Hi all,
I'm new to this site. What I am asking is this. I actually hurt all over - ache/hurting. Even my feet. It's kind of like what you get with a bad flu .. I don't think there is a part of my body that doesn't hurt. Even my feet. I find myself limping about, undoing my bra is painful. Is this a natural part of the menopause do you think? My dr has given me a letter for some blood tests... I can't believ this, It's beein going a couple of weeks now..well, going longer, but it's been really severe for a couple of weeks.
Please help and tell me whether this is natural or whether I'm dying!!

Hi sydneyseas,
welcome to PS.
I am not new to the perimenopause, been through about 8 years, but last 4 are the worst.
Aches and pains along with anxiety are my really major complain...it comes and goes, some months more some less, worsens 10 days before my period and when weather changes, espcially when it is cold or rany.
I have it very bad when I am stressed, so I guess adrenalin plays the role also, and also when my hormones fluctuating, my guess, it is low estrogen that causes the pain, but can be progesterone too. I feel like my mucles are fireing and triggering, and it is not only sceletal muscles but also smooth muscles of intestines, colon, even throat muscles contractions go out of whack.
Estrogen receptors are in every living cell in our body, as so are progesterone. When these two go hayway and add testosterone to the picture, our mucles fibers become inflamed, stiff, that may cause this type of pain.
I went rounds of tests, doctors, ER visits when perimenopause hit me very badly, almost 8 years back, checked to see if I have RA, it was not confirmed.
Since then I go through periods of excruciating pain that can go on for few months in a row and then dissapear for anotner few months, only to start all over on a higher level of pain. I have been limping since yesterday, thigh muscles soo tight I can barely walk downstairs, I believe it is hormonal changes and most important, constant fluctuations creating nasty prostaglandines that trigger the pain.
I am not sure what is the solution, I believe HRT can help and occasional Iboprophen when it gets out of control.
My guess it is hormones, but if you in doubt, get it checked by your GP and/or specialist. I am not certain, perhaps, vitamin D level is worth checking too, and other vitamin/mineral defficiencies. Dietary changes, supplements, I have tried different things, and still it comes and goes...
Good luck and if you find what gives, let us know.

Hi,

I post on the adrenal burnout thread, because of adrenal insufficiency and some hypothyroid symptoms. But I am commenting on posts related to body pain, because it is something I have been wrestling with since peri hit. I am 49 and have some osteoarthritis in a couple of vertebrae (likely been there for decades and didn't bother me) but because of this unexplicable body pain I bought myself a spinal mri. It only showed the osteo in the vertebrae.

Based on my experience - plummeting hormones must be behind my body pain. It is frightening to experience this, impossible to ignore or function normally but I take comfort in the knowledge that many women seem to experience pain during peri/meno and once their bio-chemistry balances out - this pain subsides. This get me through the days, months, years of debilitation.

good your getting tested .. I've had what you describe .. but it would be for about 6 - 10 days leading up to and going a little beyond some of the periods I had this year.. but it did not last as long as yours .. very painful.. I found xanex helped. or L-Theanine also.

Thanks everyone, at least it sounds as though I'm not dying lol

my " every thing aches " year was last year , and it was bad, but it does subside ( im 49) mine was the worse at nite, i couldnt even turn over with out severe pain, now i get morning stiff-ness but nothing like last year...... hang in there

I am sorry to hear of your pain but so thankful to come across your post! I am 45 and for the past month, I have been having muscle aches and pains all over but most especially in my legs and feet. I'm glad I'm not alone. I've had blood tests to rule things out such as RA or any inflammation. It isn't PAD or DVT or anything like that. So I believe it's all hormonal. It's such a difficult symptom because it's hard to ignore when your entire body is in pain. When I am in pain, I can't remember what it feels like to not be in pain. And my health anxiety kicks in to high gear and its so hard not to google and read up on all the illnesses that can cause muscle pains. I am on day 13 of my cycle and the pain is going away, thank goodness. It usually occurs shortly before, during and after my periods which still come on a regular 28 day cycle.

