Crashing Fatigue
With crashing fatigue your daily schedule may look a little like this… “I woke up, brushed my teeth, suddenly needed a nap, showered and had breakfast, suddenly needed another nap, got the mail, had coffee with a friend, needed to take a little rest, made dinner, had no energy, watched a movie, went to bed and couldn’t sleep all night.” In other words, maybe it feels like you’ve become and infant again.
Crashing fatigue during menopause is caused by the temporary imbalance of hormones in your body. It feels like a sudden wave of exhaustion and/or urge to sleep. Symptoms may manifest, at any time, in your body and affect not only your physical state but also your mental state as well. Mentally, you may experience crashing fatigue as difficulty paying attention, irritability, memory lapses, apathy, etc. Physically, you made have muscle weakness, drowsiness and sudden urges to sleep after eating. Crashing fatigue is different than Chronic fatigue syndrome, where you have long bouts of extreme exhaustion and no amount of rest makes a difference.
There are ways you can reduce your fatigue during menopause which include a healthy diet, exercise (earlier in the day, if possible, to not interfere with sleep later at night), herbs and supplements, reducing caffeine and stimulants, and having a regular schedule that helps to promote good sleep at night. Medications are also available for help with these symptoms. Or you could just carry around a blankie and a nap-map whenever you leave the house.
