, 2021. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-activity/exercise-and-sleep

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