Not enough coffee on the planet to keep you awake?

Fatigue during perimenopause and menopause is one huge issue for many women. We often find ourselves crashing and burning after lunch. Or before. We are tired, and that desk top is looking pretty good for a short snooze.

Some of this can be attributed to those delightful night sweats and sleep disturbances, but frequently our fatigue originates elsewhere.

Caffeine can play into the mix - as does diet. We often reach for a cup of coffee or soda as a “pick me up”. These may work as temporary fixes, but the underlying issues remain and caffeine does more damage than you may realize.

So what IS causing our exhaustion?

• Several things can contribute to our feeling pooped all the time. Obviously hormonal imbalances can play a large part, but there may a thyroid imbalance,  or anemia if you are “flooding” during your periods.  When we don’t feel well we often “stress out”, so worry and anxiety can contribute to our feeling beat. 

• When we have adrenal fatigue (those little glands that secrete adrenaline and other hormones) and develop insulin resistance we have a double whammy that can really knock us on our keesters.

• When you reach for that cup of coffee, soda, or caffeinated tea, you are simply hoping to get a quick jolt of energy to keep you going. The problem here is that caffeine is a drug. It raises your adrenaline levels which keeps you alert, but  when the adrenaline wears off you once again face fatigue and feeling crabby. Keep this up and you have adrenal burn out, fatigue, or adrenal exhaustion.

• We may have inflammation which is caused by insulin resistance and wreaks havoc within our bodies.

• We may not be eating right. Some women notice late afternoon fatigue. If you suffer from late afternoon fatigue and ”brain drain” you may want to pay attention to your late morning and noon time eating habits.  Eating too much, or eating the wrong things can cause blood sugar levels to go haywire. If you eat a carbohydrate laden brunch or lunch, grab a candy bar, or latte, you will almost certainly have a blood sugar crash a few hours later… which will leave you feeling dopey and exhausted.

•  We may have vitamin deficiencies caused by poor diet. Many women do not realize that certain foods interfee with vitamin and mineral absorbtion and can actually rob your body of vitamins and minerals. A vitamin B6 deficiency can cause fatigue along with insomnia and depression.

• We may need to lose weight and we may not be eating the right kinds of fats. Somewhere along the line, we have gotten the idea that a low fat diet is actually good for us. Nope. 

• Your body must have the right kinds of fats in order to function properly. Crummy fats like the kinds in fried foods, chips and donuts are not what we need…despite what our taste buds say. Good fats are the kinds found in flax seeds, olive oil,certain fish and coconut oils.