It’s 3am. Your baby has finally, finally fallen back asleep after the third wake-up of the night. You should be grateful for this precious window of rest. Instead, you’re lying there in the dark, eyes wide open, mind racing through tomorrow’s to-do list, replaying conversations from three days ago, worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet. Your body is screaming for sleep, but your brain won’t switch off.
You’re absolutely exhausted, yet somehow you’re also completely wired.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This paradox of being simultaneously depleted and unable to rest is one of the most common experiences I hear about from postpartum clients. And it’s not just about interrupted sleep or the demands of a new baby, though those certainly don’t help.
What you’re experiencing is likely postpartum depletion, a physiological state that goes far deeper than ordinary tiredness. The good news? It’s real, it’s common, and most importantly, it’s treatable.
What Postpartum Depletion Actually Looks Like
Let me paint a picture of what I typically see in clinic. A client comes in, often 6-18 months postpartum (sometimes longer), describing a fatigue that feels different from anything they’ve experienced before. They’re beyond tired. They’re running on fumes.
Here’s what postpartum depletion often looks like in real life:
- You feel simultaneously exhausted and unable to switch off. Even when you have the opportunity to sleep, your body won’t cooperate.
- Brain fog makes simple decisions feel impossible. What should you make for dinner? The question feels overwhelming.
- Emotional overwhelm or a strange flatness. Either everything feels like too much, or you feel oddly disconnected from emotions you know you should be feeling.
- Physical symptoms that don’t make sense. Hair loss that seems excessive, wounds healing slowly, catching every bug your toddler brings home.
- That “running on empty” feeling persists even after a decent night’s sleep (when you finally get one).
The frustrating part? This can persist for months or even years after birth. I’ve worked with clients whose youngest child is three years old, and they’re still dealing with the aftermath of depletion that was never properly addressed.
This isn’t just about being a bit tired. This is your body telling you that its reserves are genuinely depleted, and it needs specific support to recover.
Key Point: Postpartum depletion is different from regular tiredness. It’s a physiological state where your body’s nutrient stores, stress response system, and recovery mechanisms have been genuinely depleted. It won’t resolve with willpower or “pushing through.”
Why You’re Wired AND Tired (The Physiology)
Understanding what’s actually happening in your body can be remarkably reassuring. You’re not broken. You’re not weak. Your body is responding predictably to a very specific set of circumstances.
During pregnancy and the early postpartum period, your stress response system goes through massive changes. Your adrenal glands, which produce cortisol and other stress hormones, have been working overtime. First, supporting the pregnancy. Then, adapting to broken sleep, constant vigilance, and the primal responsibility of keeping a tiny human alive.
Here’s what happens: Your cortisol pattern gets stuck.
In a well-functioning stress response system, cortisol should be highest in the morning (helping you wake up) and lowest at night (allowing you to sleep). But with chronic sleep deprivation and constant low-level stress, this pattern often inverts or flattens out. You might find yourself:
- Struggling to wake up in the morning despite being up multiple times in the night
- Getting a “second wind” in the evening when you should be winding down
- Feeling wired and alert at 2am, even though you’re exhausted
Then there’s the nutrient depletion. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are incredibly demanding on your body’s nutrient stores. Iron, B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, and numerous other nutrients are used at accelerated rates. If these aren’t adequately replenished, your body simply can’t produce energy efficiently or regulate your stress response properly.
Add to this blood sugar dysregulation. When you’re running on adrenaline and grabbing whatever food is quickest (often carb-heavy and quick to digest), your blood sugar becomes a roller coaster. Those crashes contribute to that shaky, anxious, exhausted-but-wired feeling.
There’s also the thyroid component that gets overlooked far too often. Postpartum thyroid dysfunction affects up to 10% of women, and it can manifest as fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, and difficulty losing weight. The symptoms overlap so much with “normal” postpartum tiredness that it often goes undiagnosed.
Finally, broken sleep disrupts your body’s repair processes. During deep sleep, your body repairs tissues, consolidates memories, and regulates hormones. When you’re waking every 2-3 hours, you’re not getting enough of this restorative sleep, creating a cascade of issues that affect everything from immune function to emotional regulation.
