If you're around 59 to 60, how tired are you?!

Thanks for all the comments. Since I started this thread, I have read the book Hormone Intelligence and am following the advice in that regarding tweaks to diet and supplements. It has made a difference, which may of course be a placebo but I'll take that! Ashwaganda, a good multivitamin and fish oil.

I'm not as lively as I was 20 years ago, but definitely better than when I first posted.

gilf2019. Make sure you go to see the doctor with a positive attitude. Tell them what a wonderful improvement it has made to your life and how happy you are to be on it. Just be firm about wishing to remain on it and if you hit a brick wall ask for a referral to a menopause clinic and insist that you remain on HRT until you have seen an expert.
If you have a family history of osteoporosis the treatment is oestrogen. Your family does have a history of osteoporosis OP, am I correct? ?. Read NICE guidelines and print them off. I have had reports from many women that producing a copy and asking the doctor detailed questions usually results in getting what you want.
Many of us are on HRT for life. I’ve been on it for 32 years and feel wonderful.

I'm 65 and not taking HRT. I don't tend to nap during the day and although I don't have the same energy I had 20 years ago I still exercise and do most things I've always done just slightly slower. I did have a spell of extreme tiredness when I hit the menopause and was still working full time but that has passed.
Do feel I look my age now though and I find it harder to keep my weight down.

I’m 58 and not on HRT, I got up this morning at 6.30, left home an hour later to drop off a car and collect a courtesy car.
Home for breakfast, cleaning and ironing then left for the gym at 11.30.
Home now having a late lunch and then it’s food prep as 4 friends are coming for a curry this evening.

I would normally walk the dog but it’s too wet today and she hates it.

I will probably get to bed around 11.30 shattered but I can’t and won’t sleep during the day.

If I have a quiet day then I feel more tired, I am definitely better for doing more..

I have loads of supplements, B12, vit D etc.

I was found to have an underactive thyroid about 4 years ago-then aged 54, i have to stay on thyroid tablets now for life- but i'm still constantly tired as i'm on other tablets (for other medical problems) most of which say "can cause drowsiness"- so be aware that it could be medication also which causes tiredness, and mixed with medical problems etc and/or menopausal symptoms its no wonder we ladies often don't feel as energetic as we used to! Have a chat with your G.P. to see if any pills can be contributing, or could be changed? Or see if you're getting a few medical reasons for the tiredness all put together? I cannot take HRT due to some of my other medications, which can't be changed.So ill just have to put up with being constantly tired.?

I agree. I have now been on a low dose Combined HRT and at 62 the GP, who isn't a very empathetic person, has suddenly decided I need what he calls an HRT "Review". I think he just wants to take me off it and this has really upset me. Men have no idea how the menopause affects women and don't really care. Some GP's have said I can stay on my HRT for as long as I want but I know this GP has it in for me for insisting on a face-to-face appointment about my 'advanced arthritis'.
On HRT I could see the change in my skin and hair and went from being exhausted all the time to being able to exercise again. I know I will have no libido and my looks will go downhill, I also am quite sure I will put on weight and will then probably feel desperately unhappy.
I really don't see why I should be happy with weight gain, thin hair and an aged skin or why so many women are put off taking HRT by nasty GP's. Why DO GP's think it's ok for women to age overnight, just because of some "unproved" nonsense about breast cancer and strokes that even NICE can't make up their minds about.
WHY the Government don't care about women over 50 I don't know. Why they don't realise that a lot of poor health, particularly weight gain and exhaustion leading to Diabetes and Heart Disease is due to a loss of a simply hormone that can be replaced so easily.
I personally think I may end up suicidal if my GP insists on refusing me HRT as I've struggled with depression for the last decade, have lost my career and home due to the menopause as it took ages to get decent treatment from a sympathetic female GP and as my grown up children don't speak to me or care about me I have nothing to live for if my life goes even further downhill.

About two years ago I had a sudden bout with high blood pressure and exhaustion among other things. Went to multiple docs and specialists who all claimed it was either in my head (nothing) or menopause. Lots of blood tests that all came back in the "normal range". Finally saw a rheumatologist who listened to all my symptoms, tested me for ALL the thyroid hormones and antibodies and he diagnosed me with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This is a much underdiagnosed condition in which the immune system attacks your own thyroid, causing you to become hypothyroid with all its exhausting symptoms. I'm on replacement thyroid hormone and doing a little better, although still a shell of my former energetic self. And 50 lbs heavier in two years! (I had been the same weight for the past 25 years within a range of 2 or 3 pounds.) Google info on hashimotos thyroiditis and the blood tests to request to accurately diagnose it. Isabella Wentz site has some info on the tests to request. Good luck!

I never suffered with tireditis, I was like a monkey on a stick, though I've slowed down this last 12 months----no option really. My brain still works overtime Not so bad for turned 80 I don't suppose.

