Fit & healthy - so why do I feel so tired all the time?

OK - long story short - I'm a 54 year old menopausal woman. I have always been a runner, sometimes more serious than other times. Never competitive but enjoy the odd club 'fun race' or cross-country. I have a decent time for 5K 'for age' and can happily run a steady 10K if I feel like it. I got o the gym twice a week and run 3 x pw.

I have low blood pressure and a very low resting pulse. I am very happy with my fitness level and my running, but when I'm not running, I feel so tired. I get home and just want to sleep on the sofa for an hour before I can even go up for a shower!

Any ideas? Not anaemic or diabetic.

Comments

  • Hi. I'm 54, definitely peri-menopausal & having sporadic periods (3 months & counting since my last one although last year I went 8 months). I've run on and off for the last 20 years or so & recently started again in an effort to move more. I did try last year but I had real problems with aching joints - I could hardly walk for the first hour of the day & running was a non-starter (tho I could walk once my joints had eased up). I was literally waking with pain in the night & aching all day. Googling revealed it was probably menopause-related inflammation & it gradually faded away. Just one of the wonderful variety of symptoms the menopause likes to throw at you?

    Anyhow I've been kinder to myself this year - I run when I feel like it, don't wear a watch and just go as fast as I feel like (pretty slow TBH) & as far as I feel like. Basically I'm not putting any pressure on myself.

    I wonder whether you're doing a little too much for your body at the moment? Sounds like you need more rest so may cut something out/down for a week or two? What about your diet as well? Has that changed at all? Fluid intake?

    With all things menopausal it seems to be that you have to play detective & find what works for you. Hope that helps. I'm waiting for my friendship group to catch up with me - they're mostly younger and don't get it at all?
  • Hi - yeah feeling pretty similar myself ( although definitely not from menopausal symptoms! ). I will normally "aim" to do 3 sessions per week, ( prob 2x tempo 5k + 1 easy or interval ) but still find I'm essentially "not terribly energised" for a lot of the time! :)
  • ftm42ftm42 ✭✭✭
    Thanks Maggie - trying to rest as much as poss but hard with ft job and everything else. Isn't it always?

    Just a bit sick of "give up wine and coffee, eat more fruit, do more exercise" (?).

    Additionally having to put up with menopausal symptoms as I can't have HRT so that really doesn't help.

    Still if I can do a 55 min 10K & a 26m28 5K, I cant be doing that bad!
  • I'd say you're doing pretty good??

    And yes, it totally sucks to keep hearing how you should give up all the stuff that can help make stressful times more bearable.

    Sometimes it can just be a sign that you need to take things a little easier for a while, mentally & physically. Or try something different in terms of some of your sessions?
  • Try vit. B complex, or even 1/2 tablet of own brand Berocca from the likes of Aldi.
  • Change your HRT if poss, maybe. Vit B complex. The fatigue is normal ,sadly and generally accepted , also sadly. Hardly helps when you're trying to keep up fitness/train/do a days work and or be a mum! Going through this rubbish too.
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