How to manage fatigue in Menopause with daily pacing strategies

Sometimes menopause can bring extreme fatigue. Again, it is a symptom and not everyone will have every symptom, and people will also have varying levels of symptoms, some mild and some extreme. Some females do experience extreme fatigue. Our last library article reviewed types of fatigue you might experience. Some types can be solved by improving sleep, others can’t (but sleep will still help). You might have the dragging yourself around type of fatigue where even the smallest increase in effort may result in an exaggerated response in your fatigue levels.

One strategy you can use if you are experiencing extreme fatigue, is daily pacing. 

Firstly, you should always seek advice from your GP if you are experiencing extreme fatigue as many medical conditions may have fatigue as a symptom. Your GP will also be able to help you with strategies and be able to refer you to the correct professionals to help.

Pacing is a self-management technique that helps you balance your energy and rest to help you minimise the impact of your fatigue on your quality of life. Pacing can involve many strategies to help you minimise fatigue and maximise energy. 

Proactive rest – proactive rest is a type of rest that you schedule in daily BEFORE your fatigue levels peak. It is pre-emptive, with the purpose of helping you avoid peaks in your fatigue. This might involve extra shorter rests through the day, rather than a lunch break of 1 hour. You might rest for 15-20 mins in the morning, midday and mid-afternoon. Ideally you should not do anything taxing or stimulating (not even watching TV), but might read something easy, meditate, lie with your eyes closed and listen to music. 

Activity shifting – you might divide your daily activities into easy, medium and difficult. Rather that complete them all at once, you break them up into smaller parts and cycle between them. This way you only spend short periods on the difficult energy task and give yourself breaks with easier tasks. 

Take note of the time of day – try and keep a diary if you can and see if you can identify a pattern in your fatigue. If there is a pattern, try and schedule higher energy tasks when you have the most energy. Be careful not to overdo it and result in increased peak fatigue and also remember to schedule your breaks. 

There are many other pacing strategies and also seeking out the help of a counsellor, psychologist, exercise physiologist or physiotherapist experienced in fatigue conditions can also be very helpful.

What actions can you take to monitor your fatigue and then be able to implement pacing strategies?

Action 1 - Keep a diary over the next week of your fatigue levels throughout the day and see if you can identify a pattern. If you can, try and organise your activities around your daily energy pattern. Then continue to keep a diary and see if this makes any difference in your overall daily fatigue levels.

Action 2 – To help with daily pacing, great sleep is also vital. A strategy you might start to use around sleep is to come up with an activity you can do to wind down. Spend maybe 15 mins before bed performing this activity with the aim to wind you down for sleep. Examples are reading fiction books, meditating, listening to relaxing music, a warm bath with dim lighting etc. Any activity that you find relaxing. Keep your consistent bedtime and add this relaxing activity in 15 mins before bedtime. Have a look at our Blog section for an in depth blog on sleep - there is also a Vlog (video) attached which goes into some tips about exercise and sleep.