I was wondering if anyone else has experienced lower back pain.  Seems like this started when I skipped my period, haven't had one in a couple of months now and I have this dull pain in my lower back.  It's not excruciating or anything like that but mostly very annoying.  What do you do for this?

Greetings Joline.....Low back pain is very familiar to menopause....as is alot of other acheys.   I have found that gentle Yoga stretches are very helpful for low back pain.  I also make sure that I get up and move around often as just sitting, standing or lying causes my back to stiffen up.  Topical analgesics are warming and comforting also if you can use them.

Blessings and be well.

And, along with Irene's great suggestions, I also use the heating pad alot, as well as ibuprofen, from time to time.  :)

Thanks for the advice ladies!!!

Halleluah!!  I found someone else who has unexplained low back pain.  I also have an overall achy feeling everywhere. Thought I was going crazy or may have some dreaded disease. I am 48 and in good physical health (at least thought I was until 3 wks ago when the aches came).  I have not had a period for 4 months now, but still get crampy feelings in groin area.  Is this common too?  I have cut back on my exercise program, but am now thinking I probably need it more than ever.  Will just have to work thru the aches & pains, right???  

Hi Jaycee,

No, you are not alone!  My low back aches seem to be cyclic but  it's always there, just worse at certain times of the month.  I still go for my walks and do quite a bit of biking.....I don't know if it helps but it sure doesn't hurt.  Hang in there!!!  By the way, I just turned 46.

Hello Ladies, Thank God for this board. I recently started having lower bak pains...two weeks ago. At first I thought maybe I starined myself but then I noticed that after I was up and out, it was better. In the morning it is bad. I an barely turn over in the bed. So I thought maybe it was the way I was sleeping. I changed pillows, started sleeping on my back intead of stomach but same pain. Now I realize that I should be on my period now, which has started to have a mind of its own. My stomahc is bloated and I feel like its fighting to come. What a mess. Thanks for being there to talk to.

Yep, everytime something new hits me I can always count on finding it here along with some good advice. I was wondering if this was common to anyone else. Mine is cyclic and seems to come right before my period. It is excruciating pain in my lower spine. The longer I stay in bed the worse it gets. Also, if I think about it, it gets worse. I have to try and divert my mind. It seems to be accompanied by a dull headache and increased anxiety. I say it over and over again--Ladies, next time I'm coming back as a man. L, ygirl

ygirl, That's funny - I've always said that - "my next life I'm coming back a man" I also have low back pain and sciatic pain down my left leg. This started about 3 years ago - about the same time as lots of other symptoms. I have also had to start sleeping with a pillow between my knees at night or I wake up with pain in my legs and low back - what is up with that?! It's so hard to turn over a night - I keep losing my pillow! I know they make a pillow especially for between your knees - I should look into it - anyone have one? Does it stay in place?

Yes the sciatic pain is the worse! I sometimes wish I could unscrew my legs at night and put them next to me!

as soon as i can upon your responses about pains in the lower back and not being able to turn over in bed and staying in bed too long. i thought that i had cancer of the spine or some other disease and then i find other ladies that also have the same thing. i never thought that it had anything to do with menopause. i feel better that i know that its not some dreaded diesease but yet i know how horrible the pain can be. i guess that we just have to live with the pain and hope that someday it will go away. thank you ladies for answers to this one symptom of the 35. it makes me feel just a little bit better. hope all of you sleep better tonight. take care!!

i have found that going to a chiropractor every month has helped relieve pain in my back and also my neck and helps with the headaches.takes away the anxiety feelings that comes with this thing called menopause.

Hi ya'll saw this thread re: low back pain. I want to caution you to not bypass getting your low back checked with x-ray and MRI to know status of any and how much degeneration is going on. I have had DDD (deg disc disease) since my 30's, my neck had disc problems and ended up with surgery when I was 45. I have DDD in my spine and hips. For the past 5 years (age 49 to 54) I was unable to get much relief for "chronic low back pain" and as the years progressed more stiffness and less able to do physical movements, lifting, doing yardwork, bending over picking something up, etc. I ended up falling on my hip 6 months ago, and it was a God-send because they found my hip was totally deg'd; I had total hip replacement last month and doing well. My mother had a stroke three years ago, and while in physical therapy, they found out she had been suffering with a displaced deg'd hip, all during her midlife she thought she was suffering with low back arthritis (she did have) and the chronic pain was her sciatica. She was pretty disabled by the time her stroke occurred, had to walk with walker. Her primary dr. didn't even examine her hip for function, nor get x-rays. She had a total hip replacement last year (at 80 yrs of age) and is doing just great (even after her stroke) she came thru very well. AND she is OUT OF CHRONIC PAIN -- most of it was her hip!! It happened to mother and myself -- don't assume it's just lower back. It can be both, keep an eye on the hip! It is a very perfected surgery now and done with microsurgery, good prognosis after.

