How to Avoid Fatigue in Menopause

Before and during menopause, it's normal to feel tired frequently. Can you do anything to avoid it? Keep reading.

Fatigue in menopause along with emotional ups and downs, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, sleep problems, and hot flashes are common discomforts at this stage of a woman’s life. This was confirmed by a study published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Nutrition in 2006.

In this same study, the authors noted that, although menopausal fatigue has often been associated with decreased estrogen, this may not be the only cause. After all, the variety of changes that occur in the body – more or less simultaneously – are related to several factors, such as metabolic changes, among others.

Added to this, they clarified that there are no set criteria to consider which symptoms are always typical of menopause, and which are the result of aging, or deterioration of health, psychosocial factors, or lifestyle.

However, regardless of its exact origin, menopausal fatigue is an annoying condition that many women wonder if it’s possible to avoid, and, if so, how can they do it?

Is it normal to feel tired in menopause?

Feeling tired after exercising or having a particularly active day is normal. Generally, a good rest helps the body to recover, and then continue with our normal routine. However, what about fatigue in menopause? What can be done about it?

During menopause, it’s normal to experience a little less energy and a little more tiredness more frequently on a day-to-day basis. This is the case if there’s no underlying pathology and it doesn’t result in total disability.

This type of discomfort is part of the expected changes of this stage of life, and generally tends to be mild to moderate. Some days it’s more noticeable and others less, but this will always depend on the woman, her health, her lifestyle, etc.

How to deal with fatigue in menopause?

Rather than avoiding fatigue in menopause, it’s best to talk about what we can do to learn to cope with it in a healthy way, so that it doesn’t cause great difficulties in our day-to-day lives, or affect overall well-being too significantly. Let’s see some keys to achieve it.

A healthy diet

As stated in a study published in Elsevier on the keys to coping with menopause, “the diet during menopause must contain the vitamins, minerals and nutrients necessary to reduce the problems that this stage of life produces.” Some of the most prominent would be the following:

• Zinc
• Calcium
• Iron
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Vitamins A, E, K and B complex vitamins

Before resorting to vitamin or herbal supplements on your own, it is recommended to consult with your doctor to give them the most appropriate use (if approved).

Exercise

Can exercising help to fight menopausal fatigue? The answer is a most definite YES! Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to perform a high-intensity routine on a daily basis, far from it. Depending on the case, the exercise must be adjusted to a number of parameters in order for it to be beneficial.

Experts indicate that the ideal plan would be to exercise at least one hour a day, 5 days a week. The practice should combine simple activities such as a brisk walk, cycling, swimming, running, playing a sport, or climbing stairs, with aerobic exercise and flexibility and concentration exercises (such as yoga and Pilates).

It’s worth bearing in mind that exercise won’t only help you cope with fatigue, but will also help you maintain good physical and mental health. As a result, you will be able to enjoy daily well-being.

Take care of sleep hygiene

Although it’s true that, during menopause, it can be more difficult to enjoy a restful sleep, with a healthy lifestyle and your doctor’s recommendations, it’s certainly possible to minimize its impact.

Taking care of sleep hygiene has to do with our nighttime ritual. Taking this into account can greatly benefit it and bring us some restorative rest. Some of the measures that can be applied to maintain a good sleep ritual would be the following:

• Keep a schedule: Try to get up and go to bed at the same time.
• Have the room at a suitable temperature, with good light and sound conditions.
• Do relaxing activities before going to bed: Take a relaxing shower, listen to an audiobook that helps to distract the mind, or a guided meditation. Do some simple stretches, put aside your mobile phone and devices, dim the lighting of the home to encourage relaxation and rest.

Final recommendations

Going to your doctor is highly recommended when fatigue in menopause prevents you from performing your daily activities smoothly. Not only because this can help you determine what could be triggering it, but because they can provide you with the most appropriate options to cope with it in a healthy way and bring you true well-being.

Keep in mind that, in addition to putting into practice the specialist’s recommendations, you should also maintain healthy lifestyle habits for your body and mind. After all, a good lifestyle can always be a great tool if you know how to take advantage of it.