Perimenopause and SEVERE joint pain - any one else??

I am on menopause..... im getting things like electric shocks when i sit,,,,,, pains in my legs , ankles, and also lower regions. im constantly sore.... dry, down below.... im using a product called sylk pronounced silk...... and it helps abit.... docs not interested neither is our nurse. doc told me to get over it

your old what more can i say....... i have bladder issues as well.... they say drink plenty of fluid which is ok if theres a bathroom handy ....... i dont sleep well either as im in and out of bed all night..... i might as well sleep in the loo...... anyone else getting stabbing pain in the gentital area?

I have symptoms like yours. They have come on very quickly. Knees cracking and joint pain including back and ribs even. I exercise regularly and wondered if it was related. Trying to find what to do. Im 51.

Hi ladies

What a relief it is to discover this forum. I am 47 and going through the menopause. I haven't had a period for almost a year now. The hot flushes are terrible as they wake me up but thankfully I don't sweat too much woth them and have found sage tablets to have lessened them. My problem is the extreem joint pain, I can hardly close my fingers in the morning and have to physically bend my fingers slowly to get them moving. The pain is now in my whole body. I have suffered with back pain all my life so have just thought my back condition is getting worse but after reading your post I believe it's all down to my hormones! I have also been feeling very low & have feelings of panick too but presumed it was due to not taking my pain killers (tramacet) every day as this only helps my back pain and not my joint pain. .My doctor is great and has referred me to see my rheumatologist again as I have an auto immune disorder, low platelets and low white blood cells. My doctor is happy to put me on HRT but as I have been slim all my life and only put on a few pounds since menopause, I am wondering if their is a side effect of weight gain on HRT, could anyone advise me?

daisyh, a friend had extreme dryness/soreness to the point of bleeding i think she said, and HRT fixed it.

THANK YOU ALL It's such a relief to know I'm not the only one! I'm 50 in 2 weeks and currently feel like I'm 90. I've been so depressed this winter because of the pain in different parts of my body. Have general stiffness but localised pain in one area for a couple of days which then subsides and starts up elsewhere, usually surrounding a joint - though not "in" the joint. Am not sleeping well either. I wake up 3 or 4 time a night for a wee and usually sit up for an hour or two every night because I'm too stiff to go straight back to bed.

Thought I was going mad. It has made such a difference to find this thread and read all of your posts today. It has made the pain bearable - currently left ankle (last week it was my right index finger!).

I don't feel guilty for needing an afternoon nap now!

Hi Katie,

My wife has been suffering from similar joint pain. Our doctor told us it was to do with inflamation around here knee joint that was causing the problem. After a little research we found some supplements that reduced swelling around the joints.

We used a supplement from nutriplusdirect .com but I am sure there are others on line.

From my limited knowledge, MSM helps equalise the pressure inside and outside cell walls allowing fluid to pass through the cell and out of the join. Less inflamation = less pain and discomfort.

Any way we are trying these joint pain supplements and we will see how it goes.

Thanks

HI lol now trying BLack Cohosh ? as doctor will not give HRT ? So I will try this If it doesn't touch it I will take advice from the lady that tried Gabapentin due to the fact that I teach Its so distracting and embarrassing were your face goes like a red balloon lol anyways we will see

I'm so glad I found this blog. I am 42 and have always had very regular, light periods until the past 18 months or so when they started getting pretty irratic. I would have a heavy one and then nothing for 2 or 3 months and thena long, heavy one again. I had gained a lot of weight the year prior so I blamed it on that and since I'm 42 and had an ovary removed when I was pregnant with my oldest child I assumed I may be going into peri menopause. A few weeks ago I fell down some stairs and sprained my ankle pretty bad. It was very sore and I couldn't walk on it. The ankle is still swollen but feeling much better but since then I have been sore and stiff and hear cracking sounds all over so loud that everyone can hear them. I take a lot of suppliments and vitamins so I wondered if it was too much of something so I stopped taking them and it hasn't gotten any better. If anything it's getting worse as I'm finding it difficult to type through the pain in my fingers today. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of it being hormonal. I think I'll do some more research and contact my OBGYN. Thanks ladies!

