Perimenopause and SEVERE joint pain - any one else??
Posted , 512 users are following.
Hi
I am 50 and have been in perimenopause for some time. I just wanted to post here to see if anyone else has suffered extreme joint pain as a result of fluctuating estrogen.
Quick history: regular as clockwork from the age of 13 - up to and after the two pregnancies in my thirties.Then aged 47 I started to get very heavy and irregular periods. Then I went for six months with no period at all, then two very scant light periods in quick succession. I have had nothing now for two months but I do feel as if it might happen soon as sore boobs etc.
I have never had a hot flush. I do however have lots of other peri symptoms, including insomnia, heart palpitations and skipped beats, and a strange 'rushing' or whooshing feeling which starts in the abdomen which I think is an 'adrenal' surge. I also have other vague and odd symptoms, dry eyes and inside my nose, and a really vile taste in my mouth sometimes - I mean really vile, like a chemical taste, unrelated to anything I have eaten. I also have odd tingling skin sometimes, which I can only describe as feeling like 'cold' sunburn!
However, about the joint pain. Three months ago I literally woke up one morning with a sore left arm/elbow. Over a few days, the pain then moved into my shoulders, and I got really worried as if was incredibly painful, and showed no signs of going away, it just got worse and worse. It is worse in the morning when I wake up, I am as stiff as a board. It is on my mind 24/7. Doing normal things is almost impossible - I have problems carrying shopping, drying my hair,walking the dog, driving...everything seems to hurt . I have never suffered from arthritic pain, and I went to the doctor thinking I had some awful bone disease, or even polymyalgia. I was told I had nerve pain!! The GP was terrible and made me feel like a hypochondriac and it was all in my mind. I was told I had good range of movement, and no inflammation. But I am in agony, and i am not imagining it.I made the mistake of asking Dr.Google too, which is never a good idea as I scared myself half to death. I never even thought it could be related to hormones or menopause, as the pain was just SO bad and I had never heard of joint pain being a symptom.I mean I have read than meno can be bad for some women, and I expected hot flushes etc, but I didnt realise it meant pain like this.
Anyway - for the last few weeks I have been having worsening pain which has spread from left elbow and both shoulders, into left hip, both elbows and now my knees. All my joints are cracking and popping loudly and even my husband can hear the awful grating in my neck and my knees....I sound like a one man band as I go up and down the stairs!
I went In for my three yearly Cervical smear on Monday, and could hardly get up on the examining couch I was so stiff and sore. Womans health is dealt with by the Nurse Practitioners in our large practice (15 GP's) and when the NP saw my discomfort she asked me what was wrong. It turns out she has a real interest in womens health, and has been involved in HRT trials and research for many years. She informed me that my symptoms all point to fluctuating estrogen, and possible thyroid involvement. She told me a load of stuff about estrogen and cartilage, dry mucosa etc, the details of which I can't remember now but which made so much sense when she explained it - even down to the foul taste and tingling skin I have also experienced on and off for months which are both known side effects of estrogen surge as the ovaries go a bit haywire. Asmall percentage of women are very receptive to estrogen fluctuations which involve cartilage, which mainly manifest as abnormally severe joint pain/menopausal arthritis but it is not an 'obvious' symptom of perimenopause.
I asked why the GP was no help, and she just raised her eyebrows when I told her which male GP it was, and told me to make another appointment as soon as possible with a specific GP (who must be more knowledgeable about womens health.) Going in tomorrow to see her.
I can't do HRT as I have a heart condition, but maybe I can do estrogen cream, or phytoestrogen/soy.) It could last for a long time I guess until I come out the other side !
So i have not yet been diagnosed, but it sounds like it could be caused by estrogen. Sorry this has been so long....but anyone else out there feel the same way I do???
Lesley.
85 likes, 1485 replies
glenys01549 Lesley998
Posted
Hi.
I am having the same problems you all seem to be having with joint pain. It wakes me up at night and can last over an hour. I have taken to rubbing in voltarol but try to avoid it if I can possibly bare the aches as it’s iboprofen based and it’s not good for asthma, which I have.
A friend suggested magnesium gel which also appears to work but feels more oily.
I did read somewhere that perimenapausal women lack magnesium and potassium so maybe that’s why.
I suddenly feel like an old arthritic lady with my clicking unsupple joints and find I need to ‘warm up’ in the mornings for a while before the stiffness disappears. Gone are the days of energeticly leaping around at the moment!