Jmbutterfly8: Wow JM, you and your Mom have been through the wringer. It's a horrible shame that your Mom was not diagnosed earlier and it had to take a stroke in order to get a correct diagnosis for her hip. I am so glad you both are doing so much better. Tina

Thank you so much jmbutterly8. I too suffer from lower back and hip pain. And now that I have read everyone's posts, I am beginning to realize that it has gotten worse as I continue to have off and on periods. I have made a chiropractor appointment to have x-rays taken etc. I just want to make sure that it is or isn't arthritis. thanks again!

I am so glad to have found this discussion. My back is killing me. I've gone to the Better Back Store and bought special pillows (lumbar pillow for the back and a "tush cush"). I have knee wedges and back wedges for sleeping as well. I dislocated my shoulder 6 months ago and the pain just will not go away. Thought it was getting better and then it started hurting when the back really started aching. I'm thinking this is meno symptom. I'm going to the doc on Tuesday and will discuss this. I just ache all over in spite of the Celebrex I take every day. This just isn't right!

When I set off my back through crafts, gardening, or a cleaning spree, Celebrex does squat. Day, to day it may help the hand and finger arthritic. I have a extra degenerating vertabrae, which they assume is causing chronic pain on the opposite side, due to greater mobility on the painful side. I hate pain, so sympathize. The pain seems to be spreading down my buttock, hip and thigh, lately. I'm thinking maybe I should get an MRI. My knees feel like they're going, as well.

I just reread that post. Pardon typos, I'm premenstrual, so my cognition stinks today.

Chris, Go get that MRI. I take bextra 20mg 1xday, have you tried that yet? Take it before bed and you will wake up being able to almost stand up straight, I swear by it. My back, legs, hips, and kness still hurt later in the day. I wish I could take 2xday but that is not allowed. Do not take advil at all (which I was doing) while on bextra. Your symptoms above are my EXACT same problems since I got my last spine shot in March. (no more shots). Added to the scoliosis and the J-curve in my lumbar area, MRI in early May showed degenerative disc disease in the lumbar/sciatic area which causes shooting pains into my butt cheeks and stiffens the back of both legs. Since the kidney stones, I've had bad pain in both hips (severe at times) and both knees. Went to doctor 2 weeks ago and she said it is due to the DDD. There is a special machine they are getting where I will get some type of therapy - and it's not a traction machine (the machine is huge where there will be another person in the machine with me - and I don't know the name of the machine yet). Doctor said this will also help the disc compression in lumbar area as well (since I sometimes wake-up paralyzed from the waist to my knees). I go on the 30th to get evaluated and my first session is the 3rd or 4th of September. I'll let you know. Take care Chris, Tina

Just going through old posts and glad I came upon this one. For the last few weeks I have been waking up during the night with such bad lower back pain and stiffness I can barely move and need to grab side of bed to turn around. Gets better during the day as I move around but muscles everywhere feel achy. Will this ever stop? Seems like there is always something new. Has it gotten better for any of you? Did it go away on its own or what did you do? Thanks

Cathy

I have suffered with lower back pain for what seems like my entire life. It is worse just before and the first couple of days of my period. It is my lower back and hips and I mean hurts to the bone. I lay in bed sometimes and cry because it hurts so bad.

I know what you mean by not being able to turn over in bed because of the stiffness and pain. It feels like I have been laying in that position for too long and now the body can not move out of it. I also grab something to hold onto to turn myself over. I can barely walk some mornings from the stiffness when I first get out of bed. This just started 3 or 4 months ago. I remember my mother being very stiff when she first got up in the mornings, she was in her late 50's at that time but she had a total hysterectomy in her 30's but didn't get this stiffness until her late 50's??? How would that be related to meno?? Yet I know mine has to be.

All this stuff just boggles my mind. I'm in with you ladies and don't have any answers EXCEPT if you do have an old mattress it can help your back to get a new one.

