I am so exhausted...I need a non-caffeine boost

[Curly]

Okay here I am about 13 weeks pregnant, wrangling a 3 year old and a 1 year old and I am simply exhausted.

I am getting plenty of sleep, taking my multivitamins and eating plenty of meat (I always crave meat when I am pregnant) so I know it isn't iron deficiency. My iron levels were tested when I first found I was pregnant and they were great.

But I am soooo lethargic. It's such an effort to function. I get tired just lugging DD from one room to another and I feel like I've got nothing in the tank. I think if the house was on fire I still couldn't bring myself to hurry!!! I just have no energy whatsoever.

What does help me feel more or less normal is one of those small cans of Coke (the 200ml ones). I am not thrilled about this...I haven't had much caffeine since DS was born and I found he was badly affected by it via breastfeeding...and I never got back into it. But now I am having one a day and I don't want this to continue.

I am thinking I need one of those green powder type of supplements - anyone taken these while pregnant? Are they okay in conjunction with a pregnancy multivitamin?

Any other tips?

[Lisa]

Apparently apples are better at waking you up than coffee or anything else for that matter.
I personally found there was nothing I could do to make me feel less exhausted when I was pregnant, but I made sure I drank loads of water and ate as good as possible.
I hope you're feeling a little less exhausted soon

[BellyBelly]

Inliven is great for giving you a healthy and natural boost, perfectly safe too. Loads of BB members who have taken it (including myself) can vouch for that!

[Winter]

As much as it's gonna hurt the first time, get out of the house & go for a walk around the block. Don't have to rush, just get the limbs moving & the blood flowing. The hardest part is getting out the door, so once you have that nailed, you'll start feeling better instantly. I promise!

[Carrie]

Just wanted to say, I soooooo sympathise with you. I'm feeling the same and find that I often need a nap during the day when my little boy sleeps. I put on a dvd for DD and have a rest

[MummaSue]

This is going to sound weird but are you getting enough Vitamin C?
I had a head cold last week and my Dr recommended getting at least 1000mg of vitamin C (whether I have the cold or not) as it will perk me up and get rid of the cold.

It totally did both and I have so much energy this week.
I thought that I'd get enough Vitamin C from my multivitamin but there's only 100mg in there, not the 1000mg that is recommended for pregnancy.

I'm just throwing another suggestion in there.
Hope your exhaustion doesn't last.

Hugs
Sue x

[BellyBelly]

This is my argument about multivitamins. People recommend to each other the commercial, supermarket brands of multis and they are nowhere near good enough. I only get multi's from my naturopath, so much better. She also supplements the multis with any herbs I might need for a specific problem, like fatigue, stress etc.

[~TT40~]

Vit C helps iron absorbtion. so you can eat all the iron in the world but without any vit c you can not get any of it. Maybe thats the need for the high dose in pg.
I think feeling lethargic in pg is just a given, not to mention running after a 1 and 3 year old too!! Good on you for doing it though!!
An apple is a good pick me up.
Also the walk is a great idea, like Winter said. The hardest bit is the initial part but after doing it it might make you feel a bit more energised. Worth giving it a go (even though im sure its the last thing you feel like =P )
good luck with it and the rest of your pg!!

[danniellabella]

I'm not sure if it's ok during pregnancy, but what about a beroca or something like that? (as long as it doesn't have any guarana). But please don't take it without checking first coz I don't know if it is ok.

[Curly]

Thank you so much everyone.

Kelly, I had been hoping you would pop in to plug Mi-Vitality because I did have that one in mind!

However...the Vitamin C thing got me thinking. Am I getting enough? Quite probably...not. Orangey anything has been aggravating my morning sickness so I've been steering clear.

It would also explain why spaghetti bolognaise always makes me feel so fabulous when I'm pregnant...the meat along with all that fabulous Vitamin C-rich tomato sauce. I make a Jamie Oliver version which is chockful of tomatoes and tomato paste.

I had a huuuuge plateful of spaghetti bolognaise last night because I was feeling so low and just wanted to feel content and full...and I am feeling pretty good today, just slightly tired - but that would be because DD was awake for 2 hours last night.

Thanks again all

[aussienic]

banana's or apples.. or a nice cold glass of orange juice..

I still had my coffee's in the morning.