Wired but Tired: The Stress–Metabolism Connection in Midlife
Many women describe the same strange contradiction.
They’re exhausted, yet can’t fully rest.
Their body feels heavy, but their mind won’t switch off.
Sleep is light.
Energy is low.
And still, there’s an underlying sense of being “on” all the time.
This wired-but-tired state isn’t a personality flaw or a lack of resilience.
It’s a stress–metabolism pattern — and it becomes much more common in midlife.
What “Wired but Tired” Actually Means
Being wired but tired is not about having too much energy.
It’s about the nervous system being stuck in high alert while the body’s energy reserves are depleted.
Stress hormones — particularly cortisol and adrenaline — keep the brain awake and responsive.
At the same time, chronic stress interferes with:
Blood sugar regulation
Insulin sensitivity
Sleep quality
Inflammation control
Mitochondrial energy production
The result is a body that feels exhausted but doesn’t feel safe enough to rest.
This pattern sits at the heart of [metabolic health](LINK TO METABOLIC HEALTH PILLAR) in midlife.
Why This Pattern Becomes More Common After 40
Midlife is often the point where long-term stress catches up.
Years of:
Dieting and under-fueling
High mental load
Irregular sleep
Hormonal shifts
Pushing through fatigue
all accumulate.
During [perimenopause](LINK TO PERIMENOPAUSE BLOG), fluctuating oestrogen and declining progesterone reduce the body’s natural calming mechanisms.
Progesterone supports GABA — a neurotransmitter that helps the nervous system slow down.
As this support weakens, the stress response becomes louder.
How Stress Disrupts Metabolism
Stress is not just emotional.
It’s deeply metabolic.
Cortisol and Blood Sugar
Cortisol raises blood sugar to ensure quick energy in a perceived emergency.
When stress is chronic, blood sugar stays elevated — even without food — increasing insulin demand and contributing to [insulin resistance in midlife](LINK TO INSULIN RESISTANCE BLOG).
Over time, this leads to:
Energy crashes
Strong cravings
Difficulty accessing stored energy
Stress and Weight Regulation
From a survival perspective, weight loss during stress is unsafe.
High cortisol encourages fat storage, particularly around the abdomen, and makes the body more protective of energy.
This is why stress is such a powerful driver of [weight loss resistance](LINK TO WEIGHT LOSS RESISTANCE PAGE) — even in women eating well.
Stress, Inflammation, and Recovery
Chronic stress increases low-grade inflammation.
Inflammation diverts energy away from repair and regeneration, leaving women feeling sore, foggy, and slow to recover.
This often overlaps with [chronic inflammation in midlife](LINK TO INFLAMMATION BLOG), compounding fatigue.
Why Sleep Feels Light or Broken
Many women in a wired-but-tired state can fall asleep, but struggle to stay asleep.
They wake in the early hours with a racing mind or a sense of alertness.
This is often driven by:
Blood sugar dips overnight
Cortisol spikes in the early morning
Nervous system hypervigilance
Poor sleep then worsens stress tolerance the following day — creating a loop.
Why Pushing Harder Makes It Worse
When energy is low, many women respond by trying to “power through.”
More caffeine.
More exercise.
More control.
But these strategies increase stress hormones and deepen the wired-but-tired pattern.
This is why extreme approaches often backfire in midlife, and why a [non-diet approach to metabolic health](LINK TO NON-DIET BLOG) becomes essential.
What Actually Helps Break the Wired-but-Tired Cycle
Breaking this pattern isn’t about doing nothing.
It’s about doing less of what stresses the system and more of what restores safety.
That often includes:
Eating regularly to stabilise blood sugar
Reducing long gaps between meals
Supporting protein intake
Scaling back excessive high-intensity training
Prioritising sleep consistency
Creating small, daily nervous-system calming practices
When the body feels safer, cortisol falls — and energy becomes more available.
Why Rest Is a Metabolic Strategy
Rest is not the absence of productivity.
It’s an active signal of safety to the nervous system.
When rest improves, insulin sensitivity often improves.
Inflammation settles.
Sleep deepens.
And energy slowly returns.
This is not weakness.
It’s metabolic intelligence.
The Takeaway
If you feel wired but tired, your body isn’t failing you.
It’s been protecting you for a long time.
Understanding the stress–metabolism connection allows you to stop fighting fatigue and start addressing its cause.
If you want clarity, a [metabolic health assessment](LINK TO SERVICE PAGE) or this [metabolic health quiz](LINK TO QUIZ) can help identify whether stress physiology is driving your symptoms.
After 40, energy doesn’t return through force.
It returns when the body finally feels safe enough to rest.