And let’s not forget the inflammatory component that no one mentions. Pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period all create inflammation in the body. When you’re depleted and stressed, your body struggles to resolve this inflammation, which contributes to fatigue, brain fog, and that general feeling of unwellness.
The Nutrients That Actually Matter (From Clinical Experience)
Let me be direct: you can’t supplement your way out of poor sleep and chronic stress. But you also can’t recover from genuine depletion without addressing the nutrients your body desperately needs.
Here’s what gets depleted fastest and why it matters:
Iron is often the first thing I check. But here’s the catch: most standard blood tests only check haemoglobin, which can appear normal even when your iron stores (ferritin) are severely depleted. Low ferritin causes profound fatigue, brain fog, and that feeling of having absolutely no reserves. I’ve seen clients’ energy transform within weeks of addressing genuinely low ferritin levels.
B vitamins are crucial for both energy production and nervous system regulation. B12 and folate are particularly important if you’re breastfeeding. These vitamins are involved in literally hundreds of enzymatic reactions in your body. Without adequate levels, your cells can’t produce energy efficiently, and your stress response system can’t regulate properly.
Magnesium is the anti-stress mineral you’re probably not getting enough of. It’s involved in over 300 biochemical reactions, including those that help you relax and sleep. Magnesium gets depleted rapidly during times of stress, creating a vicious cycle: stress depletes magnesium, low magnesium makes you more susceptible to stress.
Zinc supports immune function (important when you’re catching every cold), wound healing (relevant postpartum), mental clarity, and even mood regulation. It’s also crucial for thyroid hormone production.
Omega-3 fatty acids support brain function for both you and your baby if you’re breastfeeding. They also help regulate inflammation and support mood. Your baby takes what they need, often leaving you depleted.
Now, here’s the real talk: “Just take a multivitamin” usually isn’t enough when you’re genuinely depleted. Multivitamins contain small amounts of everything, which is fine for maintenance but inadequate for repletion. You often need therapeutic doses of specific nutrients, at least initially.
That said, food sources matter enormously. Supplements can bridge the gap quickly, but long-term recovery requires nourishing food. The ideal approach is both: targeted supplementation to address acute deficiencies while building sustainable eating habits.
If you’re dealing with persistent postpartum fatigue, individualised pregnancy and postnatal support can help identify your specific nutrient needs and create a realistic replenishment plan.
Key Point: Nutrient depletion is real and measurable. Testing key markers like ferritin, B12, vitamin D, and zinc can provide valuable information. Don’t accept “your levels are normal” without seeing the actual numbers and understanding optimal ranges vs standard reference ranges.
Practical Nutrition When You Can Barely Function
Let’s be honest about what’s realistic when you’re in the thick of postpartum depletion. Those beautiful meal prep photos on Instagram? They’re not helpful right now. You need strategies that work when you can barely remember if you’ve eaten lunch.
Here’s my “good enough” approach to postpartum nutrition:
The foundation is blood sugar stability. When your blood sugar crashes, your body releases stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) to bring it back up. This contributes directly to that wired, anxious, shaky feeling. The solution isn’t complicated: protein and fat with every meal and snack.
What this looks like in real life:
- Keep protein-rich foods that require zero preparation: hard-boiled eggs, cheese, Greek yogurt, tinned fish, rotisserie chicken, nuts
- Add fat to everything: olive oil, butter, avocado, nut butter, coconut cream
- If you’re eating toast, also eat eggs. If you’re having fruit, add nuts or cheese
- Smoothies can be lifesavers: throw in protein powder, nut butter, oats, banana, frozen berries, and you’ve got a nutritionally decent meal you can drink one-handed
Quick wins I actually recommend:
- Bone broth or quality stock heated up with whatever vegetables you have and some leftover protein. It’s nourishing, mineral-rich, and requires minimal effort.
- Overnight oats made with full-fat milk or yogurt, chia seeds, and nut butter. Make it before bed, eat it cold in the morning.
- Pre-cut vegetables and hummus. Sometimes you need to buy the convenience version, and that’s fine.
- Trail mix (nuts, seeds, dried fruit) in small containers everywhere: nappy bag, car, bedside table.
- Frozen meals that you actually like. Not as ideal as home-cooked, but infinitely better than not eating.
If you’re breastfeeding and ravenously hungry, this is normal. Breastfeeding burns 300-500 calories per day, and you need to eat accordingly. Don’t restrict. This isn’t the time for any kind of diet. Your body needs fuel.