I hope to find some kind of supplement or something along the natural or homeopathic lines to help with this pain. Good luck to us!

I've been having these aches and pains too. A lot of times, I can't even get out of a chair without having to sslllooowwwlllyyy go from a sitting to a standing position. I have read that this is a peri symptom and have accepted it as such. But my question is why? Could it be that the pains -- along with the rest of this fun we're all going through -- is a kind of "withdrawal" from hormones, like people get when they get off drugs? After all, we've had this stuff rushing through our systems for nigh on 45 years. Wouldn't it make sense that if your "hits" were reduced or cut off completely, you'd suffer from it? Just wondering...

I always thought that menopausal joint pain was due to low or withdrawal from estrogen - until it happened to me. My, pain began to increase around 5 years ago was at its worst in early peri - 3-4 years ago before I even knew I was in peri and my periods were still regular (albeit closer together). It was only later when I read that early peri is a time of higher than normal estrogen levels, and that this is responsible for a lot of the fibromyalgia like symptoms, that I realized what had happened to me. I also read an article on Pubmed about TMJ (not necessarily peri related) which found that women with TMJ had higher E levels than those without which seemed to support the theory. Now that I am in late peri and have done a fair bit of skipping interspersed with heavy periods I have noticed that my joint pain in general is much improved but that it tends to fluctuate with my hormone levels. When my levels are high (PMS type symptoms) the pain seems to be worse (although never as bad as it was a few years ago) but when they drop down to 0 after a period it almost feels like the pain drains out of my body. I don't know what the mechanism is but I suspect it may have to do with fluid retention from the high E.

That being said, I have also heard of women getting joint symptoms when they are post (particularly those with surgical menopause) when their E would be low, so I realize that the whole thing is more complicated than what I have read and experienced.

My gyn told me all my arthritis symptoms were from hormones as well. Lucky us. I had full blood work done and hand x--rays since it was so bad. I still think someday I will have RA, why I dont' really believe it's all hormonal is beyond me, but I wonder. I have TMJ but was diagnosed that after x-rays along with symptoms, it started 5 years ago when I was 45, so maybe it is related. I have tried supplements with no luck, but baths with epsom salt feel good. Iburopfen too when it's really bad, but you need more than 200 mg, and I hate taking it.

Good luck

What is it with this pain!!!

This last week my hip hurt for 2days then it migrated into back/shoulders a bit of jaw ache thrown in.

The pain in my back was more of a sore/deep burning nagging pain with a bit of FIZZING?? sensitive patches almost like goose bumps but not!!??

That has all vanished and now my usual area side of left breast/rib has kicked off.

How can pain be so intense then dissapear??

BIG SIGHS
Hope everyone else,s pains have subsided

KathS

Do you know, I (((heart))) you all. This all sounds SO familiar. I've had all the bloodwork done and my doc has basically said "All normal, it's your age, take ibuprofen/more rest/watch your diet/it will go away when your hormones settle down." And it's hard to belive at that point he's not just dismissing it all or saying you're imagining it or being a moaning minnie.

But if lots of other perimenopausal woman get the above too (And KathS, your symptoms could be mine) well maybe doc is speaking the truth? And that alone makes me feel better.

I've been hurting so much lately I just wanna sit down and never get up. I'm so stiff I feel like Frankenstein walking around.

