What's up lately

[blackorchid1]

I'm sitting at my desk at my extremely boring job with very little to do. This weekend I spent a lot of time sleeping in. I didn't wake up until after 5pm yesterday, after initially waking up, having some breakast and getting sleepy again, I went back to sleep

Comments

[misslynx]

One thing to be aware of if you go to get your iron checked is that there are two different types of iron deficiency tests available, for two different types of anemia. Only one of them is done routinely by most doctors - for the more common form of anemia. I can't remember offhand the names of the two different types, but my sister's anemia went undiagnosed for years because every doctor she went to just did the more common test, and it wasn't until one of them did the other test that they found she was actually severely anemic, just with the less common variety.

Also - having your thyroid levels checked would be good. The sort of fatigue you're experiencing could be due to hypothyroidism, and there are some varieties of that (including one that runs in my family) that tend to kick in right during middle age, even if you've never had any thyroid problems in the past (I have thus far been spared that, but I get tested for it every year).

Also, for many women, menopause causes insomnia (partly due to the hot flashes and partly just as a thing in itself), so if you're not getting good uninterrupted sleep while you're in bed, that could be part of what's making you tired during the day. I know I've been having trouble with that myself - it's not usually the stay-awake-for-hours type of insomnia, but more the sleep-wake-sleep-wake-sleep-wake kind, where you sleep very lightly and keep waking up so that you don't actually get as much sleep as it looks like you're getting, and that can definitely take a toll...

[blackorchid1]

Thank you for the suggestions! I have another friend who's having issues with hypothyroid, so it's good to be reminded to have that checked out, in addition to both types of anemia. What are the names of the two types, so I know what the differences are?

As for sleep, I've been *really* tired recently, and slept most of yesterday and all night, but kept waking up in a light sleep as you described. That's extremely unusual for me, but I'm also fighting off a cold I think... and that might be affecting my sleep as well.