Dee I'm sorry your having this problem too. Boggles my mind too. Is there anything our hormones don't effect The pain and stiffness is unbelievable! I can barely move. Always had a slight backache with periods but this is much worse and all the time! When will it end!!

Hi Ladies,

I have this also... hips hurt sooooo bad, and I have to grab the side of the bed to turn over. In the morning I go through all sorts of contortions to get up. Once in the shower.....aaahhhhh..... the hot water feels so good!!! I start to feel better. But I'm not getting good sleep because of this. And I usually have twitchy, restless legs at night also.

Any of you have these other symptoms?

Matoaka

Yes Matoaka I have the muscle twitches all the time. Can drive you crazy! Getting them alot during the day too if I'm sitting still. Between the muscle pain and night sweats the nights have become really long. If we could just sleep everything else would seem so much better!

Hi Matoaka,

I have the muscle twitches also. Mainly in my legs. Sometimes I feel like there is something crawling under the surface of my skin. I also have terribly achy hips. The achiness starts in my lower back and then radiates down into my hips. Sometimes it is so stiff I feel it clear down into my thigh. I also have problems with my sciatic nerve so that adds to the hip achiness. Some days I feel like I need my joints oiled. LOL. I sure am looking forward to the other side of menopause. Hope it is better than the peri side.

Maeflower

I too have chronic low back (and glute) pain which is associated w/tight muscles. I also feel it in my neck and shoulders. I see a chiropractor ever few weeks who adjusts me and I feel as good as new but then just give me a day and I'm back to square one. He recommends a lot of stretching and usually when I do that I feel more consistently better.

I also use alot of BenGay...it doesn't really help but it feels good.

Have a great day and Happy Mother's Day

EJ

Girls,

This is a new symptom for me....for the last week my back has started to hurt. Dead center at the bottom. I was relieved to see others are experiencing the same thing (not that I want you to be miserable, but wasn't sure if this was just another part of peri or not).

I can't stand to lean up against something that isn't smooth on my back. I also feel inflammation in my chest shoulders and buttocks....what's next? Am I 47 or 90?

TeeJay

Oh my gosh Teejay, you are starting to sound just like me!

Hi ladies, just saw that there was some recent activity on this thread, so thought I'd post. Like many of you, I have been having low back pain since beginning peri. Sometimes it's bad, where I can't turn over in bed, and sometimes it seems to fade away for awhile. This is not one of those fade away times unfortunately! For about the last week I have had excruciating low back pain standing, sitting or lying down, and it has been accompanied by nausea and pelvic pressure and cramping, and a sense of doom feeling-yep-feels just like day one of my period. The thing is I haven't had a period since December, just a lot of (pardon my graphic despcription) slimy vaginal secretions which the gyno thinks is ovulatory in texture. She said that it looks like my body is trying to prepare for a period. Aint that grand! My question to all of you is has anyone else had the symptoms I mentioned above with what I guess could be called a phantom period, and if you never get a real period anymore, how long do these awful feelings last?!!! Especially the back pain with the nausea. The gyno of course thinks the back pain has nothing to do with menopause. She thinks it might be a slipped disc. Why do they always think that symptoms other than hot flashes and vaginal dryness have nothing to do with with menopause:(

Darlene

Darlene,

Unfortunately I am still cycling. I have missed periods and they are very irratic...but still happening. When I skipped a period I didn't have any type of discharge or flow at all (even though I spotted once between my cycles) so I guess I can't be of much help to you. My back pain is off an on as well. I also feel inflammation in my back and shoulders and sometimes in my buttocks and I have had nausea off and on. I wish I could be of more help...I'm sure some of the other ladies have had a phantom period since it seems to be common in peri. Hang in there...

TeeJay

Thanks TeeJay-This whole metemorphing into post-meno is just NOT a pleasant journey is it! Every day it seems that even though one symptom may subside, another equally disturbing one takes its place. After 12 years of this you-know-what, I feel like I will be in this hormone hell forever!

Darlene

Hello Ladies,

This is my first posting and like some of the others I've just read, I was extremely happy to find this forum. I've been having lower back pain for 3 months now as well as nausea and some dizziness with irregular periods. I've also been waking up at night. Wide awake at 2am. I never thought to connect it all.

My doctor told me that there was nothing wrong on my Xray and the physiotherapist told me alternately that there was no diagnostic test to determine what was wrong with my back and then, after 8 sessions, there was nothing wrong with me. I was just afraid to move. I kept telling him it wasn't that I was afraid to move. I can do all the exercises, but it's painful to walk too far, or stand or sit for too long. I also get pain radiating into my behind. I thought that was especially odd. He did a deep massage at some point and I was in a lot of pain for 2 days afterwards. I wouldn't let him do it again.

