Tired? Women and Fatigue

Yesterday afternoon I had an attack of acute …. fatigue. I know that sounds a bit of an oxymoron, like the Monty Python killer rabbit. But it was real, and it scared me a bit because it was so extreme and it didn’t seem directly caused by anything. I am always low -energy on the scale of things, but this felt worse than that.

Anyway, that made me realize how this tiredness has been creeping up on me over time. It hits hardest in the afternoons, as it always has, but it’s harder to deal with nowadays. I have gained weight too and even in the better times of the day, I sometimes struggle just to get the next thing done, let alone actually do all the projects I’d like to do. I sort of doubt it has a physical cause, though I’ve looked up hypothyroidism and CFS. Well, we’ll see. Anyway, the scare I got gave me a boost to start researching and trying to manage this a bit more proactively, instead of just brushing it aside or accusing myself of being lazy, or grabbing another cup of coffee or some carbs reflexively for an energy boost!

Today at the library I fortuitously found this book Women and Fatigue on the sale rack for a dime. It looks like a sensible, well thought out book by a medical journalist. Anyway, I’m going to read it and write out my notes on it as I go.

First, the author makes the point that fatigue is real and affects lots of American women even though in some ways our lives are easier than that of our forebears. Some of the reasons are: poor diet, complexity of lives (multiple roles, for instance), poor habits, overwork, and physical conditions. She says that mind and body are united, not two separate and distinct things as we have tended to think since Enlightenment times. Mental fatigue affects the body and vice versa, so just because there is no physical cause for fatigue doesn’t mean that it’s “all in your head” or you should just “get over it”. No matter what the origin of the tiredness, it needs to be addressed and managed.
She describes how energy tends to go in cycles for most people, especially women. We have daily biorhythms that influence our energy supplies, and monthly rhythms, and then various lifetime changes like pregnancy and menopause that also cause hormonal fluctuations. She suggests keeping a log on a daily index card that lists times of day, mood, and also what time of the monthly cycle it is.

I think I will try that or at least the Plan B from Outer Space version, which would be — write it down when I especially notice something out of the common way — huge drain like yesterday, or unusually vital time. Then try to list context — what else was going on in the time frame that might have influenced it.

Sounds a bit navel-gazing, perhaps, but I really want to get hold of this problem and address it. Right now, I think the frustration of not getting done what I want to is actually increasing the fatigue.