I had another pain-related comment: Sometimes I'll have a spot -- about the size of a half dollar -- with a stabbing or throbbing sensation. I will find the spot, maybe rub it as if to say "what now?", and then when I go to touch it again, it's gone like it was never there! There is no specific place either -- could be on my leg or my arm or my side. It's almost like it's right under the skin. Weird...

thanks for making me laugh!!!!(something very unusual for me nowdays...). The part about Frankenstein really cut me up
because that is exactly what I call myself and exactly how I feel. I told my doctor once that I felt stiff like Frankenstein...
He did not crack a smile(I guess he was having a bad day) and prescribed paxil......(I threw the scrip in the garbage). I too experience stiffness that comes and goes...
it makes me feel 100yrs yrs old....the answer is exercise.
I know it is really hard to exercise when you feel like this.......I used to be into fitness walking, weight training,
yoga,pilates. I ate right most of the time and took supplements...I felt and looked great!
Then menopause arrived..............
I know that it is very difficult to exercise when we feel like this.....but we feel like this because we don't excersie...
So once again I have begun to exercise (1mth)....doing Yoga(so so good for meno) and pilates...and already I don't
feel as stiff and the lapses of good and bad days,in terms of stiffness, are getting better...(Ieven look a little slimmer too! bonus!)
I know the last thing we feel like doing when we feel this bad is exercise....but even 10min day helps!
and soon we can do more and more...regain our power!

be well

I hear you all. My blood work all came back clear in March, but i feel 100 years old. The hands, knees, feet, jaw, and now, sciatica going from my back down my legs, so pleasant. It will get better, maybe the rain is making it worse. Sleep is tough too, I just can't seem to get comfortable. It is getting old, ( I guess so am i)

Hi SydneySeas, sorry to hear about your aches and pains. I have had my share of those, too. I went to the doctor and it's all hormone related-this is my pelvic pain. As for the other body pains and aches-I don't know-sometimes it may be the weather and others-it just feels like I'm getting old.
Recently I bought a 1 1/2 inch memory foam mattress pad and gratefully I don't wake up as stiff and sore. Please let this be the answer. It didn't help with the insomnia alot but I have only had it about a week. I hope that you will get some relief from all your hurts. Oh and another thing I have found helpful is muscle rub. The generic is just as good as name brand, but it does help.
good luck,
Senecaguns

I have the aches and pains, that come and go, lately more stay daily, more or less.
I can't put my finger on what causes it, walking or sitting, or being active, just know it is part of the package, combined with anxiety, that causes muscle tension and pain.
I have found this site, perhaps, and yes, it expains my symptoms to the T.

http://www.34-menopause-symptoms.com/muscle-tension.htm

I also wake up stiff some days more than other, but moving around is definitely better than spending time on a couch, so I try to move as much as I can, some days limping like an old lady, LOL.

I just hope it will pass or lessen to a certain degree, I really fell weird now when I don't have it, I am soo used by now to pains, aches, in every muscle, skeletal and smooth.
I went through period of really bad aches and pain 4 years ago, then it has gotten much better, now it seems to be back. I am not sure if it is hormonal or anxiety and stress causing it, and no doctors are sort of useless, they just offer muscle relaxant.

I too am 100 years old (acutally, I'm 48 but my body doesn't seem to recognize this fact). I have been having the pains that come and go, the stiffness and the major muscle tension. It has been alot worse lately, but I thought it was due to the sweating that comes with the hot flashes and the drenching night sweats I have been having. I figured all the sweating was possibly causing dehydration and thus causing the muscle and joint pain??? I can't seem to drink enough fluids to replace what I am sweating out.

Does this EVER END??????

Every time whatever group of symptoms I am suffering seem to lessen or go away, they are replaced by new ones.

I just can't help but wonder if I feel this bad now, what the heck am I going to feel like if I actually live to be 100 years old?

Hugs,
Susan

I am just so annoyed today about these aches and pains. I am miserable. My fingers ache, my knees, my feet hurt, the ankles too. My jaw, (well that's ongoing) hurts too. At the moment the worst is my back. It started a few days ago in the lower back, sciatica and down the legs but now it's travelling to the mid back too. Bending down is a real chore as well as sitting upright. Laying flat with heat is ok, but then I am too warm. I tried ibuprofen, but it didnt' do a thing, so why bother. I just had my hormones tested as well as thyroid and the doctor says I am in meno. This is week 8 without a period, the first one I ever missed. I was on bcp's for two years and now am off, so I guess this is all related. I think I should make the appointment with my gyn to see what to do about this. I planned on going hrt free, but cannot go on like this. The night sweats are annoying enough, but this whole body pain is the pits.