Hydration matters, even though everyone keeps saying it and it’s annoying to hear. Dehydration worsens fatigue, brain fog, and constipation (already a postpartum issue). Keep a large water bottle filled and visible. Drink it. Refill it. Repeat.
And finally: What to do when you feel too tired to eat. This happens. Your appetite disappears, food feels like a chore, and you’re running on coffee and willpower. In these moments, focus on liquids: smoothies, soup, bone broth. Something is better than nothing.
Sleep (Or Lack Thereof): Working With What You’ve Got
I’m not going to insult your intelligence by suggesting you “sleep when the baby sleeps” or offering other platitudes that ignore reality. Your sleep will be broken. That’s a given. But there are still things you can optimise.
The cortisol-melatonin dance matters here. These hormones should work in opposition: cortisol high in the morning (wake you up), melatonin high at night (help you sleep). When you’re depleted, this pattern gets disrupted.
Practical strategies that don’t require a baby who sleeps through the night:
Light exposure matters more than you think. Get bright light (ideally sunlight) in your eyes within the first hour of waking. This helps set your circadian rhythm. In the evening, dim the lights, reduce screen time, and create darkness cues that signal to your body it’s time to wind down.
Strategic rest even when you can’t sleep. If you’re lying awake at 3am, don’t fight it. Instead, practice calm breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or simply rest with your eyes closed. Rest without sleep is still valuable. Your body can still recover, even if your mind won’t fully switch off.
Simple sleep hygiene that actually works:
- Keep your bedroom cool and dark
- If you’re breastfeeding at night, keep lights as dim as possible
- Avoid stimulating content before bed (yes, including scrolling through stressful news or social media)
- Consider magnesium supplementation in the evening (supports relaxation and sleep quality)
Herbal support when appropriate: Passionflower, chamomile, lemon balm, and lavender can all support sleep without being sedating the next day. They work gently on your nervous system to promote relaxation. If you’re breastfeeding, work with a qualified practitioner to ensure safety.
The goal isn’t perfect sleep. The goal is supporting your body’s ability to rest and recover within the constraints you’re working with.
For more comprehensive support with sleep challenges, energy and sleep support can address the underlying factors affecting your rest.
Key Point: You can’t “fix” broken sleep when you have a young baby, but you can support your body’s ability to rest and recover despite interrupted nights. Focus on what you can control: light exposure, blood sugar stability, nutrient status, and nervous system regulation.
The Stress Response System: Calming the “Wired” Part
This is often the missing piece in postpartum recovery. Everyone focuses on the tired part, but the “wired” component is what keeps you stuck in depletion.
Your nervous system has essentially learned to stay in alert mode constantly. There’s a primal, protective reason for this: you have a vulnerable infant to care for. Your body is doing exactly what it’s designed to do. The problem is that it gets stuck here, unable to shift back into rest-and-digest mode even when it’s safe to do so.
Understanding sympathetic nervous system overdrive helps make sense of your symptoms: the racing heart, the inability to relax, the constant vigilance, the startling awake at the smallest sound. Your body is stuck in a state of high alert.
The solution is vagal tone stimulation and nervous system regulation. These aren’t complex or time-consuming. They’re small, consistent practices that signal to your body that it’s safe to relax:
Two-minute breathing exercises that genuinely work:
- Exhale longer than you inhale. Breathe in for 4 counts, out for 6-8 counts. Do this for just 2 minutes. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system.
- Box breathing. In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. Repeat 5 times.
- Humming or sighing. The vibration stimulates the vagus nerve and signals safety to your nervous system.
Progressive muscle relaxation while feeding. Start at your feet and work up: tense each muscle group for 5 seconds, then release completely. By the time you reach your shoulders, you’ve completed a full relaxation practice and your baby probably hasn’t even noticed.
Cold water on the face. This sounds absurd, but it’s remarkably effective. Splashing cold water on your face triggers the dive reflex, which slows your heart rate and activates your parasympathetic nervous system. It’s a quick reset when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Adaptogens and nervines can be helpful, but they’re support tools, not magic fixes. Herbs like ashwagandha, rhodiola, and holy basil help modulate the stress response. Nervines like passionflower, skullcap, and lemon balm calm the nervous system. Work with a practitioner to find the right combination for your specific situation.