I'm so glad I found this blog. I am 42 and have always had very regular, light periods until the past 18 months or so when they started getting pretty irratic. I would have a heavy one and then nothing for 2 or 3 months and thena long, heavy one again. I had gained a lot of weight the year prior so I blamed it on that and since I'm 42 and had an ovary removed when I was pregnant with my oldest child I assumed I may be going into peri menopause. A few weeks ago I fell down some stairs and sprained my ankle pretty bad. It was very sore and I couldn't walk on it. The ankle is still swollen but feeling much better but since then I have been sore and stiff and hear cracking sounds all over so loud that everyone can hear them. I take a lot of suppliments and vitamins so I wondered if it was too much of something so I stopped taking them and it hasn't gotten any better. If anything it's getting worse as I'm finding it difficult to type through the pain in my fingers today. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of it being hormonal. I think I'll do some more research and contact my OBGYN. Thanks ladies!

I'm so glad I found this blog. I am 42 and have always had very regular, light periods until the past 18 months or so when they started getting pretty irratic. I would have a heavy one and then nothing for 2 or 3 months and thena long, heavy one again. I had gained a lot of weight the year prior so I blamed it on that and since I'm 42 and had an ovary removed when I was pregnant with my oldest child I assumed I may be going into peri menopause. A few weeks ago I fell down some stairs and sprained my ankle pretty bad. It was very sore and I couldn't walk on it. The ankle is still swollen but feeling much better but since then I have been sore and stiff and hear cracking sounds all over so loud that everyone can hear them. I take a lot of suppliments and vitamins so I wondered if it was too much of something so I stopped taking them and it hasn't gotten any better. If anything it's getting worse as I'm finding it difficult to type through the pain in my fingers today. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of it being hormonal. I think I'll do some more research and contact my OBGYN. Thanks ladies!

Hi to all,

I wrote in back in April about briefing 51 with increasingly bad joint pain--- hands/feet, wrists, shoulders, neck, knees, etc! Negative for RA, bloodwork fine, everything good, but cyclic pain during the month. Seems to follow estrogen cycle... worse around start of cycle, best (least amt of pain) around day 14 when highest estrogen. Rheumatogist was no help. My OBGYN is listening, but says I shouldn't go on HRT yet because I still have periods. She wants to first put me on birth control... Which is BOTH estrogen and progesterone. She says I can go on HRT (which is estrogen only) later. LESLIE and OTHERS, what to you think of that strategy?? Like Leslie, I explained to my OBGYN, I just want to try it to see if joint pain improves, then at least we can prove it's the low estrogen that's the cause!! Thx for you feedback all. -K in the USA

Hi Pnuts Mom

Well, I am 51 and was still having periods when I went on HRT.I was told this is quite normal and safe as long as you are on a COMBINED (estrogen and progesterone) HRT. You take a single yellow estrogen only pill from day 1-17, then take yellow estrogen pill AND a brown progesterone pill for the remainder of the month on days 17 - 28. .

HRT is not 'estrogen only as you say above....your OBGYN should know that!!

For women who are IN menopause, and have not bled for over a year, they can then take an estrogen only Hormone replacement Therapy.

