Fatigue

Fatigue and Menopause

Fatigue is one of the most frequently experienced symptoms of menopause, with up to 80% of women reporting this experience at one time or another. Hard to pinpoint and sneaky in its effects, it can make this already tumultuous time period even harder to deal with by making women irritable and unable to concentrate during daytime.

Primarily caused by the hormonal changes that come along with menopause, it can be exacerbated by other illnesses.
Around 20% of Americans claim to have fatigue intense enough to interfere with their normal life. Physical causes are estimated at 20-60%, and emotional causes are the other 40-80%.

About Fatigue

Fatigue is defined as an ongoing and persistent feeling of weakness, tiredness, and lowered energy level. This should be distinguished from drowsiness, which implies an actual urge to sleep. It involves lack of energy rather than sleepiness.

Another distinction that must be made is that between fatigue as a symptom of menopause and chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a more serious and complicated disorder. Chronic fatigue syndrome includes periods of extreme fatigue that do not improve with bed rest and may worsen with physical or mental activity.

This symptom can be distinguished by a variety of characteristics, both mental and physical. Oftentimes these symptoms can be experienced in tandem with each other. A woman undergoing menopause might feel a lag in energy levels that lasts all day, or experience shorter bursts of fatigue intermittently.

Fatigue is particularly frustrating as it has this duel effect on both mind and body, making the completion of normal tasks difficult if not impossible.

Causes of Fatigue

For women undergoing the menopausal transition, the most likely cause of fatigue is the fluctuation in hormones that occurs naturally during this time. Hormones are responsible for controlling energy at the cellular level, thus when levels of estrogen and progesterone decrease, so do energy levels.

Compounding this, hormones also play a role in regulating the sleep cycle. These fluctuations will also affect a woman´s ability to get a good night of rest, leading to fatigue in the morning.

Other hormones that are involved in this process include the thyroid and adrenal hormones, as well as melatonin. These all work at the cellular level to regulate energy levels, thus when the hormone levels naturally decrease during menopause, so does a woman´s energy. This is what leads to the feeling of persistent fatigue.

While most middle aged women experiencing fatigue as a result of the hormonal changes that occur naturally during this time period, there are certain other, less common conditions such as thyroid disorders or depression, that are capable of causing fatigue as well.

Treatment of Fatigue during Menopause:

1. Lifestyle Changes
2. The Manna Menopause Support Supplement, with 100% natural phyto-estrogens.