This is How I Survive Menstrual Tiredness (It Works!)
Apr 27, 2018
Do you ever feel completely exhausted when your period is around the corner?
So you cancel exciting events with friends, say no to activities you’d normally love and hibernate at home, waiting until your period finally arrives.
All you want to do is curl up in bed, hide under the covers and sleep.
This kind of pre-menstrual fatigue is incredibly common for all women, but tends to get worse as the years go by. I’m noticing that my own pre-menstrual energy levels are really suffering as I get closer to the menopause!
And we often don’t listen to our bodies when this happens.
We try and push ourselves through it regardless, believing that we’re weak or lazy for feeling this way. We try to keep up the pace despite our bodies telling us to rest. We try to stay as productive as we want to, despite our brain feeling foggy and distracted. We just aren’t kind to ourselves at all.
So today I’d like to explain more about why you feel so tired at the end of your cycle and why it’s so important to honour your own needs.
I’ll also give you some tips that will help you get through this part of your menstrual cycle feeling empowered, instead of exhausted.
Why do we feel so tired just before our period?
I like to think of pre-menstrual tiredness and fatigue as nature’s way of helping you to rest and take care of yourself. It’s triggered by the normal decline of certain sex hormones at this point in your cycle.
Let me explain some more about how your hormones fluctuate over the course of your cycle so you can a better idea of what I mean.
As you might know, throughout the month, levels of those main sex hormones: oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone naturally adjust and flow, depending on where you are in your cycle.
(Pic: https://womeninbalance.org/about-hormone-imbalance/)
At the start of your cycle (day one, when your period starts), your sex hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone are all at relatively low levels.
Then for approximately the next two weeks as you move towards ovulation (when your egg is released), your oestrogen levels will rise.
Oestrogen helps prepare your body for a possible pregnancy and also has some lovely side effects such as making you feel more outgoing, chattier, more energetic and motivated to tackle any task with ease.
As you might notice from looking at the graph, your testosterone levels will peak around the time of ovulation too; testosterone naturally boosts your sex drive to encourage pregnancy to happen.
If you don’t get pregnant at this time, your hormone levels will crash, increase again slightly (with progesterone becoming the dominant hormone now), and then crash again as your period approaches.
This crash is what triggers that awful tiredness, as well as those other symptoms of PMT such as weepiness, bloating, irritability, low mood, and acne.
Why does it get worse as we get older?
When we are younger, we tend not to notice the hormonal transitions happening over the course of the month.
But once our bodies start producing less of hormones like oestrogen and progesterone as we approach the peri-menopause and menopause, our pre-menstrual symptoms are likely to increase, especially those symptoms of fatigue and extreme tiredness.
Interestingly, our PMT symptoms at this stage of life also give us a clue as to what our experience of the menopause might be like.
So it’s time to take care of ourselves and our hormones now so we can experience a healthier, happier, calmer menopause.
Find out how we can do this by reading my tips below.
How to feel beat pre-menstrual fatigue naturally
- Make friends with your menstrual cycle
It always surprises me how many ladies have no idea where they are in their cycle! Then they get surprised when they suddenly feel tired or uncomfortable or even start their period when they’re not prepared.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Track your period using a simple calendar or one of the many great apps you can find these days, and you’ll start making sense of why you’re feeling on top of the world on a particular day, or irritable, weepy and exhausted another.
- Understand your menstrual cycle
Do you know the basics about female sex hormones? Do you know what happens at the various points in your cycle? If you’re not sure, go back and re-read my quick explanation above about the causes of this energy dip, or watch this excellent (and amusing) short video by Glamour magazine.
- Go with the flow!
Once you’ve befriended your menstrual cycle and you know where you are, you can start to take advantage of it! When you’re close to ovulation you can use that natural energy high to get out there and socialise, to cross items off your ‘to do’ list and to move towards your personal goals.
Be aware that if you’re on the pill you won’t experience the natural highs because of the effect those artificial hormones have on your body.
- Schedule time to relax
Similarly, when you approach your period, say for the last few days, make sure you give yourself enough time to wind down, relax and give yourself some pampering time.
Keep your calendar as clear as you can, reduce your workload, and honour your body’s needs in whatever way you like.
I love to have plenty of early nights, down tools earlier, enjoy a nice hot bath and get my partner to help me out. It’s not lazy or self-indulgent but necessary. Besides, you deserve it.
Don’t be tempted to override the natural energy dip and push yourself to the point of exhaustion. You’ll only harm your adrenal glands this way, and potentially cause yourself more problems now and further down the line when you approach the menopause itself.
- Avoid sugar
Whilst it’s very common to get cravings for sugar or high-carb, processed foods like sweets, ice-cream, doughnuts and biscuits at the end of your cycle, please do your best to resist. You’ll only make your tiredness even worse!
Research says that pre-menstrual cravings aren’t hormonally based, but they’re issues with your blood sugar levels. So while eating that cake might briefly feel good, it will trigger a yo-yo effect with your blood sugar levels, causing a dip in your energy levels, and will ultimately leave you feeling more tired.
Tackle those cravings naturally by increasing your protein intake, eating smaller meals more frequently and opting for wholefood carbs whenever possible. It’s also worth including plenty of iron-rich foods in your diet such as green leafy veggies, eggs, pulses and beans, nuts and seeds, brown rice, fish, and liver.
- Get an early night
Your body is telling you to sleep, so SLEEP! Aim to get at least 8 hours per night and perhaps more if you can or want to.
It’s also worth making the bedroom and electronics-free zone - all that blue light interferes with your natural sleep cycles and will prevent you feeling refreshed in the morning.
- Don’t exercise!
For the sake of your adrenal glands, I’d highly advise that you don’t engage in vigorous exercise in the days leading up to your period.
Instead, take gentle walks, go for a gentle swim or even do yoga instead so you can stay active but still give your hormones some TLC. It’s also a great idea to meditation or do guided visualisations at this time to calm your body and soothe your soul.
Whilst pre-menstrual tiredness is completely normal and natural, it doesn’t mean you have to feel like a wreck!
Follow the quick tips I’ve shared here and you’ll survive PMT and the start of your period, support your body, and ultimately, give it what it needs.
P.S. Would you like a free relaxation audio recording to help get you through those difficult days? Click here for your copy.
