Cyclical fatigue?

[wendibird22]

Could hormone swings cause massive fatigue mid-cylce? For the past year I've been exploring causes of heartburn, bloating, and fatigue. We've ruled out a lot of stuff and I'm currently gluten free for the past month checking for an intolerance. But here I am today with crushing fatigue. I woke up feeling tire and now, mid afternoon (I'm eating lunch now) I'm ready to curl up at my desk and nap. I'm tracking food intake and symptoms so I happened to notice that one month ago and I also logged extreme fatigue. It seems to coincide with the week prior to ovulation (about 5 days into my period of usually 7 days). My periods are regular and not heavy at all. I take a daily multivitamin with iron. My ferritin is lower end of normal but everything else is normal regarding iron, thyroid, etc.

So, could simple cyclical hormone swings cause this crushing exhaustion each month? Anything else to consider? I have a follow up appointment with my doc on Monday so I'm looking for new things to discuss/consider.

I haven't ruled out a gluten connection with the timing being coincidental (I started GF just 2-3 days before the last exhaustion and I was glutened a few days ago with DH's turkey soup...broth from carcass that had been previously stuffed with stuffing). But, I thought I see if there's the likelihood of another contributing factor.

[echoesofspring]

I don't have any advice reg. the hormonal aspect, but have you had your vit D checked? Not sure why that would be cyclical, but maybe it's contrib to with hormones. I don't know, just something else to ask your Dr about if you haven't already.

[wendibird22]

Thanks. I had my vit D checked a few months ago and it was in a good range. My ferritin was 40, which is in the normal range, but seems low to me. I take a multi with iron in it but maybe I need to up my iron. I'm going to ask about that.

[hellokitty]

I have the same type of symptoms when I am PMSing and during AF. The first few days of AF, I am so fatigued that I cannot even workout. I simply have to stay home (esp since I have heavy flow, but my iron levels are not low) and just don't have high expectations of getting too many things done. So, no advice, but lots of sympathy. I'm in my last 30's and it's gotten a lot worse in the past two yrs. I actually feel like my mood is awful during this time period and some of my friends who have been through pre-menopause have told me that they have had to go on anti-depressants to help them through the mood issues related to their cycle.

[wendibird22]

I have the same type of symptoms when I am PMSing and during AF. The first few days of AF, I am so fatigued that I cannot even workout. I simply have to stay home (esp since I have heavy flow, but my iron levels are not low) and just don't have high expectations of getting too many things done. So, no advice, but lots of sympathy. I'm in my last 30's and it's gotten a lot worse in the past two yrs. I actually feel like my mood is awful during this time period and some of my friends who have been through pre-menopause have told me that they have had to go on anti-depressants to help them through the mood issues related to their cycle.

Glad to know I'm not alone. I'm about to turn 37. If this is just the beginning of the downward spiral then boy am I in trouble! The day I posted the exhaustion just kept getting worse. By the end of the work day I was so tired I couldn't concentrate because all I could think about was wanting to go lay down. But then a few hours later, at home, I had a dr pepper and a motrin and it lifted like I had never been tired. Weirdest thing ever.

[hellokitty]

Glad to know I'm not alone. I'm about to turn 37. If this is just the beginning of the downward spiral then boy am I in trouble! The day I posted the exhaustion just kept getting worse. By the end of the work day I was so tired I couldn't concentrate because all I could think about was wanting to go lay down. But then a few hours later, at home, I had a dr pepper and a motrin and it lifted like I had never been tired. Weirdest thing ever.

Yup, I pretty much feel this way too. Just too tired to function on same days. I'm going to be 39 soon and yes, I would say that 37 was when I started noticing just feeling tired more easily than before.

[wendibird22]

My PCP is so not helpful. Since my last bought of fatigue seemed to be almost immediately relieved by a dr pepper and a motrin she thinks it could be related to migraines, saying that some people get all sorts of fogginess w/out getting the actual headache. She also said yes, it could be hormonal, but since my cycle is regular it isn't worth checking my hormone levels.

[jren]

My PCP said that fatigue was the #1 complaint he hears from women. So, I'm sure some doctors discount it to some extent. Was the Motrin b/c you had pain anywhere? Have you looked into things like Fibromyalgia, CFS, etc? I have MS (which I'm NOT saying you have, since I had many other symptoms besides fatigue), but I do notice my fatigue is worse during certain times of my cycle. So I think just the natural cycle of hormones can affect energy levels, even if all your hormone levels are normal. So I can understand your doctor not feeling the need to check those levels.

[wendibird22]

No, no pain, just the sense that a headache was coming on. I've had just about every kind of blood work done because I've been trying to find the cause of bloating, heartburn, headaches, fatigue, etc for over 12mos now. So far everything has come back perfectly normal.

[jren]

Could you have fibroids? This is the age that they can grow. My sister has them and they grew causing bloating and a whole host of other strange symptoms. I hope you can find a cause soon, or that it just goes away! It's so frustrating not feeling well.