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Fibromyalgia...please check your hormones!!

Posted , 15 users are following.

Lesley998
Lesley998

Hi all

Just wanted to post that I have had a terrible year, and thought I had Polymyalgia or Fibromyalgia, and sometimes I even thought I had bone cancer - because at age 50 and completely out of the blue I developed severe bone/ joint and muscle pain which over the course of a few months just got worse and worse.

It started in my left arm and shoulder, moved into to both shoulders and upper back, and was also in my hips and lower back. All of my limbs ached. I had all the FM tender points. I was never sure if it was joint, muscle or tendon. I always had a low nagging pain but when I moved in a certain way it was an acute stabbing pain which flared up and made me feel light headed and sick for a moment. Never once did I suspect that this hell was all to do with hormones. I knew I was perimenopausal, due to missed periods, but I did not have the usual symptoms such as hot flashes or sweats.

I had lots of blood tests and was told I had absolutely no inflammation. My male GP who I have seen for years 'pooh poohed' the idea that my pain was due to menopause when I tentatively brought it up with him. I was at my wits end - I was just in so much pain and it seemed no one was really taking me seriously. I really am quite a 'buck up' sort of person usually, and I thought I had a high pain threshold, but this was in a different league. I was just so weary of it all. I was even considering having my two dental implants taken out, at huge expense because it is not a simple procedure (not to mention missing front teeth, and the thought of dentures!) as I read on some weird website that titanium allergy can cause the same symptoms and trigger Fibro.

However, after discovering from a practice nurse during my smear that low estrogen CAN cause joint pain, I went to a female doctor to discuss it and had some new blood tests. Again, NO inflammation, no raised CPR or ESR, no rheumatoid signs. My ESR is only 2! However, the hormones were all over the place and she started me on the HRT Prempac-C immediately.

I was told it would take from a week, to up to a month to see changes, but I am really not exaggerating when I say that today, three days later - I feel like a different person. I still have the same pains - they have no miraculously gone overnight - but it feels like it is on the move. You know that way when you have been terribly ill, and you wake up one morning and you know you are on the mend...the pain changes somehow, it moves, and is not so intense. The strange chemical taste I have had for almost a year is gone, so is the sunburn tingling skin. Hormones!

I genuinely have never felt anything like the pain I have been having for almost three months. It was intolerable. Just shows you how these hormones (or lack of them) can affect us ladies. I didn't have a lot of other symptoms of menopause that women mention but I definitely got more than my fair share of the joint issues.

I totally underestimated just how much hormones can affect the body. When I first posted on here, I was sure I had some systemic disease that would need steroids, I thought I might end up in a wheelchair. It really was that bad.

Please please, if you are a 'certain age' and are struggling with uinrelenting, worsening pain in your joints, muscles or limbs...please have your hormones checked!

6 likes, 18 replies

18 Replies

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  • susan10268
    susan10268 Lesley998

    Posted

    Hi my name is Susan - I have recently started having issues with my stomach and muscles - nervous tension - my doctor did many tests like thyroid blood stool ct scan on torso- nothing came back abnormal- when I returned to say I still wasn't feeling well he mentioned fibromyalgia- and prescribed cyprelex - I am not depressed- I do get edgy as I am thinking something is wrong and it probably isn't helping. I also have troubles sleeping- I wake up and can't get back to sleep- or go to bed tired then can't sleep. I am 52 and am going through menopause- I feel it must be hormonal and not sure why he jumped to Fibro without testing my hormone level first. 

    I am thinking I want to get a referral to a gynaecologist and start over. 

    I would appreciate any information you can offer to point me in the right direction - I don't want to go on anti depressants if I don't need them. Thanks

  • Sare145
    Sare145 Lesley998

    Posted

    Hi Lesley , my symptoms are the same as yours . Please can you let me know how

    You are? And what has worked for you? I'm worried I have Fibro and hope it's just

    Hormone related ..,could really do with your advice

  • tduker
    tduker Lesley998

    Posted

    Hi Ladies!  I am new to the board but was very interested in your thread.  I am 51 and was diagnosed with fibro in my late 20s.  I had always had extreme PMS and anxiety until my mid 40s. Meds helped which was great but there were always side effects.  I began to exercise daily around 45 and dropped about 40 lbs.  I started feeling so much better until recently.  In the last 2 year the fatigue and aches have returned. I went to the doctor and was found to be anemic and have hypothyrodism (funny all those years tested fine and kept gaining weight, get thyroid issues and lose weight). I now take iron and generic form of synthroid.  In the last year I have started having extreme fatigue and muscle pain along with the aches.  I chalked it up to too much exercise.  I began to reduce my workouts but it didn't help.  I was dragging my butt to the gym and treadmill feeling like crap.  Then I missed my period last month and started having an eye twitch the same week.  The twitch has continued for weeks.  I went to my doctor who said it was probably electrolytes were off and ran blood work. They were fine.  He then said I needed to be worked up by a neurologist for ALS. Needless to say I stopped sleeping, eating, and living and went into a terrible depression being scared out of my mind (my grandmother died from ALS and I am at the age it hits).  Started having twitches all over the place.  Dropped 7 lbs. (another sign of ALS).  I went back to my doctor and asked for my hormones to be checked since I had missed a period.  The results showed I was in menopause whatever that means.  In the mean time, I have started having more nerve pain in my face that comes and goes along with the twitch.  Sigh...I decided to take things in my own hands while I wait for the neurologist appointment.  I have set up an appointment with my gyn since my doctor doesn't seem to be concerned with my problems.  I am also having my eyes examined in a couple of weeks by a "real" eye doctor.  I was glad to see others were experiencing some of the same symptoms (ok minus the eye twitch - which is the real issue and what triggered the neurologist appointment).   I am still scared out of my mind but have a little hope maybe its just a lack of hormones. Thanks ladies for giving me that shred of hope.
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