Well, here I am full of joint pain. I was at the doctor a few weeks ago, he did a boatload of bloodwork and x-rays of my hands. The good news is all came out great, the bad news is I feel lousy. I have been painting the outside of my house and at he end of the day, whew!!! pain city. I gave myself a few days off from this and still work out five days a week. It seems to aggrevate my hands, fingers and feet, but I am so afraid not to do it,because I hear you need to keep moving. It must be this damp weather that makes it so much worse. I hate to take ibuprofen, but do resort to it every now and then.

i am just complaining, I know it's not the end of the world, it could always be much worse. Ugh, I need a hot tub and a massuese at my disposal.

Hi enough, sorry you're having the joint pain. Hope the ibuprofen helps. Best wishes, Jzz

Epsom salt bath --- it really helps!

YEs, it does help. It makes you feel soooo good and your skin is so soft after it as well. Thank you both for your replies, I am avoiding taking anything, just warm compresses. It will get better, some sunny days and I hope I'll be good to go.

I was also going to suggest epsom salts bath, the magnesium in it helps aches and pains. And maybe do some gentle stretches to keep joints limber? I don't know if you are doing the stretching as part of your workout or not.

I hope you feel better soon!!

Enough,

I had the same experience. Peri came on and so did muscle and joint aches. At first I kept exercising, perhaps even a little harder, as I heard that was a good approach. But after a while, I could swear that the working out was just making me feel worse at times. So I did a little experiment and consciously decided to stop exercising (working out). Didn't give up normal daily activities, just the deliberate working out. After a while I started feeling so much better. I didn't exercise for 2 years....I know that sounds like a lot, but why do something that's making you feel worse? The aches and pains decreased and I felt pretty normal again.

I think during this time, we have to do what makes us feel best. We have to give ourselves time. And so what if we do something or don't do something for a while because that's what's making bodies feel better. It can be hard to make that decision and perhaps go against what we've come to know should be best. I have found this approach to this time of life has worked with several of the symptoms I have dealt with.

Pixie girl:

Interesting about the exercise experiment - a while ago I read in some medical journal that they had discovered that even 2 hrs of exercise a week reduced estrogen levels in women - now 2 hrs of exercise a week is very little exercise if you think about it - thats 4 days of walking 30 mins a day - estrogen is responsible for a sense of "well-being" - which includes lack of body pain - most young menstruating women (with a few exceptions) do not suffer from aches and pains all the time - and this is due to the high levels of estrogen in the body -

I'm hearing you all loud & clear about the muscle aches. I have a raft of blood tests going thru at the moment, awaiting results. Joint pains in my hands, wrists and feet but a generalised overall muscle ache down my arms and sometimes legs.

I don't work out but I do go swimming once a week. It's the only intentional exercise I take. Last week I wondered if I should go because I felt that lousy, but I did, and swam for an hour. It didn't make me feel any better but nor did it make me feel any worse.

That is interesting about reducing estrogen levels. I'm wondering, maybe there isn't actually any cause to these aches it's just how my body is translating something.

I worry about the joint pain because I am a musician and also enjoy gardening, and haven't put in nearly as much time as I should have this year in the garden. And the thought of not being able to play is heart-breaking.

I'd also like to know, once meno is over, can we look forward to an ache-free existence? (please god?)

I'm finding it interesting what is posted about exercise, aches, and estrogen.

Like so many I have gained a lot of weight since starting peri 11 years ago and I've been trying to exercise more frequently, lately , to get rid of the weight. Lately, I've noticed that with the exception of my achy knees I feel good after exercising for 30-50 minutes. The next day, with the exception of my knees, I feel great! Clarity, energy, and that feeling of well being. I've decided to begin exercising every other day until I build up my stamina and hopefully decrease the achy knees.

Okay, now let's go back over a year ago...when I was exercising 5-6 days a week! I felt horrible !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything ached, I was soooooooooo lethargic, and we won't discuss the brain fog! I could not figure out why I felt so drained and why did all my muscles ache even after months of exercising. I eventually stopped exercising...until recently, over a year later.

I can not figure out why or how all of this correlates with peri/meno, but I believe there is some connection.

I am so torn about this. Yesterday I didn't exercise except for a 25 minute walk and I still had lots of pain, so, I am going to keep on exercising. I am afraid not to, I think things will stiffen up even more. I am very uncomfortable again today and did take 200 mg. of ibuprofen to see if it helps, but I dont' want to keep taking it. I am so disgusted and dont' know what else to do.