Fatigue/ Tiredness

I am in my early 50's work full time in a stressful job and co/mainly! Parent my eldest 6yr old DGS my youngest daughter (his mother) lives with me and has type 1 diabetes which she struggles to control. Result I do all house work and shopping cooking as well as 90% of child care I also try to get involved as much as I can with my other daughters DD's! Two 4 year olds and a 2 year old although they live 3 hours away! Result one exhausted grandparent! In fact I feel more tired than I did when my own 3 were little

Reading through the thread with interest, I'm always tired, having decided that I have put up feeling awful for so long now I went to see my doctor yesterday with the intention of asking for HRT. However, she asked me to put this on hold as recent blood test revealed that I should take vitamin D. In addition my last reading suggested I might need to up my thyroxine intake and lastly I have too much iron, having been tested for a lack of iron which I know can result in tiredness, I now see from googling too much iron, this also can be a cause for fatigue. I now remember that my father had something called Haemochromotosis, whereby he had to have a pint of blood taken away every so often because of a build up of iron, my doctor has suggested I be tested for this as it tends to be genetic.

I was told that the Australian aborigines believe they are born with only so much energy so they conserve it consciously. I make a point of doing that. I will not waste energy. I plan my day

No it doesn't thatbags,I have decided life is all about adjusting and muddling through!

That sounds so pathetic to my former self!

I'm glad you have found more of a balance, opeless. I find it does make a big difference not pushing oneself through certain signs or limits. I have done a few house and garden tasks this morning but now I know I have to conserve energy for parent/teacher meetings at Minibags's school this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my original post about fatigue and tiredness. I saw my doctor , who listened and reassured me. I had a thyroid test 6 months ago at the time of my bladder op, and it was fine. It seems the pain from the arthritis in my knees could be a big contributor to making me feel tired, and not realising how much I do in the day! I feel much more relaxed about feeling tired now( does that make sense?), if I feel exhausted its often because I have been into town and walked around a lot, fatal to my knees, yet I play badminton (I try and play tactically rather than run round like a fool) and don't feel so tired as when I have been shopping!(Mainly I think because I play with a group of 'girls' older than me , and we have a really good laugh). I take a nap in the day when I feel the need, and can, and keep more of an eye on how much I do in the day, and stop when I have had enough. I think everyone has different energy levels, right from when we are born, Gransnet has helped me to see that. thanks all, you are brilliant!!

PS.Older children's emotions and angst tend to be exhausting I have decided- grandchildren seem to be so simple. Hungry, cry, tired, cry, poorly, cry. Mind you, only very little yet!

Goodness , thanks to all who have taken an interest and replied to my original post. I had to cancel my original GP appt, and was getting a bit blasé thinking it was probably normal to feel tired, but have now rebooked it! I think jingllbellfrocks may be right, the pain and limitations that comes from my knee arthritis is depressing, though I didn't consider myself 'depressed', but down about it certainly, and pain is tiring. I also remembered my mum often being told she looked young for her age, but she said ' it's not entirely fair, I don't have any pain, and pain ages you' . Not cheering, but wise I feel! I have lost a third of my one eyebrow interestingly as someone mentioned about thyroid problems, so am going to ask my GP to test for that. I had a big bleed when my cancer made itself known, and although blood tests at the time didn't show anaemia, I have been so in the past. Thanks again to all, GP appt booked for next week, the earliest I could get in, will let you know results!

Reading all this about thyroid troubles reminds me that I read some really good info. from an American doctor . The thyroid needs iodine and here in GB most diets are deficient in iodine. It used to be found in flour and salt, but they've now replaced it in flour manufacturing with bromine, and of course salt levels are being cut in lots of foodstuffs, The only really good iodine -rich foods are prawns and lobster which are both too expensive for everyday, so this chap recommended taking kelp tablets. I was feeling tired all the time, so gave it a go---kelp tablets from Holland and Barrett---and it's made a huge difference. I'm almost 80 and still working seven days a week at a pretty physical job, so I'll keep taking the kelp!

Have been to the doctors today to get the update on my last blood test - she has upped the Levothyroxine but I managed to talk about Vitamin D and B12. It appears from what she said that our mum's (and some GNs) knew a thing or two when they gave us Cod Liver Oil as it helps with the gross lack of Vit D available. Worth a try although you may want to check if you are on other medication. It could help with general tiredness. B12 is iron and folic acid helps too but some people have problems with iron so worth checking. GrandMattie seems to have got it sorted but I thought it was worth "reporting back".

I am now 68. I tend to wake early as my back starts complaining by about 6am so I have to get out of bed and move about.

What is wrong with taking a short afternoon nap? It seems to have been something not many posters have suggested. Are we thinking that having an early afternoon nap is just what "old people" do and we don't want to be thought of as old? I think that an early afternoon energy drop is part of most peoples natural body clock activity pattern.

Perhaps we should just accept that our stamina is not what it was thirty years ago and just give in to having a cat nap and a rest after lunch so we can function better later on.

As a result of this thread I bought some Vit D tablets today. Will let you know if I feel less tired and achey in a week or so!