Sorry for taking over and complaining, it just seemed to be the right thread. Thanks for listening.

Enough, I have all over body aches and pains. I am now 2 years post menopause and still getting hot flashes and all over body aches in all my joints. The simpliest slip or trip causes yet another injury. My latest was during a walk near a beautiful creek while on vaation. I stepped on one unstable rock and twisted my foot. That was 3 days ago and it has been hurting ever since. Now I can't go on a walk or work out. Of course this sort of thing happens all the time. If it's not my foot then it's my feet in general which hurt anytime I walk or shop too long. If its not that its my shoulder or my back or my legs and the list goes on and on. Doctors don't want to give you anything that would actually take the pain away because they think we don't know how to control ourselves and would all turn into drug addicts but at the same time they don't want to find out what is actually wrong. Well I will get off my soap box now; as yoiu can tell, I am having a bad day. I hope you feel better real soon.

yes, the body aches are the pits, I agree. If I increase the intensity of a workout...my body screams at me for several days. That never used to be the case. I wake up stiff in the morning...that's new too.

But, then before going into a pity party with myself....I kick my own rear end and say "get on with it girl", things could be much worse!

I just found this website, and I too am new. I have exactly the same symptoms you have. I just got the results from my lab tests, and all negative. Also had a thumb x-ray, and that show mild degenerative changes. My doctor put me on Relafen. It is such a relief to find out that others are suffering the same thing, and I am not going crazy! Thank you so much for sharing this infomation with me. I had a hysterectomy, but I still have my ovaries, so hard to tell if I am going through menopause. But, seeing all these things happening to other people, makes me think that is exactly what is happening!

Well, here I am complaining again. I am so stiff, sore and feeling annoyed by it all. I really thought going without any hrt was the way to go, but i am in so much pain between the back, knees, feet, hands and jaw I am a mess. I try to keep moving and take fish oil, multi's and nada, nothing, I have tried condroitin'glucosamine and nothing. I have resorted to tylenol pm three times in the past week and yes, it does make me sleep, but you can't keep taking that, so what do we do? I want a real answer from the medical profession. Yes, hrt will help, but if we try to do without what's left? Maybe the risks are worth it. I also have no prescription plan and no job at the moment so extra meds arent' part of the plan.

Sorry for the ranting, I am just sick of this and gotta stop typing, my wrists and fingers hurt and I am having a hot flash and need to shed some layers. thanks for listening.

Enough, sorry to hear youre in such discomfort.

Your doc should be able to help you with some free sample drugs to alleviate some of the financial burden of no prescription plan. Also, Walmart offers some very low cost drug options (4.00 per script). Also, Planned Parenthood can help you with hormones too (however they have a very limited drug formulary they can chose from. But will charge on a sliding scale.) Most docs are very happy to give out the free samples if a patient just asks. Good luck with everything. Regards, JZZ

Thanks for the good wishes. I already feel better.
I will have to check into low cost drugs, it's worth a shot.

I hope you have a great day.

Normal and highly unpleasant. Estrogen improved my joint pain.
Louise

OK .. im back here , I am dying today. . took 1/2 xanex .. helped a little .. had a cortizone injection in my hip yesterday ,, was in agony all night even fell asleep in my bath tub this morning getting ready for work,,, the PAIN IS KILLING ME ,, wheew .. there ,, i feel better now (not)

Hi,

Sorry to hear that you are hurting all over.. I was like you...hurting all over... it came out of now where.. I just turned 49...had a surgical menopause in 1997...so it's been a while with no problems...but now that I am really at the age where my body would be going through my natural menopause...I've been struck with these pains... I've been to 3 medical facilities...I've had MRI's, Cat scans, nerve tests, allergy tests, endocrine tests, etc.. I've seen every specialist imaginable... this has been going on for 2 years... all my tests come back "normal"... thus I've been diagnoised with Fibromyalgia... it's a mysterious illness. my Neurologist told me that many women he has seen at "my age" seem to have these mysterious aches and pains. I find myself some days feeling somewhat normal...but other days I can hardly get out of bed.. It seems that stress, the weather changes, and exercise seem to flare up my pain.

