Are you feeling more tired than usual lately? Do you ever just I have take a nap — like it’s non-negotiable? Do you wake up feeling tired and struggle with fatigue all day? Or does low energy light up like a freight train in the afternoon? If this sounds like your life, you may be suffering menopausal fatigue.
Fatigue during menopause it’s one of those menopause symptoms that doesn’t get as much attention as some of the other, stronger symptoms, like hot flashes. But menopause can and does make you feel tired.
Menopausal fatigue it’s not something you just have to live with. In this article, I’ll walk you through how to improve your sleep hygiene, diet, and adrenal health so you can finally get your energy back.
Can Menopause Cause Extreme Fatigue?
Can Menopause Cause Excessive Fatigue? Anyway. In fact, one study found nearly half of perimenopausal women and a whopping 85% of postmenopausal women reported both physical and mental exhaustion. (1)
Bottom line: you never fully appreciate how much your hormones support your metabolism and energy levels until they start to become less abundant in your body due to perimenopause and menopause.
Menopause symptoms and fatigue
So, what exactly does menopause fatigue look and feel like?
Many of my patients report that they just don’t feel like themselves. You may feel tired all the time, even when you first wake up in the morning. You may find it difficult to stay awake and feel the urgent need for a nap – when you’ve never slept in your life! Fatigue can set in at 3 p.m. like clockwork every day.
You may have trouble concentrating. Sometimes women describe this as brain fog or not feeling as sharp mentally as they used to.
Physical exercise can also be more demanding. Your workouts can suddenly seem more taxing, and even normal physical activity like a long day of shopping can leave you exhausted when you could be running errands all day on Saturday.
Why does menopause cause fatigue?
But Why Does fatigue just show up like an unwelcome guest during menopause?
Well, it’s not just the drop in estrogen and progesterone levels that make you feel tired of menopause. There are several interrelated reasons you feel menopausal fatigue. From hot flashes disrupting your sleep to midlife stress, adrenal health, poor diet and an increased chance of depression – it turns out that menopause is the perfect storm to make you feel tired all the time.
Hot flashes and fatigue
Let’s talk about fatigue and hot flashes. Hot flushes or flushes are when you suddenly feel your temperature rise dramatically. And this can also happen during the night. You may have woken up drenched in sweat from head to toe. This is a night sweat, otherwise referred to as night sweats.
It’s probably no surprise that when you experience this, it means your sleep quality isn’t what it could be – and as a result, you feel tired the next day.
If hot flashes are your struggle, be sure to check out mine Mighty Maca® Plus and 1500+ 5 star reviews. It’s a lifesaver when it comes to hot flashes and “I just don’t have the energy”.
How middle age and gender roles cause fatigue
Remember when you were 20 and the biggest stress in your life was finding the perfect outfit for a date?
Well, the menopausal years aren’t exactly like that, are they?
These days you have to worry about aging parents, inflation, major home repairs, and wishing you had saved more for your retirement and your child’s college education expenses. Many of us are going through a divorce and have to navigate custody agreements and split vacation schedules.
All that stress on top of a lifetime of being a caregiver, provider, and homemaker… is enough to make anyone feel tired just thinking about it.
You may not be able to “do” much about it, but recognizing the pattern and validating your experience can help you deal with it. And it can also help you say “no” to things that no longer serve you.
Burnout, Adrenal Health and Menopausal fatigue
Speaking of stress, when it gets worse like it does in middle age, it can seriously affect your adrenal health and contribute to these feelings menopausal exhaustion.
When your adrenal glands are compromised, it has a big impact on your menopause.
Instead of helping your body by producing extra DHEA, which in turn becomes a very useful backup source of sex hormones, your adrenal glands are now dedicated to the task of pumping out cortisol. Which isn’t helpful at all – unless you’re in a really dangerous situation.
When this happens, you can feel an almost constant low level of fatigue, and yet at night you get a second wind and can’t sleep well. Obviously, this affects your tiredness the next day, since you still have to get up and go to work in the morning.
Lack of energy in menopause And your diet
Another place we often see a connection between fatigue and menopause is nutrient depleted. You don’t have to be clinically deficient in a nutrient to experience overwhelming feelings of exhaustion when your levels are suboptimal.