I've just had a blood test which revealed an iron deficiency - I don't think I have been sufficiently attentive to my diet recently - which could explain why I have felt so washed out for the last month or so.GP has given me six weeks of iron tablets.

I think it is being post menopausal. My energy levels sank to rock bottom once I was off HRT and into full-blown menopause...
I don't sleep well and am exhausted when I have the family to stay - it is partly emotional as I have to tread on eggshells with DD.
DH and I take Vit. D and B12 every day. Vit D as the sun radiation isn't high enough in UK, and B12 because the gut's bacteria don't work as well in "old age" as they did in youth. We are both physically well, but tired. I think it comes with the territory. BTW I'm 68.

Bijou I agree with you there must be something wrong to feel so tired so young. I will be 90 in June and have had two knee replacements when I was 75 what a relief to lose the pain. Have diabetes 2, heart failure, cervical spondulosis and arthritis and underactive thyroid but I don't feel so tired as many of the younger people have reported on here. I still do quite a lot but must admit that when I begin to feel tired I just sit down, put my feet up and rest for a half hour before starting again. I spend quite a lot of time reading letters on gransnet, Hm just had to go and chase the crows off my bird nuts. They are becoming a problem now they are all nesting as are the seagulls. And I can find a lot to laugh at on You Tube. I consider myself to be very fortunate at my age, wish I could help more people.

My DH and I retired about 3 years ago and now look after our lovely GD from Tuesday to Friday - four full days from 8am until 5pm. We love having her, she is now just over 2 and is on the go all day. We are both exteachers and have loads of activities for her to do every day. She is very bright for her age and her speech is amazing. However, we do find it that tiring and by Friday night we are both shattered. I give DH a break by taking GD out to various activities or just for a sleep drive. He gives me a break by taking her out in the garden. No one without GC can appreciate how tiring they can be but we love her so much it's a small price to pay.

I am 70years old and never seem to have enough energy.

I can't do mammoth shopping trips anymore. A couple of hours and that's it, I have to sit down.

I have had thyroid and other blood tests done which all came back clear.
The only health problem that I have and know about is Scoliosis.
My back just doesn't seem to support me any more.

Can't hold seven month old grandson for too long, so have to plonk him down whenever I feel weak. It's a ruddy nuisance, but nothing I can do about it really.
There is no cure.

Also I am a poor sleeper, so that is probably a factor.

I will be 93 next month. It is only the past couple of years that I have felt tired. My knees started to get arthritic when I was 75 and I had bowel cancer when 80 but I still did all the decorating and gardening etc. until ten years ago. To feel tired in ones 60's there must be something wrong.

I find so many things about hypothyroidism very strange Nonnie - very much what you didn't know you didn't know in my case. My GP is still trying to get to the right dose for me. I also have peripheral neuropathy which, as in my case it is caused by the low thyroid, I hope will be cured by the right dose but it may need B12 meanwhile. Both B12 and Vitamin D seem to play a large part and I would really like to know more about them and more about what I can do to help myself but am finding it hard to find the information.

I feel very lucky that my doctor specialised in endocrinology but I do wonder who else is involved at the surgery. When I went back last time I had not been recalled because my bloods had been marked as OK. She muttered that she must have a word with them again as there is a spectrum that needs to be looked at not just a number - no sure what it meant but I had gone back because I was needing (on the "no choice" side of needing ) naps again and a nurse friend of mine told me to go. I would probably just have coped otherwise.

My worry is that many do cope and I wonder what it is doing to their internal organs. As well as the eyebrows - a plus indeed - my digestion and my skin have both improved. Also the puffiness going must be something to do with either my kidneys or liver working better. The skin problems must have been costing the NHS quite a bit in creams, etc., and heaven know what would have happened as I got older. We seem to run behind the curve so much of the time.

I'm only 58, but feel exactly the same. I don't sleep very well any more and I work 2 days a week - the rest of the time I'm DH's carer, and will be looking after our new grandson once a week when DD returns to work, but I do get very sleepy at about 4pm... In fact I've been known to "power-nap" for about 20-30 minutes!

I take multi-vitamins + minerals and a Vitamin C booster every day and am pretty active as we also have 2 lively rescue dogs. I can only put it down to getting older.

My biggest bugbear is that when I pull a muscle or similar, it takes so much longer to recover these days!!

Wow! morethan2 I think your'e amazing working and taking care of your grandchildren. I too am 63 but retired at the moment helping take care of younger sister who has had knee replacement surgery. It is tiring but but I am loving it,I no idea how lazy I had become especially over the wintertime.

Grace one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism is losing the outer third of the eyebrow. Mine have started to grow for the first time since I can remember but I am still not confident my dosage is right. I take 100 mcg every day plus 25 mcg 4 days a week yet several I know who still have some sort of thyroid function are on higher doses. When I asked GP about the tiredness having some other cause he felt sure it was the lack of thyroid hormone and said that the body regulates it naturally but because mine is added manually it doesn't cope with the ups and downs. Not much comfort but he has done tests for other things and I get the results next week.

Tiredness cometh with age. The afternoon nap is an emperor meant to be obeyed!

I believe it is how fit we keep ourselves,
Not necessarily; I would recommend anyone who feels tired for longer than a month or so to get a blood test. It could be nothing or something more serious.