Hopefully this is not what you have...but by reading your post and others ... this could be a possibility... hopefully it's not...since having Fibromyalgia is no fun!

Hi Eliza

By surgical menopause in 1997 are you referring to your periods stopping due to having your uterus removed or did you have your ovaries removed and loose hormonal function as well?

You are so right. I have these problems too. What other problems do you have?

Very informative post Iradan. Does put my mind at ease that I don't have an awful disease. I too have those nagging pain in my fingers. It wakes me up at night and my fingers are swollen at times. Then it disappears. It started actually when I stopped menstruating. I am now menopausal. I have had also those days when I can hardly walk properly. Funny thing though, and I know it is going to sound weird but I am a very avid runner and used to do long distance and thriathlons. So I would stop exercising thinking it was the cause of the pain (overtraining). Now I realize that if I can actually do an half-hour cardio followed by some weights (well lighter weights than what I used to lift a year ago), the pain is not as bad and sometimes even disappear. It does come back but I believe that the release of endorphins is helping somehow to control the pain or maybe something else. Looking forward to reading other's sisters experiences with pain and exercises.
Mrs Buff

Add me to the aching back club - I tore my rotator cuff back in September and man oh man the shoulder pain sure messed up my back - I can never seem to get the knots out or relax it...'course hunching over this computer is no help either.....

hang in there,
CIC

My mental/emotional symptoms seemed to have been lessened somewhat and now are replaced with the most horrible muscle aches and joint pain. I am on fish oil, glucosamine, and several other supplements that should help. I have never had pain like this in my life and I must have a low pain threshold. The worst of the pain began about the same time that the hot flashes returned. The worst is in my shoulders, upper back, neck and arms. It even hurts to walk across the floor.

I am so ready for this mess to be over. Pain increases anxiety, anxiety increases pain, on and on. It is just nice to know I am not alone in this pain. Thanks for listening to my complaining.

mood_swinger

I have the aches and pains too. Started in my mid back and was sooo painful. Then it traveled to my fingers, hands, wrists, legs and neck. It even hit my chest. Like a dull deep ache. I thought I was having heart issues. Ugh. Sometimes my fingers get so stiff, I can't even type. I had CRP and RA blood tests and a cardiac workup, came back normal. So I guess it's all this fun hormonal stuff going on. I creak louder then the wood floors in my house! And all I know is, me and my heating pad have become very good friends!

My hot flashes returned w/ a vengeance and I have noticed that this coincided with the horrible muscle and joint pain. I read somewhere tonight that estrogen helps keep the muscles supple so when the estrogen goes, the muscles can tend to ache.

Is it possible that all this goes away once the hormones settle down? I cannot take pain killers for the rest of my life!!!!

I am going to try to reduce inflammation by changing my diet and adding a bunch more of anti-inflammatory supplements. I did notice that my symptoms really flared up after Christmas and I had eaten more sugary treats throughout the holidays. Cannot believe I have to live like a "monk" and not eat any goodies at all!!!!

I am so tired of all this... I cried and cried this morning I was in such pain. My depression and anxiety had gotten so much better as well as the dp/dr and now this pain is causing them to return as well. I am absolutely worthless.

Will this ever end??????


Thanks for listening to my ranting....

mood_swinger

I wonder if the opposite isnt true .. a lot of women "our age" are being diagnosed with fibromyalgia when its hormone related. I think this happens alot since doctors are more prone to think there is nothing wrong with us .. it couldnt be menopause !