It seems to happen whether I have had an active day or not and can start when I’m watching tv on the sofa too. It seems to start after a period of inactivity of a couple of hours for me.
I have also been taking flax seed oil, vitamin D, evening primrose oil, cod liver oil, glucosamine & calcium and turmeric capsules in the morning. Can’t say I’m feeling the benefit but I’m afraid that if I stop it could be worse.
I’m just about to try Black Maca root capsules and maybe potassium and magnesium ones too.
I’ll give anything a try before resorting to hrt.
debbie36807 glenys01549
Posted
Your post is a replica of my symptoms and the remedies I have tried. I am 50 and have been like it for about 2 years now. I have reported to my doctor various aches and pains but the menopause has never been discussed nor does the doctor have any interest or remedy. I am finding now I am just accepting that this is how it is. So many people reporting the same symptoms is a comfort. It would be nice to know though if the symptoms do eventually subside !
Reenee35 debbie36807
Posted
I too had this happen it is awful and shocking to just wake up and feel like a 90-year-old what a cruel joke. I have random joint and muscle pains it shifts from shoulders, knees, and hips, and I have been taking supplements on and off. Deep tissue massage, CranioSacral Therapy, I may try Rolfing next lol. My Nurse Practitioner says it is Ostio arthritis with that was without any tests. The deep tissue massage did give some relief and more mobility but the pain is still there. One thing is the less I move the worse it gets. I am doing simple yoga and stretching on youtube, walking and swimming weekly. I use ibuprofen and Tylenol sometimes together. Naproxen Sodium does not do a thing for me. I am at a loss but I hope it subsides I hate losing my strength.
I am happy to find this site and know there are others with the exact same symptoms.
glenys01549 debbie36807
Posted
I have found that the amount of walking I do during the day can influence it. I don’t have a car and so walk everywhere.
Decent trainers with cushioning do seem to have helped too.
I wore small heels for the first time in ages to a funeral a few days ago and my feet and ankle joints really suffered later.
Eralc1968 glenys01549
Posted
rachel83125 Lesley998
Posted
I know I’ve only been on my hrt tablets for just one week, but my god, what a difference in me! I feel almost back to my normal self. So much so that last Saturday I walked 5K in 42 minutes. This is from not being able to walk longer than 10 mins before being in excruciating pain. I’m not taking any other medication other than the hrt and I am shocked & stunned at how I feel in a week. I’m hoping that within a month I will be back to my old self & can start doing all the things I used to do before I had these awful symptoms. I hope some of you ladies will have similar success if you can take hrt.
Eralc1968 rachel83125
Posted
rachel83125 Eralc1968
Posted
Hi Eralc1968,
im just coming to the end of my 3 month course of hrt tablets. I have felt absolutely amazing on these tablets. Within 2 weeks of being on them I was my old self, moving around totally normally, able to run and not a single joint ache! My hips were the first thing that I noticed where the pain had disappeared from, then my lower back, my right elbow and 2 fingers on my right hand (which was put down to arthritis by GP’s). NO pain!
However, 3 weeks ago I noticed a little niggle in my right hip, so deep inside me, just like the time was coming back. I couldn’t believe it!
i was due for a checkup with my GP to have a check up on these tablets so booked myself in.
I told him of my great success on these tablets but I was worried that I may need a higher dose as the symptoms were starting to return. He had no clue whatsoever if he could up the dosage or not. He looked in a book, at a chart, got himself so confused that he admitted to me that he didn’t know if he could up the dose because he doesn’t prescribe hrt much! Great!
I am still waiting for a call back from my GP as he said he would have to consult his colleagues. Still waiting 2 weeks later.
However, I have continued with the tablets and now am pain free again. I have just walked 6.5 miles this morning without a single twinge. I think I may of been run down a bit as I did have a cold when I started to noticed the pains returning. Now I am over that and I am pain free again.
it is worth noting though that my blood pressure is pretty high. I’m sure it’s to do with the tablets. Having said that, I am willing to take the risk and manage my blood pressure rather than come off the tablets. I could not go through that amount of pain again & have limited mobility as before. I have stopped drinking wine 😢 & have no sugar or salt in my diet, & I’m exercising everyday which is keeping my blood pressure going into in a downward spiral. I check it everyday to make sure.
i hope this helps other ladies out there. No one needs to go through that much pain!
