Low Iron? « Back to Group Discussions

[CDsMom1031]

Today, I happened to run across a comment someone left somewhere that said they'd been "sleeping like their newborn" because their iron was low.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I am always so.tired. I come home from my day (Work/School), do nothing until my LO goes to sleep, then take a 2-3 hour nap myself before DH gets home (He works 2nds and doesn't get home until midnight so I'll sleep from 8/9-11). And then I get a full night's sleep!

It makes me feel so worthless because my DH ends up doing ALL of the housework because all I do when I'm home besides tend to the kiddo is sleep.

Could this be my problem? Surely if it was JUST my LO that was making me tired, my body would have adjusted by now. I've been back at work and school for about 6 weeks now.

I'm grabbing onto anything I can at this point. My DH even asked me if I was pregnant the other day because this is how I acted at the beginning of my pregnancy, LOL.

[birdhappy85]

I don't know much about low iron, but I wanted to say that if I did as much in my day as you do - I'd be sleeping a ton too! Kudos to you for managing so much on your plate.  I'm taking one class right now on top of caring for my baby, and getting things done is so hard just between those two! Were you saying that this sleepiness is something new, or has it been going on for 6 weeks since you've been back at work and school? I wasn't sure.

I have three things that come to mind when you say how tired you are. I seemed to have a lot of new mommy energy up until about 7-8 weeks pp, and I didn't get that much sleep nor need it that whole time. I'm sure it was my body's way of enabling me to take care of my baby. But then I felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks too. I started needing so much more sleep all of a sudden. I couldn't even seem to get enough sleep, and I started sleeping a LOT deeper too. My DH and I concluded that I probably accumulated such a massive sleep debt during the newborn weeks that my body finally gave out and forced me to make it up. I don't have low iron. But, my second thought is that I do have hypothyroidism - which has always given me a baseline fatigue everyday no matter what I do to help it. I've been treated for it since childhood, and my TSH levels are fantastic, but my endocrinologist checked me out for postpartum thyroiditis just in case to make sure I didn't have that making me extra tired. Luckily I didn't (I recall someone else on our Nov DDC saying they have it - maybe they can contribute?). The key thing she mentioned was that postpartum thyroiditis typically shows up around 2-3 months postpartum, which is when my sleep really increased. So it's something for women to look out for. Lastly, this Midwestern weather makes me hibernate. I've always been like that, even though this year's winter isn't as cold. I still tend to sleep way more in wintertime. I see you're in Indiana! Does that ever affect you?

I just wanted to share all of that as other possible causes in case you find that your iron levels are good and you're still sleepy. It's an easy enough test to find out if iron is the culprit! Maybe you can call your doctor's office for them to write up a lab order so you don't even need to go in for a full appointment?

[TalkToMeNow]

Yes to Joanie's post. Start by getting some labs run. Definitely check iron and thyroid. If those come back normal, then you may have to look into diet and lifestyle issues. But I wouldn't even bother thinking about that until you get some blood work done.

[Jaimee]

Definitely get some blood work done just to rule those things out, but I would venture a guess that you're just plain tired.  Work, school, baby... that will do it.