Being 60 was one of my best years, I took a years sabbatical to live in France for 6 months, and took early retirement after our return, this was 5 years ago.I’ve never been a daytime napper and had HRT for a year aged 51.
You don’t specifically say when this started? I found giving up work made me restless, so started voluntary work, I’ve just restarted, phone only, I need the stimulus of work. But, we’re all different, maybe your self employment doesn’t invigorate you enough and you need more social interaction?

Yes I do get tired now I've reached 60 I still clean private houses since I was 20 but now I'm 60 it does show on me now

Thanks for all your comments.
I've been quite anti -HRT as my mother died of a cancer which might have been more likely because of HRT, but I am reconsidering.

I retired from full time work when I was 60.

I felt drained when I came home from work, and was glad to finish.

Life has been much better the last 8 years.

I was utterly exhausted at 59 to 60 but I never considered it to be menopause, it was my stressful job which affected me even more than being widowed a year or two earlier.
As soon as I retired at 62 my energy returned.

Esspee

The most debilitating symptoms of menopause are not highly publicised ones such as hot flushes but the long term ones which creep up gradually and give you long term Heath problems.
Osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, sleep problems, vaginal atrophy, loss of libido, incontinence, prolapse, sleep problems..........the list goes on and on.
I’m almost 72 and only stopped work due to Covid. My peers on HRT are living full energetic lives and vow they are staying on it for life. Those who are not on HRT are all, every single one of them, very old like my mother’s generation were. They complain of aches and pains, have long since given up on a sex life and look old and tired.
I do so wish that the long term effects of menopause were more widely known.

Cynical here but - it doesn’t happen to men so it’s of no interest? They just get the urge to buy a sports car and get a younger wife ?. Seriously though I did HRT for 5 years. I eventually came off as the doctors put so much pressure on me to stop. I wish I hadn’t now.

The most debilitating symptoms of menopause are not highly publicised ones such as hot flushes but the long term ones which creep up gradually and give you long term Heath problems.
Osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, sleep problems, vaginal atrophy, loss of libido, incontinence, prolapse, sleep problems..........the list goes on and on.
I’m almost 72 and only stopped work due to Covid. My peers on HRT are living full energetic lives and vow they are staying on it for life. Those who are not on HRT are all, every single one of them, very old like my mother’s generation were. They complain of aches and pains, have long since given up on a sex life and look old and tired.
I do so wish that the long term effects of menopause were more widely known.

I felt just the same at that age. Tired, lethargic, every ligament was sore - I had tests for rheumatoid arthritis and other things but nothing - two years later it all cleared and I now have more energy, don’t ache etc. I’m convinced it was the effects of the menopause. Hope yours passes too like mine did. In the meantime don’t be too hard on yourself. If you need sleep then get it. Follow your body’s needs. Good luck.

I have a lot of problems with fatigue due to psoriatic Arthritis, it’s actually the symptom I hate most , more than the joint and skin problems, so I do sympathise . Best advice Rheumatologist gave me was to look at your energy like a bank account- if you take out ( be energetic) you need ‘ deposit’ ( take some rest) to avoid an overdraft!!!

I'm mid 50's, still at work and get very tired. I could NEVER nap in the day, up until a couple of years ago. But now, I can easily doze off for a couple of hours. Lovely nanna naps!

I thought I was tired at 60 but not half as tired as I am now,
Enjoy being 60. It’s positively youthful!

Before I retired at 60 I found I was dropping off to sleep when I got home from work. Just a nap but it seemed odd.
I don't do that any more though. Less stressful life?

I'm exactly the same.
Achy, breathless, exhausted, balding..
A long list of things.
My blood tests were all normal. Healthier than the doctor's, he was at pains to inform me.

Every day feels like a mountain to climb.

@doodledog thanks, will find out. I feel like a balloon that's had some air removed!

Are they going to check your blood for B12 deficiency? I have Pernicious Anaemia, and when my B12 jab is due I feel like my batteries have been removed. It is exhausting.

The symptoms of PA are many and varied (luckily it's a pick and mix - most people don't get all of them), but tiredness is one of the common ones. The Pernicious Anaemia Society website has more details, but the problem is that few people will link things like chapped lips, tiredness and memory loss, for instance - they seem like separate conditions.

I would ask your GP to check your levels, as if you do have it, it can be reasonably well-controlled with quarterly injections.

I remember I started noticing I was tired at 60, I began to drop off to sleep occasionally whilst watching tv. I also had a bit of a shock, I ran across our local village road, and realised I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was, and was actually lucky to make it across. I saw a documentary on muscle loss, it is quite severe as we age, I hope to go the gym after lock down and have a go at weight training. I'm also going to change my diet, I'm a veg and have started eating too much cheese, for convenience.

@midgey Thank you for replying.
There may be an element of lockdownitis, but it was happening before lockdown. The previous time I saw my GP he unhelpfully told me I was doing too much, but compared with what I used to do, it's not much at all!
I just don't know how much I should expect to feel more tired at this age. DH has a lot more energy, although he's tired earlier in the evenings than he used to be.