If anyone is wondering the hrt tablets I’m on are called Elleste Duet Conti.
Eralc1968 rachel83125
Posted
Thanks for your reply Rachel and I’m so pleased that the HRT is working for you again 💃🏼 My sister is on Evorel Conti and she’s really pleased too. She still occasionally has foot pain (plantar fasciitis) but does foot exercises with a ball to help release the tendons in her feet. Good luck and continued pain free days to you 😁
rose98598 Lesley998
Posted
I too have been dealing with these joint problems and a crushing fatigue for about 3 years. I was 44-I actually laid in bed for a year -as with the joint pain/body aches/ muscle burning/crushing fatigue-this affects me mentally too...I have no desire for life-things that I normally enjoy...I don’t. Mentally-I cannot get myself to move or get out of bed-as my mind gets into a dark place that accompanies the joint pain and body aches. I also had extreme PMS and rage when all this started. I finally found a dr that prescribed me bio identical hormones (even though my blood work showed my levels were fine) she prescribed them because of my symptoms-thank God!! and with-in 3 days of taking the estrogen-I was up walking. It was a miracle -and I started to have desire in life again and enjoy things. After about 8 months/I felt so good-I started to only take my estrogen pill every other day -then I quit taking them because of the hrt scare. I was back in bed for 3 weeks even after going right back on the estrogen when my pain came back. That was April of 2017-Even after taking my estrogen faithfully again-i have many episodes of the joint pain and crushing fatigue..it comes and goes and I never again felt as good as I did in April when I quit taking my estrogen because I thought I had reset my body and the scare woman have for hrt.
I am again suffering more than not from this pain. I am again confused as to what is causing this. Do I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue or is it hormone related? I also have low vit. D. Is it that with a combination of hormones? Is it some combination of my hormones are missing? Or am I getting too much as I know my body hates progesterone and I dread having to take it -so I can have a period because you cannot take estrogen alone. I am on the lowest dose of estrogen-I’ve just upped my dose and it hasn’t helped but maybe it’s still too low?? I had an episode a couple of months ago of I woke-up fine and I was going to work in the garden-I went to shower and I started to feel myself sink...my back started to hurt, stiffness in my body and joints. I realized that I was ovulating by the change of my discharge and from that 15 minute shower-I had the worse uterine cramps I almost had to go to the Er as it was so bad-dizziness that I barely made it to my bed. And it lasted for a couple of hours. It started to subside but my body was so sore for days after that with all that joint pain and body aches. That makes me believe it’s related to fluxing hormones but I don’t know how to fix it and—why would ovulation cause so much pain?? But I again start to think that it’s fybro or Lyme disease. I just want to find the answers. If anybody wants to discuss please contact me so we can try to find out how to help ourselves. Or is there a connection to anything that we have as other woman think I’m crazy. I have no life-I can’t get a job as I never know what days I will feel good or what days I’ll be in bed...I am basically disabled when I’m going through this. Nobody cares-Drs. don’t care-the only thing that helps me is to take some Vicodin-it seems to clear out that nerve pain and gives me some energy to get out of my bed. But getting any dr to give me anything to cope would be a miracle and no Dr. is going to prescribe Vicodin now so I just lay and suffer.
mrs_susan74280 rose98598
Posted
HI rose how are yo getting on , I am like yoh sent years I'll now agd 58, trying cbdoil, multi vits, I am started to wee more, so doctor has put me on Ovestin 1mg, it's a cream you put down below, still haveing depression and anxiety, have you ever been on pills at all for anxitey? ,
Rudaga Lesley998
Posted
Lesley - I cannot tell you how much your post (albeit 6 years old now) has reassured me that I am not going mad. I am 50 years old, had a complete thyroidectomy 6 years ago (due to cancer) and am currently suffering the most agonising joint stiffness and pain. It is every day - so bad in the morning that I can't move - and like you I had imagined all sorts of terrible reasons for my pain. I had a bone scan when my shoulders started to hurt - naturally assuming some cancer related problem given my history. It was actually the male consultant who performed my scans who pointed me in the right direction - his wife had suffered similarly as she approached the menopause. I have finally convinced my GP that this is the way to go and I am now investigating different treatments (luckily I can take HRT if I choose as the thyroid cancer I had poses no risk in relation to oestrogen based medication). You post literally spelt out, word for word, my experience so thank you very much and I hope you found some treatment that worked for you. Similarly also, I never had any joint problems prior to this and I am a very active (and previously extremely fit) person. It is the pain in my joints which had prevented me from taking up proper exercise again as I was concerned that there was an underlying arthritic problem. I will keep you all posted just in case it helps anyone else!