Last night (wide awake), I began to think that maybe this was all connected to being premenopausal. I was so happy to see my symptoms listed as part of the 34 and to hear form other women that they were having the same symptoms. After being reassured that all was well with my spine, I was still worried that I was kind of falling apart somehow. I do back and leg stretching and strengthening exercises 3 or 4 times a day. It relieves the pain somewhat, but doesn't make it go away. I also take a hot shower in the morning when I get up. I do what I can during the day and rest when I need to.

It's great to have somebody else help you feel that you're not going totally nuts.

Connie

Connie, are you sure you don't have sciatica? These are the same symptoms that I first had and no one (doctor or physio therapist) could diagnose me neither which was unfortunate because I went on to have a herniated disc, which trust me you don't want. The specialist I had for the disc problelm couldn't understand why my GP had not sent me for a CT scan or MRI which would have shown the problem immediately. I did have an x-ray but this really only shows deterioration.

I have TERRIBLE

Sorry, hit the enter button too soon. Mods, you can delete the previous message.

I have TERRIBLE low back pain when I wake up. I do yoga most mornings, though sometimes if I get too "exuberant" with it, the pain just gets worse. I really hate this; I feel like I'm 1000 when I get up in the morning. The yoga helps limber everything up, because I also feel generally stiff.

Our bed is 10 years old, and wasn't a very expensive one. Can anyone suggest a good mattress for folks with back pain?

Weighing in on this topic. I was doing the FIRM exercise program for two years, and stopped about eight months ago because I kept getting hurt (sciatica and back problems). As soon as I hit the one-year-with-no-periods mark, I started waking up with low back pain. I took up yoga, which has helped, but I have to do a number of stretches before I can even walk in the morning (knee to chest; one leg at 90-degree and pull gently towards head; pull knee over opposite hip to stretch piriformis muscle; lie with knees bent, cross ankle over opposite knee and lift that knee also to stretch piriformis; then lunge to stretch achilles tendon; and finish with standing forward bend). At night the sciatica in my legs (sometimes both legs) bothers me so much I have to turn over. I use a knee pillow, which helps, but then I wake up and the knee pillow has shifted.

When I get up, I ice down my low back, and that helps too.

Once I get moving, I'm fine, but when I wake up, and sometimes even when I sleep, the pain is pretty severe.

At this point, I'm wondering if the yoga isn't strengthening my abdominal muscles enough and maybe I need more training there. Anyone had any luck with exercises specifically to address this?

Guys I developed dreadful lower back pain before Xmas. It lasted 3 months. The docs even gave me antibiotics for a bladder/kidney infection - they couldn't help at all. Then I joined a gym and the trainer took one look at me & said I had too much lordosis in my back and we could fix that by exercise. I started on the rowing machine & a week later my backache had gone. I think the extra lordosis was pinching a nerve.

I have been experiencing the same symptoms. low back pain, even down into my butt cheeks but not sciatic pain. And yes, this pain seems to get worse around my periods. Periods are now getting irratic, heavy flow at least one or two days. Last month it skipped altogether ( I was always on a 28 day cycle like clockwork!),..and this month, I've been going on an off for the last two weeks! The back pain is the worst,..can't turn around in bed wthout it waking me up! When will it end???

Adrienne

I have middle back pain. which can be annnoying. goodluck. Lizardlover

I never thought I would be on a menopause blog . My back is absolutely killing me and my entire pelvic area hurts. Like so many of you, it feels like my period wants to come and won't. I finally went back on a low dose pill (HRT).

Any other hints to get through this? I feel like a charicature of a creaky old lady at age 51. All my joints hurt, I'm walking like "John Wayne", i.e., blowlegged and stiff. Help, any advice appreciated.

Also, my memory has gone to China. I don't remember what I did two minutes ago. Did I brush my teeth? Did I already feed the cats? Did I eat.

Good grief, what WAS God thinking?

I do a stretch for my painful lower back that has really helped. I sit in a chair, draw one knee up and stretch my achilles tendon, and the lower calf muscle by there. Then I raise that leg as much as I can, with the foot flexed. I repeat on the other side. My back pain will vanish. But I have to repeat as necessary. Am nagging my husband for a more comfortable mattress, too.

