Perimenopause and SEVERE joint pain - any one else??

Its 12.35am here in Australia and WOW having insomnia has worked in my favour tonight.

I found this forum!!!

I am 42 and for the past 6 months have been experiencing most of the symptoms everyone is talking about. I honestly thought I was going mad as did my doctors. My GP referred me to a neurologist after initial blood work came back normal. He was very dismissive of me and the first couple of times I saw him he didn't seem interested at all and was quick to try and tell me it was just anxiety.

Last year it started when I had a disgusting taste in my mouth for a couple of weeks and it then lead to

loosing all taste for about 4 months, the only good thing was I lost weight!!. No-one could tell me why.

Then earlier this year I started getting pins and needles in my hands and feet along with aching muscles, anxiety (never had it before), insomnia, etc etc. The pain seems to move around my body too. Some days my arms are killing me and other days just my right leg is aching. Everyday is different. Every hour is different. I have also experienced blurry vision and shaking on and off as well as months now of muscle tremors.

I should never have googled my symptoms, it came up with every horrible disease known to man and I thought that's it I'm a goner.

I have had so many blood tests over the months but everything seems to come back ok. I have also had 2 MRI's and a CT over the past 6 months which have also come back clear. I was seriously thinking I was going MAD.

I don't seem to have the night sweats but noticed that during winter my feet and hands seemed to be more sensitive to the cold. I think I might try and see a Menopause specialist here in Australia and see if they can give me some hope.

My tip: I put hot wheat bags on my legs to relieve some of the pain.

Good Luck Ladies and thanks for posting I may sleep a littler easier tonight.

Thank you for the advice ladies! I will be trying them

I went to bed one night feeling great, woke up the following morning with a sore left arm which quickly spread to my neck, shoulder, right arm, in fact most of my upper back. A few days later my lower

back, backside and outer thighs are now extremely painful - difficult to sit and lie. I do have a sit

down job so the past few weeks haven't been particularly easy. I attended my GP who spent

most of the time telling me about the arthritis in his neck and told me to come back if it didn't get

better. Needless to say it hasn't. I have an appointment for 11 November - which seems like a

lifetime away when you are suffering. I also have sore knees, and elbows.

I will be 50 years old next month, my periods are still regular - though I do bleed for longer. I used to suffer really bad cramp with PMT - I was diagnosed as having low Vit D and I am now prescribed

Vit d tablets from my GP - I found this did help with the cramp. I find these smptoms to be

unusual as I do not usually suffer back pain - I do have gastritis despite never having

heartburn or indigestion in my life

I also seem to have pain in my face which comes and goes together with lower jaw pain. This

all happened out of the blue.

Can anyone help or is anyone suffering. Is it still possible to be perimenopause and have

regular periods.

Needless to say this is getting me down. I have googled it - which is a mistake as I can

fit the symptoms in to most autoimmune diseases.

Hi Barbara,

i couldn't help noticing that you have gastritis, I do too and the back and shoulder pain you mentioned could well be due to this. I have a particulary nasty form, Atrophic gastritis and when i eat certain foods the pain is terrible, bizarrely it's not in my stomach but in my back and shoulders.So, I'm eating an alkaline diet and I've cut out all refined sugars which seem to have the worst effect on me. doing this keeps me relatively pain free. I'm 51 and in the perimenopause, my PMT is bad and pain is much worse just before a period. hormonal swings seem to make any weakness I'm suffering from worse.

It would help you a lot if you can get the gastritis under control. Best of luck.

All I can say is thank you to you all , like many mentioned in earlier posts I thought I was imagining all of this if it wasn't for the pain. Mine is specific to my knee and lower back, bouts of tendinitis on my wrists . I too have been athletic in the past and now struggle just to get out of the chair. As a professional business woman nothing looks worse than hobbling around. I've had to stop wearing my beautiful heels and have had to purchase comfort shoes(yuk). I too stand wait a minute before I take a step just in case .

I am 51 and in the last 6 months have put a massive 15 kilos, my skin is dry continuously and this horrid pain.

After reading this blog for the beginning I have decided the take many of your suggestions

1. Bowen Therapy

2. Vitamin D

3. Evening primrose

4. Reduce carbs and avoid sugar

5. Try stretching and meditation as yoga is just too painful

6. Eat consciously

I will talk to my doctor about HRT and fingers crossed its right for me.