Here’s what I need you to understand: Pushing through makes it worse. Every time you override your body’s signals that it needs rest, you reinforce the pattern of running on stress hormones. You dig yourself deeper into depletion. Rest isn’t weakness. It’s a biological necessity.
Supporting your stress response system is fundamental to recovery. Adrenal fatigue and HPA axis support addresses the underlying dysregulation that keeps you stuck in the wired-but-tired cycle.
Movement and Rest: Finding the Balance
Here’s a nuance that matters: complete rest isn’t always the answer, but pushing through definitely isn’t either.
Gentle movement can be therapeutic when it’s the right type and intensity. Walking outside, especially in nature, supports mood, circadian rhythm, and general wellbeing. Gentle stretching or restorative yoga can help release tension and calm your nervous system.
But there’s a crucial difference between movement and exercise. Exercise is intentional physical stress that requires recovery. Movement is simply being physically active in ways that feel nourishing rather than depleting.
When you’re genuinely depleted:
- Walking feels good, running feels terrible
- Gentle stretching is restorative, HIIT workouts leave you wiped out for days
- Dancing with your baby in the kitchen brings joy, forcing yourself through a workout you dread creates more stress
When walking is therapeutic vs when it’s another stressor: If you feel better after a walk, it was therapeutic. If you feel more exhausted, shaky, or wired, it was too much. Listen to your body, not your Fitbit.
Pelvic floor considerations matter postpartum, regardless of whether you had a vaginal birth or caesarean. High-impact exercise, heavy lifting, and intense core work before your pelvic floor has properly recovered can create problems that persist for years. This isn’t about restriction. It’s about appropriate progression.
Rest as an active choice, not a failure. Our culture glorifies busyness and productivity. Choosing rest feels uncomfortable, even wrong. But rest is when your body repairs, recovers, and rebuilds. It’s not optional. It’s essential.
Thyroid Function: The Often-Missed Piece
Let’s talk about something that gets overlooked far too often: postpartum thyroid dysfunction.
Research shows that up to 10% of women experience thyroid problems in the year after giving birth. The symptoms overlap significantly with “normal” postpartum experiences, which is why it’s so often missed:
- Profound fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
- Unexplained weight gain or inability to lose weight (or sometimes weight loss)
- Brain fog and difficulty concentrating
- Mood changes, anxiety, or depression
- Hair loss (though this is common postpartum anyway)
- Feeling cold all the time
- Constipation
- Dry skin
Sound familiar? The challenge is that all of these can also be explained by sleep deprivation, nutrient depletion, and the demands of caring for a baby. But when thyroid dysfunction is the underlying cause, no amount of rest or nutritional support will fully resolve the symptoms.
What testing actually matters: A standard TSH test often isn’t enough. You want a full thyroid panel including TSH, Free T4, Free T3, and thyroid antibodies (TPO and TG). Postpartum thyroiditis often involves an initial hyperthyroid phase followed by hypothyroidism, and it can be autoimmune in nature.
Supporting thyroid function through nutrition:
- Iodine (but not excessive amounts, especially if there’s an autoimmune component)
- Selenium (crucial for T4 to T3 conversion)
- Zinc (supports thyroid hormone production)
- Iron (required for thyroid peroxidase enzyme function)
- Tyrosine (amino acid building block for thyroid hormones)
If you’re experiencing persistent fatigue, unexplained weight changes, or other symptoms that don’t resolve with rest and nutrition, request specific thyroid testing. Thyroid dysfunction support can help you navigate testing, interpretation, and comprehensive treatment.
When to Seek Help (And What Kind)
Let’s talk about red flags that need immediate medical attention:
- Severe depression or thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
- Debilitating anxiety that prevents you from functioning
- Chest pain, severe shortness of breath, or heart palpitations
- Fever, signs of infection, or excessive bleeding
- Severe headaches or vision changes
- Any symptom that feels genuinely concerning to you (trust your instincts)
These require urgent care from your GP or emergency services. Don’t wait.
