Fatigue felt during a period is one of the most common yet most dismissed symptoms of menstruation. Fluctuating hormones can cause fatigue, making everything feel like a struggle. Heavy bleeding can create anemia and dehydration. These can add your problems and create fatigue that stops you from living your daily life. Find out how habit changes can make a difference, including how a menstrual cup can lead to better sleep.
If fatigue during your period is preventing you from living well, be sure to see your doctor. Here are some general tips to help combat period fatigue.
Keep hydrated and eat good nutrition
A period can play havoc with our appetites and routines. Once a period begins, you may find your appetite diminishes. The discomfort and fatigue can make eating, especially the cooking part, feel like one task too many at the end of a long uncomfortable day.
Others find themselves with cravings for sweet and greasy foods that offer little nutrition. Think in advance whenever possible, keeping ready-to-heat food in the fridge or freezer for your period week. Hydration is vital for energy and replacing the fluid lost during a period. Keep track of your hydrating on paper or via a habit tracker app to make sure you are drinking enough water every day of your period.
Make sleep and rest non-negotiable
Our sleep is often disrupted during periods due to body temperature changes, changing menstrual products, painful cramps, and higher anxiety levels. It can manifest as trouble getting to sleep, getting up several times a night, or having problems staying asleep. Keeping your bedroom as cool as possible during sleep can help with high body temperature discomfort. Listening to gentle meditations before sleeping can also reduce anxiety.
Consider a menstrual cup
Switching to a menstrual cup, as so many people have already, can help to cut down product-changing disruptions during the night. With a wear time of up to 12 hours and a higher capacity than pads or tampons, many people can get through the whole night without needing a bathroom trip. If your flow is heavy and you need to empty your cup, having fewer interruptions is still very helpful.
The next level of menstrual cup
At Capd Period, we are dedicated to helping people get through the night as comfortably as possible during a period. We designed CapdCup to be the first menstrual cup you can empty without removing it. A true game changer for those with a heavy flow, getting you back to sleep as quickly as possible for that all-important rest.
Simplify as much as possible around your period
Feeling overwhelmed often makes fatigue worse, especially during a hormonally challenging time as a period. When you feel tired and crampy, all you want to do is to crawl into bed. Having a list of unfinished tasks at the end of the day can quickly turn into stress.
Although some parts of our day can’t be changed, there are some things that we can plan ahead for. Some seemingly unimportant tasks we put off from week to week always become urgent at the last minute during period days.
When you bleed heavily but didn’t buy enough menstrual products. When you have terrible cramps but didn’t shop for groceries yet this week.
Scheduling errands and household tasks before a period can feel formal, even restrictive, especially on a regular day when there’s no urgent need. As a service to yourself, remove tasks from period days wherever possible by doing things in advance. During a period, any errands or tasks that create more stress or fatigue are part of the problem.