And lastly be kinder to myself, I think we all just soldier on as though we are invincible. I will take time to smell the roses .

Oh yes and thank you all ....

Oh yes and thank you all ....

hi ime 43 and just found out that ime having symptoms and to be honest ime pretty scared, ive been told by my gp that i am young but its not uncommon i cant take HRT i suffer from migrains and have a history of heart problems..... is it normal to feel like your entering the unknown i have many symptom eg... hot flushes, aches in my joints, anxious get that feeling like something terrible is going to happen!!!! but ime finding it hard as i have a 4 and 7 year old from my second marriage and i work quite a physical job.....since having the results from my bloodtest ive pushed my other half away i feel ime not the person he met....plus he gets irritable with me when ime anxious he snaps .......this is only the start for me has anyone got some advice please xx

Hi to everyone, I am 56, having hot flushes but more recently have developed joint and muscle aches and

Stiffness and my knees are creaking! I do yoga, am not overweight, don't smoke don't drink much so am shocked that I get out of bed in a morning feeling like an old woman. However, I have just come across an oldish health book about the amazing merits of taking apple cider vinegar. It's brilliant for general health but also for rheumatism etc etc., It recommends two teaspoons in a tumbler of lukewarm water with a dash of honey if it's too bitter, twice a day. have started this regime today and will update this forum in a week or so! tried numerous herbal remedies but they all seem to have possible side effects. want to battle it out if I can as I can't take HRT as I have a blood clotting problem.

Hi maxine97522. I read your post and just wanted to say you are not alone. Please please go back to your GP and tell him/her all that you have set out here. It is hellish and at such a young age and with your children still so young as well, you must feel like the world as you know it is ending. Harsh though it is, this is just old mother nature doing her thing and if you can you have to accept it's a natural change (as long as you have made sure there is no underlying condition that can be treated).

I'm no counsellor, but if you can, get your husband to read this thread. It must be so difficult for him to understand what is happening to you as it is for anyone who hasn't suffered with this. It is so maddening to feel like almost overnight you have turned in to someone you don't recognise and your husband maybe feels the same. Talk to him, make time for each other and please be gentle with yourself. If you are having a bad day and can't do half the things you would do normally, then don't do them, but don't beat yourself up about it. I have found that you have to plan things more and have a contingency plan in place for special occasions, just in case.

Difficult thought it is, try and keep your sense of humour going. I have found that being able to laugh when I am having a bad day - with my other half or with my some of my good friends - really lifts my mood and makes me able to face up to things as they are. I accept I am not a kid anymore, (even though in my head I'm still 30 - LOL) but I don't want to be an old lady before my time and it is frustrating and scarey sometimes. But not all the time and you need to try and remember that.

I do hope things improve for you my dear, with kind thoughts and wishing you all good things for the future. x

Hi,

Thank you all for the comments (:

Hi,

Thank you all for the comments (:

Hello All,

I found out after going through peri-menopause for 7 years now, that I the aches went away as I am getting closer to menopause. I hope this helps some people. I know everyone is different. I am not quite at menopause yet, but many of the symptoms have gotten less and less, but the aching joints have seemed to let up.

I still take klonopin for the anxiety and paxil for the depression (which I have always had and it was definitely worsened by peri-menopause). I even had to leave a job because of the problems it was causing with my employer and they are the Federal government. Anyway, I filed a discrimination EEOC complaint, but who knows what will come of that. That is another story entirely I will not relate here. The main thing is that I want to give hope to those women going through this that I hope these aches will subside in time.

Sending all my prayers and blessings from God to everyone who is having this and other troubles.

Jane

Thanks Jane, that's good to know that the symptoms lessen as you get nearer to the end! I have to say I have been taking Apple Cider Vinegar for four days now and cannot believe the difference it has made. All my aches have gone and I feel really positive. Still getting the hot flushes but they don't seem as fierce. If anyone else is struggling try the ACV as it is completely harmless and worth a try. Be careful not to overdo it though as it can upset the stomach. I was taking it three times a day but now just have it morning and night with honey.Like you say humour helps a lot!!

Gill