Thank God I found you all discussing this. I've never written on a blog before, but you don't know how much better I feel now that I know there are others dealing with what I am. Like many of you, because I'm otherwise healthy and 47 years old, I thought the lower back pain and joint pain all over was some awful disease! It just started a couple weeks ago, when I started spotting halfway thru my cycle. I've been diagnosed with peri-menopause for a year now, but feel like it's really starting to hit. The back pain can be excruciating. Is this going to be forever now?? I have to say, I'm a long time user of acupuncture and that helps so much for a few days. I may have to have that more often now. And has anyone had success in taking herbs? That may be my next move. I can't imagine dealing with this for another decade! Bloating has become worse and with the mood changes and now this back and joint pain, I guess we have to prepare ourselves for what's coming! Thanks for the support. It so help to know there are others dealing with the same stuff.

You can try herbal supplements whether they will work or not is another question. Try jumping into a newer post or start your own, this one is kind of old and you might lose anyone that passes by when they see 2006. Welcome to meno hell !

Bethanie

Hello lovely ladies. This is my first post here though I've lurked on these boards on and off for years. It's a wonderful place to make you feel like you're not alone in all of this. I will be 47 in November and I am in the middle of one of the bad lower back times and it's just so debilitating! My joints hurt and my shoulders and knees, but mostly my lower back will spasm. If I baby it and ibuprofen regularly, it usually goes away in a few days. Still, I always wonder if it is something else because my mother has R.A. and I have never been tested.

Anyway-- I have exercised regularly (well on and off) most of my life but now it half exacerbates the problem. Very frustrating since I also have the lovely symptom of gaining 20 pounds. The thing is I have been having most of the peri symptoms for years...but I had to have a hysterectomy 14 years ago after having my son, and I only have one ovary and tube--nothing else...so I don't get periods. Yes I realize this is a huge plus, but it also makes it hard for me to know where I am in this whole "peri/meno" thing. Anyway, decided it was finally time for me to say hello to everyone.

Hello.

I'll bed 49 in November and I also have just one ovary and tube. I started having back problems soon after the surgery. I think I have been in hormonal hell ever since. I've tried every therapy, every herb, and I used to exercise most of my adult life until I started having these pains. I get it even when doing nothing. And, now in the last year, I've gained back 30lbs I lost two years before, I hardly exericse at all because of the pain and anxiety. I started bios last june and thought that would help and it hasn't. I've been to several doctors, several physical therapy sessions, stretching books of exercises, yoga, acupuncture, massage, nothing helps. I can be okay for a bit and then bam, spasm. I also can't stand for more than 5 minutes before my low back near the bulging discs starts to throb and I have to sit down. So mostly in the last year I'm decondtioned from sitting to not have pain. I'm going to get back to the gym and another massage therapist when school starts. I've also started thyroid hormones and have noticed certain pains I used to get are better now that I'm on Cytomel, but I still get spasms and the pain from walking or standing.

I'm thinking of upping my cytomel soon to see if it gets better. Maybe that and some exercise again?

I've tried everything. I have depression and anxiety over this problem for 2 years and I've been in pain in that area since the ovary/tube came out 4 years ago.

I hate this hormone problem.

i started this problem recently...i keep asking what next but i think i should just keep quiet....does this hell coaster ever end ?

Hi - this is Healing -- and I get the sciatic pain down my left leg along with the low back pain. Also some numbness in that leg. My doctor says I have some degeneration in the spine that is
causing that. I have to get up and walk around the house and take some Tylenol before I can get back to sleep. I've never tried the pillow.

I sleep with a pillow under my knees.... have done for ages. This was at the recommendation of my chiro. It doesn't have to be any special kind of pillow just so long as it raises the knees a bit.

I am 50 now, and I too started with severe joint pains when I was around 47. Got worked up for autoimmune diseases, some X rays, etc and nothing could be found. And yet, I could hardly walk. My back, hips, feet, shoulders, elbows, everthing hurt. Tried everything, but it was relentless. Finally started on estrogen and the symptoms subsided within 3 days. I couldn't believe it. Now, every time I try to wean off it (I really don't want to be on it), the symptoms return with a vengeance withing days of just lowering the dose. If I keep on the estrogen, along with stretching, warm baths, and massages I feel great. If I overdo the exercise, I can't walk for days without pain, so I have lowered my exercise to a nightly 2 mile walk. So, for me, the aches were definitely connected to low estrogen. I only wonder if I will ever be able to get off it without pain...Kim