debbie36807 Rudaga
Posted
I have been following Lesley's initial post for around 2 years and it is so comforting to have read so many other people reporting similar joint stiffness and pain. I am 51 in December and in peri as I go several months now between periods. Like many others, I was completely unaware that menopause might bring these symptoms of immense joint pain. I have researched so much and tried so much including adding soy to diet, all types of vitamins including glucosammine, chondroitin, macca root, turmeric, high does vitamin d, magnesium and zinc !! I havent found that any of these have made a massive difference and have come to accept that this is how it is. My belief is that we need to shed as many pounds as possible and stay as active as possible, to continue to work through the morning stiffness and the stiffness that occurs having sat still for 20 minutes or so. Yoga is great. There are so many simple body stretching moves that really help and I find if I do this upon getting out of bed then it can make the descent downstairs easier to bear !! Swim, cycle and keep moving. Eat as healthy as possible. it's all common sense, but at this time of our lives, I think we need to do all of these things as a necessity to remain mobile rather than give in to old age. Good luck !
jgo debbie36807
Posted
debbie36807 jgo
Posted
rachel83125 jgo
Posted
jgo, I may have to try this gel. I was on Ellest duet continue tablets (hrt) and at first everything was fine. My joints and muscles suddenly began to work again within 2 weeks of taking it. Everything was wonderful. However, 3 weeks ago I noticed the exact pain that I used to get in my hip coming back. It has progressively got worse, now all around my hip girdle and radiating down to my foot again. It’s debilitating. I saw my GP today which was a planned review for the medication. I asked him if there was something else I could supplement these tablets with. The tablets are 2miligrams. Apparently there isn’t a higher dose. He answer was, he has no idea as he doesn’t prescribe hrt very often and will have to consult with his colleagues and get back to me!
Nobody I have spoken to about my symptoms understands. I am beside myself with worry today as I simply cannot go back to and live with the awful joint & muscle pains.
mrs_susan74280 jgo
Posted
Eralc1968 jgo
Posted
alioopidoop Eralc1968
Posted
Hi, got an appointment with a doctor and explained how I was feeling with the pains, night sweats, dizzy spells etc etc. She was great, downloaded & printed off sheets& sheets of info for me to read and has got me an appointment next Friday with the nurse to get me on HRT.
Will let you know how I get on after I've been on it a couple of weeks, hopefully I'll feel better.
Doctor said I was not to let it rule my life AND I'm not anymore. Reading all the posts made me more determined to sort it out. Thanks Alison
Woo3353 alioopidoop
Posted
Alison
the remedy is normally quite straightforward if you are happy to take HRT. I am not happy too take it & some people can't take it.
I understand that most HRT is derived from pregnant horse urine & it only delays the onset of symptoms, once you come off they return (whatever age). Things are too uncertain for me but its everyones choice and their quality of life.
I am trying small amounts of BHRT at present, yes there could also be risks as not much medical research has been done on them (pharmacutical companies are not interested as they can't make money on natural products)
good luck
alioopidoop Woo3353
Posted
A nurse offered me HRT before & I declined because of what I'd read about it, but the pain I have now in my joints, right to the tips of my fingers, is really getting me down.
I'm now not getting sleep with the pain & the sweats. I feel exhausted all the time.
I will have a good chat with the nurse & see how I feel then. I just want back to the old me....
Thanks for getting in touch
Woo3353 alioopidoop
Posted
alioopidoop Woo3353
Posted
Will do. My mother had really bad arthritis & I was going to ask about it too as my sister suffers with it in her knees. It was my doctor there on Friday said she thinks it's the menopause causing all the pain and referred me to the practice nurse for a chat.
Many thanks
jgo rachel83125
Posted
specific pains like sciatica and hip pain haven vanished as they are def muscularskeleto
but all the stiff joints which were falsely diagnosed as arthritus have gone
I take just one pump of eostrogel with 2 weeks progresterone 200mg every 3 months
jgo alioopidoop
Posted
The gel isnt enough for me to trigger a period so im def nearing the end of peri as nothing since Feb - i will carry on this protocol and try to phase it out in 6 months in the hope symptoms have gone.
alioopidoop jgo
Posted