Why You’re Still Exhausted as a Mom

If you’re a mom and you feel exhausted all the time, you’ve probably been told some version of this:

“Of course you’re tired... you’re a mom.”
“Sleep more.”
“Drink more water.”
“Your labs look normal.”

And while yes (motherhood is tiring) there’s a big difference between being tired and feeling constantly depleted.

I work with moms who are months postpartum, years postpartum, or well past the baby stage entirely. And many of them say the same thing:

“I don’t feel like myself anymore and I don’t know why.”

That feeling isn’t random. And it’s not a personal failure.

This Isn’t Just a Sleep Problem

Sleep matters. A lot. But if sleep alone fixed mom exhaustion, most women would feel better once their kids started sleeping longer stretches. Yet many don’t.

They’re still:

• Dragging through the day

• Wired at night but exhausted all morning

• Crashing between meals

• Snapping more easily

• Running on caffeine and adrenaline

That’s because exhaustion in motherhood is rarely caused by one thing. It’s usually a layering effect:

• Pregnancy

• Birth

• Breastfeeding

• Sleep deprivation

• Chronic stress

• Under-eating or skipped meals

• Years of “pushing through”

Over time, this drains the body’s reserves, especially minerals and metabolic support.

The Symptoms We Normalize

Many moms assume these are just part of life now:

• Needing caffeine just to function

• Feeling shaky, irritable, or lightheaded if meals are delayed

• Trouble falling asleep despite being exhausted

• Anxiety that wasn’t there before kids

• Feeling like stress hits harder than it used to

These aren’t personality flaws.
They’re physiological signals.

Your body is telling you it’s been running on empty for a long time.

Why Your Labs Can Be “Normal” While You Feel Anything But

Standard blood work is helpful, but it has limits.

Blood is tightly regulated. Your body will work very hard to keep blood levels normal, even if it means pulling nutrients from deeper tissue stores to do it.

So it’s entirely possible to be:

• Functioning

• “In range” on labs

• Still depleted at a tissue level

This is one reason moms are often told everything looks fine when they don’t feel fine. Nothing is being imagined. We’re just not always measuring the right thing.

Where Minerals and Energy Really Come In

Minerals play a foundational role in:

• Energy production

• Stress response

• Blood sugar regulation

• Nervous system balance

Pregnancy and postpartum are inherently mineral-demanding seasons. Add chronic stress, inconsistent meals, and poor recovery (and depletion can quietly compound for years). When mineral reserves are low, energy doesn’t feel steady. It feels fragile. You can get through the day, but barely, and one small stressor can knock you over.

How HTMA Fits Into This Picture

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is one tool I use to help moms understand what’s happening beneath the surface.

It doesn’t diagnose disease.
It doesn’t replace medical care.

What it does offer is a longer-term, pattern-based view of:

• Stress load

• Mineral reserves

• Metabolic and nervous system balance

For many moms, it finally explains why rest, supplements, or “doing all the right things” hasn’t been enough.

What Rebuilding Energy Actually Looks Like

This isn’t about doing more. It’s about:

• Eating consistently to support blood sugar

• Replenishing mineral reserves through food (and supplements when appropriate)

• Supporting the nervous system so stress doesn’t hit as hard

• Letting go of the idea that exhaustion is just the cost of motherhood

Healing doesn’t happen overnight, but when the body is supported, energy becomes more stable, not forced. Moms often say the same thing when that happens: “I finally feel like myself again.”

If you’ve been exhausted for longer than feels reasonable, your body isn’t broken. It’s asking for support. And there is a way forward.