For the more common scenario of persistent depletion without acute medical concerns, what testing might actually be useful:
- Full blood count (checks haemoglobin and other blood cell markers)
- Iron studies including ferritin (not just haemoglobin)
- Vitamin B12 and folate
- Vitamin D
- Full thyroid panel (TSH, Free T4, Free T3, antibodies)
- Zinc (if available, though not all labs offer this)
- Morning cortisol (gives a snapshot of adrenal function)
Some GPs will run these automatically, others need specific requests. You’re entitled to know your results and to have a copy for your records.
Why work with a naturopath for postpartum depletion? Because we look at the whole picture. We have time to listen to your full story, not just manage symptoms. We can identify patterns, address underlying causes, and create individualised protocols that fit your actual life.
Your GP should still be part of your team. Naturopathy works best as complementary care, not alternative care. Collaborative healthcare gives you the best outcomes.
What to expect from working with a naturopath:
- A comprehensive initial consultation (usually 60-90 minutes)
- Discussion of your health history, current symptoms, diet, lifestyle, and goals
- Potentially recommending specific testing if needed
- An individualised treatment plan including dietary guidance, supplementation, herbal medicine, and lifestyle strategies
- Regular follow-ups to monitor progress and adjust the plan as needed
- Education about what’s happening in your body and why specific interventions are being recommended
If you’re wondering whether this approach might help you, here’s how the process works in practice.
Key Point: You don’t have to figure this out alone. Postpartum depletion is complex, and having someone who can see the patterns, interpret your results, and create a cohesive plan makes an enormous difference to your recovery timeline.
Building Your Recovery Plan (Realistic Steps)
Here’s what I want you to understand: recovery from postpartum depletion takes time. There’s no quick fix, no magic supplement, no single intervention that resolves everything overnight. But with consistent, targeted support, you absolutely can recover.
Start where you are, not where you think you should be. If you can barely manage to eat regular meals, don’t try to implement a complex supplement protocol, start a new exercise routine, and overhaul your sleep hygiene all at once. You’ll fail, feel worse about yourself, and give up entirely.
The three foundational areas to address first:
- Blood sugar stability and basic nutrition. Eat protein with every meal. Stop skipping meals. Keep easy, nourishing food accessible.
- Sleep optimisation within your constraints. You can’t change how often your baby wakes, but you can support your body’s ability to rest.
- Nervous system regulation. Even five minutes of conscious breathing or gentle movement makes a difference.
Get these three foundations reasonably stable before adding complexity.
What recovery actually looks like: It’s not linear. You’ll have good days and hard days. You might feel dramatically better for a week, then hit a rough patch when your baby goes through a sleep regression. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed or that nothing is working. It means you’re recovering while still in the trenches of early parenthood.
Progress looks like:
- Slightly more energy than last month
- Fewer days where you feel absolutely wiped out
- Better mood stability
- Improved ability to cope with stress
- Hair loss slowing down
- Falling asleep more easily when you have the opportunity
- Brain fog lifting incrementally
Small, consistent changes are more valuable than attempting to overhaul everything at once. Add one nourishing habit at a time. Once it feels sustainable, add another. This approach might feel painfully slow, but it actually works. The all-or-nothing approach feels productive but usually leads to burnout.
When to reassess and adjust: Give any new intervention at least 4-6 weeks before deciding if it’s working. Your body needs time to respond. That said, if something feels genuinely wrong or makes you feel worse, stop immediately and reassess.
You’re Not Broken, You’re Depleted
If you take nothing else from this article, please hear this: what you’re experiencing is real. It’s not in your head. It’s not a personal failing. You’re not weak or incapable or doing something wrong.
You’re depleted.
Your body gave everything to grow and birth a human. Then it continued giving to feed and care for that human, often at the expense of your own nutrient stores, sleep, and stress response system. And somewhere along the way, you crossed from normal tiredness into genuine depletion.
The good news? Depletion is fixable. It takes time, targeted support, and consistent effort, but recovery is absolutely possible. Your body wants to heal. It’s designed to recover. It just needs the right building blocks and enough support to actually do so.
You don’t have to feel this way forever. You don’t have to accept wired-but-tired as your new permanent state. And you definitely don’t have to figure it all out alone.
If you’re ready to address the underlying causes of your postpartum depletion and build a realistic recovery plan, I’d love to work with you. Because you deserve to feel like yourself again, not just survive but actually thrive as you navigate this transformative season of life.
Recovery is possible. You just need the right support to get there.
