Shattered, shattered, shattered

[Monkey]

Just that really. Shattered. Not functioning properly, making mistakes at work, misreading emails, unable to get tasks finished, finding it difficult to get them started, unable to read with my daughter in the evening...I had some tests earlier on this year after I got stomach cramps and all was good so I don't think I'm deficient for example.

Could it be the onset of winter? Any other busy mums feeling the same way right now? Any tips to get out of this rut?

Thanks, Forum.

[Peachpie]

Poor you sounds awful. Perhaps a visit to the doctor? You can get a boost dose of vitamin D and B12 if needed or there maybe something else? Can you take a sick day off to just catch up on sleep? Sounds like you really need a few days rest. In the long term can you work more down time/you time into your routine. I feel for you, life is really too busy sometimes (all the time), wishing you find a solution.

[HannahSE23]

I think a lot of working mums feel like that most of the time! I certainly do. I agree you should go back to your GP to see if there's anything underlying... thyroid maybe? I tend to get up half an hour earlier now at 6am (though it goes against the grain when you're feeling knackered) and take that time to get myself organised and have some peace and quiet before the day begins. A few of my friends swear by a meditation app called headspace. Just four minutes of mediation every day can really help apparently. In the meantime watch that new BBC2 comedy Motherland, it's hilarious and if nothing else will cheer you up a bit!

[Saffron]

Check that your contraception is not making it worse? I had a Mirena IUS for over a year, and it slowly crept up on me that some of my brainfog, feeling overwhelmed and incapable, and low energy was due to the hormones.

Eventually this precipitated a bout of severe clinical depression. I wised-up and had the coil out, and the fog starting lifting within days. I went back to a copper IUD, no hormones.

I still feel knackered. I'm still overwhelmed, overwork and underpaid, but I'm coping with it all better. I have more energy, and I'm less irritable.

Interestingly for some women, the Mirena has the opposite effect to what I've experienced. Both experiences are fairly common, and there's no reliable way to predict how someone will respond.

xx

[sanity girl]

Me too. I always feel worse at this time of year when there's less natural daylight. The best thing for me is to spend time out of doors, but that's difficult when you're stuck at a desk most of the day and then dealing with kids in the evening. Worth getting your iron/vit d/ thyroid levels checked too.

[Monkey]

Thanks all. Definitely need to go to the gp and take some vitamins. As for contraception, I am on cerazette. I need to check the side effects. Thanks for the tip re: headspace app. Sounds really good. Roll on Christmas!

[esme]

Totally agree, zonked with the onset of winter (tho I read we have the sleep cycles of raccoons so should be asleep in the dark and only awake in daylight!). My friend recommended a Lumie clock so I might give that a whirl... I found cod liver oil and vit D (you can buy combined capsule from Lloyds very cheaply) supplements good for my memory and general concentration. Also drinking lots more water, a few early nights, hot baths and self TLC (not just TLC for the kids!) helpful.

Oh and yoga and/or meditation (at home or ideally a class so you focus and don't get disturbed) amazingly helpful I have found... Lots of local classes.

You've reminded me I downloaded the Headspace app but never used it haha :)

[EDmummy]

16 years and counting .... when I can?t get natural sun I take Vit D and recently threw myself on Health Matters staff and asked for anything that would make me feel less stress. Pilates is squeezed in and find getting a walk or two in fresh air and green landscape makes such a difference.

[poch]

Following on from what Esme said about sleep cycles, I have a slightly hocus pocus theory that the clocks going back (ie effectively going to bed an hour later) is the exact opposite of what we should be doing...ie it's getting darker earlier, so getting to bed earlier is probably more in sync with circadian rhythms. My three year old's sleep patterns have gone to you know what since clock change, and maybe some adults are similar - need those early hours of sleep! All a bit dull, I know! Bring on spring...

[anapau]

Another advocate of yoga/meditation... also a sunlight box lamp has really helped me during the winter months in the past.

[Monkey]

Thank you. I've started being stricter with my bedtime routine and finding I am already sleeping better... About to start taking supplements (including vit D) and meditation with the app recommended above. I must say I agree about the clocks going back playing havoc with my sleep patterns and general well being... Thank you again!

[Saffron]

This post has had 1100+ views. At least we know we're not alone in feeling knackered!

[missyelliott]

I haven't read the other posts from Floradix is amazing stuff. It really does make a difference

[scareyt]

Iron supplements, exercise and then going to bed ridiculously early at the weekend help me. I went to bed at 9 on Saturday and 8:30 on Sunday. It feels like a treat and the benefits last for days.

[midivydale]

Me too! As much fresh air as possible, wholesome food and supplements has helped me. Have you checked your thyroid and ferritin levels?

[Monkey]

Oh wow - so many views!

I'm doing better although today's return trip on the Eurostar won't help!

Thank you all!

[ianr]

A standard expert view on daytime napping, btw -- last heard on the radio yesterday -- still seems to be to limit any one spell to no more than twenty minutes.

[monkeyspanner]

I have two big sealed bottles of floradix going free if anyone wants them, pm me (I need stronger iron supplements).

Get your iron and thyroid levels checked as someone said upthread.

[nowittyname]

Hi Came across your message just now by accident. Hope you are better but if not....

just wanted to say, have you been checked for autoimmune disease? There are quite a few of these illnesses, but they often cause extreme extreme exhaustion - it's like being thrown into extreme old age without warning - you basically just keep falling asleep, can't get up the stairs in one go, memory non-existent...etc.

Did by any chance your mum, grandmother, aunts, have thyroid disease or unexplained illness?

Doctors very very bad at diagnosing autoimmune diseases. Can be very few other symptoms, or fleeting symptoms, which they can always write off as something else.

If you are persistently always exhausted and can't do the things that your same-age partner or friends can do, can't get anywhere suggest you go to private GP and insist on tests, particularly for PBC - primary biliary cholangitis - get the AMA antibody test.

Good luck.

[Monkey]

Hi - I've been better, thank you, but feeling tired again of late. I need to get myself checked out and this info is precious so thank you.

If I look at my life, I had two return trips to Yorkshire by car over half term to drop off and pick up my daughter and then a return trip to paris on Wednesday last week, which finished me off. There's not a single day in the week when I can have a lie in. I do too much - even if I have a great husband who cooks and does a lot of the childcare - I feel I'm always on the go.

I'm also bored witless at work and I'm sure this is making things worse.

[Howl]

I was on the path to a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis when I discovered that it was soy that was literally sending me to bed - within hours of consumption. It?s a crazy reaction - very strong - and I shiver to think that I could be currently bedridden with a cfs diagnosis (was drinking soy milk every day)had I not been open to the possibility of food being at the root of it. Just saying it might be worth keeping a food diary if you haven?t already

[Howl]

Should have also said that it seems to be part of a wider problem I have with the histamine response ....so look up histamine intolerance because fatigue is how my body reacts....

[Ginster]

Definitely get your thyroid checked as said above. Hope things improve.