Monica

Jun 20 · Posted

Right, the 3pm thing. Every single day, without fail, I hit a wall around half three and I genuinely cannot tell if I'm tired, hungry, or just... dissolving. I used to think it was just a bad week. That was two years ago. I've been reading back through some older threads on here and a few people mentioned protein at breakfast making a difference to afternoon energy. I'd been having toast, obviously, because I've had toast every morning since approximately 1987. So last week I started doing eggs or Greek yoghurt with some nuts before I leave the house. Nothing fancy. Just more... actual food. It's only been eight days so I'm not claiming anything dramatic but the 3pm crash has been slightly less catastrophic? Some days I've made it to five without wanting to put my head on my desk. That feels worth noting. The thing I'm also trying to work out is the weight side of things. I haven't changed what I eat drastically, not really, but something shifted about eighteen months ago and the weight just settled around my middle without my permission. I want to talk to my GP about it but I keep feeling like I need to bring actual evidence, you know? So I've started writing down when the crashes happen, what I ate, how the weight's been moving (or not moving). Feels less vague than just saying "I feel terrible and nothing fits". Anyone else been through this with their GP? Did they take the energy crashes seriously or did you get the "eat less, move more" speech? I'm bracing myself x

Jun 19 · Posted

The 3pm thing is doing my head in. Every single day, without fail, somewhere between half two and four I just... go. Brain fog, can't string a sentence together, desperately want something sweet or a massive bag of crisps. I used to think it was just tiredness or a bad night but it's too consistent now. Like clockwork. I started wondering if it was what I was eating at breakfast. For years I've done toast, maybe a banana, off to work. Fine when I was younger. Now I honestly think it's setting me up to crash by mid-afternoon. I've been trying eggs or Greek yoghurt in the morning this past few weeks and I think... maybe? The crashes feel slightly less dramatic? I'm not ready to say it's a fix because I don't want to jinx it, and I know there's a hundred other variables. The other thing I want to start tracking properly is weight. Mine has crept up noticeably over the past 18 months and I've got a GP appointment in November. I want to go in with actual dates and a rough pattern rather than just saying "it's been going up". I feel like I'll be taken more seriously with something concrete. Does that sound daft? Maybe it does. But being fobbed off is not something I'm willing to do again at my age. Anyway. If anyone's cracked the afternoon crash thing, I'm all ears. What did you actually change? x

Jun 15 · Replied

Community post

Just popping back to say thank you, especially Linda. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.

Jun 14 · Posted

The 3pm thing is getting embarrassing honestly. I'm sitting at my desk and I just... go. Not asleep, just completely blank. Like someone pulled the plug. Started wondering if it was what I was eating at lunch so I've been paying more attention and I think there might be something in it. On the days I have something with proper protein at breakfast I seem to hold together longer. On the days I don't (toast, usually, or nothing because I'm running late) I'm a write-off by mid afternoon. Still working out whether it's the breakfast or something else entirely. GP next month and I want to bring this up properly, with actual examples, because last time I mentioned energy she just said 'well, you're 58' and I left feeling like an idiot. My weight has also shifted in the last 18 months in ways I can't fully explain and I want to talk about that too. Has anyone managed to get their doctor to take the afternoon crash thing seriously? What did you actually say to get heard? x

Jun 6 · Posted

The 3 o'clock thing. Is it just me or is it basically a wall? I hit it every single day without fail. Not tired exactly, more like someone pulled a plug somewhere. I've had a perfectly fine morning and then suddenly I'm staring at my screen and nothing is going in. I used to assume it was just normal tiredness but it's got so much worse in the last year and I've started wondering if it's what I'm eating at lunch, or not eating, or the gap between breakfast and lunch, or honestly who even knows. What I've changed so far: I stopped having just coffee and a cereal bar for breakfast and started making sure there was actually some protein in there. Scrambled eggs, leftover chicken, whatever's going. It does seem to push the crash back a bit, or maybe make it less severe. Hard to know if I'm imagining it. I want to mention the energy thing to my GP but I'm aware it sounds vague. I'm trying to track when it happens and whether it links to what I ate, but I'm not very consistent. Would be really interested to know if anyone else has cracked this, or even just found something that takes the edge off it. High protein dinners seem to come up a lot when I read around, does that actually make a difference the next day for anyone?