I was on 'Prempak -C' (in the UK, it think it is called 'Premarin' in US)

I am not sure of the difference between HRT and Birth Control - but there definitely is a difference! It is quite safe for you to be on combined HRT. I think you should ask your OBGYN to explain further! There is also a lot of info about combined HRT on the net if you google it.

wow I am 43 and in the last 5 years I really believe I have been going through early menopause maybe triggered by stress or maybe it would have happened anyway! as a child I was raped and abused by my dad and other members of the family, my mum I believe as a result of a Hysterectomy when she was young went through early menopause maybe as a result but again it could be she would have gone through it anyway so who knows! All I know my mum who didn’t know until later years about the sexual abuse and rape stayed with my dad after I and he told her. I wouldn’t allow him near me or my 2 children therefore I had no contact with my family at all until years later when I received a call from one of my 4 brothers to say that my mum and dad had been involved in a car accident as a consequence my mum died and I was asked by police to identify her as it was at this time I had decided to go to see her (yes once she died, I think I hadn’t thought she was as bad as they were saying on the phone and I thought it was a ploy to get me in front of my dad!) the point is for years before my mum had been terrible in her moods I put it down to a drink problem which I could understand after being married to him who wouldn’t turn to drink only she took all those moods out on me too and so when the accident and consequently her death 5 years ago came about for some reason I was very upset! this followed my dad constantly trying to contact me which caused me anxiety and stress which followed me splitting with my husband and then took legal action against my dad (who by the way is now in prison for probably the remainder of his life as a result) AND EVEN THOUGH HE ADMITTED IT IN COURT ALL MY BROTHERS TURNED AGAINST ME CAN YOU BELIEVE - lucky I had no sisters but anyway moving on as you can probably imagine I was stressed and that court case came to an end last year and then one month later raising money for charity in my workplace I had a fall and broke my coccyx The bottom of my spine made up of 4-5 vertebrae and therefore have hot long had and am in recovery of an operation to remove the whole coccyx/tailbone so on top of the stress I have been in unbearable pain although recovering from it now I am relieved to say! But had added stress of not being able to go to work for the last so many months (I am due back in the next few weeks and that alone I am finding stressful at the thought after being away for so long, I am finding it scary thinking about my return, just walking back in the door) so to say over the last 5 years has been very stressful is a bit of an understatement but now to the point! I in this time have had periods all over the place and sometimes not even had a period I have been very hot even when it is freezing cold and I usually suffer with the cold badly but instead I have been boiling and had to stand outside to get air! I have had what seem like heart palpitations mood swings where I don’t even recognise myself and nor do others that know me! The most awful joint pains in arms legs and fingers! tired and irritable waking a lot during the night, slight memory loss like if I am going to get something I have to stand and try to remember what it was I was going for? and I have felt very down in the dumps - the worst thing is trying to get someone to understand and take you serious as my doctors don’t seem to, A few weeks ago I decided to get a few home test kits which they sell over the counter in the pharmacist its a bit like a pregnancy test and low and behold every one showed positive that I am having menopausal symptoms!!! (Can anyone confirm if they have tried them and are they as accurate as they say they are?) I feel quiet relieved as I actually thought I was going mad before and doctors seem to ask if I am suffering depression (Which yes I do get a bit down but this is not depression like that’s the problem) so as a consequence I have made an appointment to visit the doctor next Tuesday to put my results to them and see what help I can get as at 43 YES 43 I feel too young to have to go on suffering with the effects? is there anyone out there who can offer me some advice/tips as after taking the court action against the perv I really was hoping to live happily for a few years before worrying about the effects of growing older! I have no problem at all with being a bigger number in age in fact I couldn’t care less about age, I just don’t want it to be a miserable existence that’s all! Any help gratefully received - Thank you :-) So do you think this is menopause?

Ahh sorry what I should have said is the reason for explaining all my history was I wanted to make sure that what I am experiencing is due to menopause and not because of all the other things I have dealt with over the last few years etc. I am desperate for some help and my joints are apinful and my sleep problem is so bad as well as needing to pee so much and my moods I just think I will feel better if I know what the cause is at least I can try and do something about it! Its just if you feel so terrible and dont know why I think its worse. Again thanks for anyone who can offer advice.

Hi, apologies but I havent been responding to these threads due to the fact that it now appears this #issue' is not what I have after all. Wishing you all the best of luck with your health in the future and I sincerely hope you get some relief very soon. Take care Linda