How does this happen? Well, many women in perimenopause and menopause experience weight gain.
And sometimes, because of a lifetime of conditioning around weight loss and dieting… you just try to eat less food. Which might work for a minute, but then you feel exhausted, tired, and frustrated because you’re not actually losing weight that way.
Instead of starving yourself and your body of important nutrients, focus on eating plenty of healthy fats and plenty of vitamin-packed vegetables so your body has the building blocks it needs to make more hormones and to give you energy to spend your day.
Menopause Fatigue, Exhaustion And depression
It is important to mention here that menopausal and perimenopausal women can develop depression, even if they have never been prone to depression in the past. (2)
One of the main indicators of depression is also fatigue.
So if you feel tired or feelings excessive fatigueit is important to work with your doctor to determine if depression may also be part of your struggle.
How can I overcome fatigue during menopause?
The good news is that while Menopause can cause excessive fatigueyou have so much power to change your story and bring your energy levels back to where you want them to be.
Let’s take a look at how sleep hygiene, adrenal health and diet can have a huge impact on your fatigue.
Practice good sleep hygiene for Menopause Exhaustion
First things first – if you’re tired, you need to prioritize good sleep hygiene.
What does this look like?
- No screens before bed
- Wear blue light blocking glasses when looking at screens, especially at night
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day — even on weekends
- Plenty of exercise, the earlier in the day the better (exercising too late can keep you awake)
- Sleep in a completely dark room (use light-blocking curtains, tape your electronics, and no night lights)
- Keeping your bedroom at a comfortable and cool temperature
- No alcohol, caffeine or large meals late in the day
- Create a relaxing bedtime self-care routine. This can look like journaling or meditating before you go to bed.
I know it can be hard to make new habits when it comes to sleep.
But if you can do this, you may find that yours menopausal fatigue matches are significantly reduced.
Prioritize your adrenal health to fight back Perimenopause Fatigue
Your adrenal health is the foundation of your hormonal health. Especially in perimenopause and menopause. And especially when you feel tired, worn out and exhausted.
Supporting quality sleep and focusing on your sleep hygiene, as I mentioned above, can greatly help your adrenals.
Other things you can do to make sure your adrenals get all the love they need:
- Keep your stress under control. You can’t erase all stress, but you can prioritize love, joy, and connection in your life. This helps in fighting stress to a great extent.
- Check adaptogens. These are herbs that help your adrenal glands “adapt” to stress. Peruvian maca root is my favorite.
- Make sure you get enough vitamin C. Your adrenal glands need it to thrive.
When you take care of your adrenal glands, they can greatly help your journey through menopause. Your adrenal glands, when supported in the right way, can help your body produce sex hormones (progesterone, estrogen, testosterone) as a backup when your ovaries give out. This makes the transition to menopause so much smoother and is one of the reasons Mighty Maca® Plus is such a powerful ally in menopause.
How to fight Menopausal fatigue With your diet
We talked earlier about how depriving your body of critical nutrients can lead to a lack of energy in menopause. But another thing to consider when it comes to fatigue and menopause it’s your sugar. As you age, your insulin sensitivity declines along with estrogen.
That means now is the perfect time to cut out those simple carbs and focus on them eating whole foods.
Researchers speculate that one of the reasons perimenopausal and postmenopausal women experience negative changes in their blood sugar response is due to changes in the gut microbiome. (3)
One of the best ways to support your gut microbiome—including the estrabolome, a special population in your gut microbiome that manages estrogen—is to make sure your diet includes a variety of different fibers. An easy shortcut here is mine Mighty Maca® Plus drink. It’s packed with dozens of different superfoods to support your gut, adrenals and blood sugar.
Is it normal to feel tired during menopause?
Many women experience extreme fatigue during perimenopause and menopause;. Does this mean it is normal? It certainly means it’s common.
But it also doesn’t have to be YOUR new normal.
While menopause and lack of energy may seem to go hand in hand, this is not your inevitable, written-in-stone destiny.
Try to work on your sleep hygiene adrenal healthand your diet — and watch your energy levels explode. Be sure and let me know how it goes!
