Hi there,

I am posting this on behalf of my mum who is 57 and about one year into the menopause. Over the last three months she has begun to experience severe pain in both of her knees - no swelling or anything visible to the eye but very painful.

She has always been extremely fit, healthy and active, doing lots of walking, dancing and yoga and is now struggling to walk even short distances.

A recent x-ray and blood test didn't show up anything and she has also been for a couple of physio sessions which unfortunately had no effect. Her doctor advised trying a course of Ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory) tablets for a week to see if that helped but unfortunately it had no effect. She is now about to embark on a course of low dosage HRT as her doctor thinks the pain is another menopause symptom.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or can anyone offer some words of support/encouragement etc as my mum is beginning to feel quite low about it.

Many thanks
Claire

Joint paint and carpal tunnel syndrome are common nowadays for we older ladies.

Fish oils or green-lipped mussel extract are helpful..but unpleasantly burpy!

Hi MissClairee ~

Oh the knees My knees hurt like the dickens too - for several years - and are just settling down. The simple step up from the street to the sidewalk was very painful. Since your mother has been tested and all sesems alright with her knees - i would like to let you know what I did that fianlly helped the pain go away:

1. I took Aleve for a very short time. I don't know if that's like ibuprofen or not but it helped a bit. (check with her doc, cuz now studies show such meds may be harmful to some.)

2. I wore jogging shoes to work and any other time - all the time. For a LONG time. This did work the best. I mean it really did help even tho I am sure I looked silly. Little by little I did the stairs at work - on breaks and lunch hour. Just a bit at a time.

3. Now I wear Dansko shoes to work and all the time - they are like clogs but closed off in the back. I wear the ones that are called 'professionals'. They feel great and help my knees as well and don't look as silly as jogging shoes

4. I take short walks during lunch and, on week ends, I take a lil hike on a flat surface - through a nature pereserve. Eventually, I hope to be back hiking in the hills but... not for now - I do keep myself walking as much as possible, though.

Another thing is, I gained some weight in this menopausse and I truly think that had some effect on my knees. - this extra weight I am carrying. Not much extra either - I mean I'm not obese!

It seems that the shoes I wear made a HUGE difference for me. HUGE.

Hope this helps ~

Liz

Hi Liz - thank you so much for your suggestions! I'll pass them on to mum and see if a change of shoes helps
Thanks
Claire

MissClairee-Sorry your mum's knees are giving her trouble. It's a tough spot to have hurting, every step painful. I can very much relate!! After experiencing instant menopause following a much needed hysterectomy all of the aches and pains began...the feet, the knees, jaw, elbow. Every step hurt. After visiting a myriad of ill-informed/mis-informed doctors who dismissed that all of this pain had not a thing to do with menopause (I knew, with all of my heart, that it was indeed related to menopause) I luckily stumbled into Power-Surge and found Dr. Phillip Warner (you can find him under Ask the Experts here at Power-Surge) and he started me on the bio-identical hormones in January of this year. After 3 weeks on the bio identicals I could actually walk without limping, the pain in my feet completely gone, the pain in my knees minimal. Here we are four months later and I have no pain in my left knee at all, just a bit in my right. The jaw is so much better. No pain in the elbow either. (Need to mention the brain fog is gone, my moods are no longer scary, and my family no longer hides from me! Ha!) If you haven't already, you may want to contact Dr. Warner. He's a truly wonderful doctor who truly listens and, most importantly, can help. You can ask him questions on here or he will do phone consultations if not geographically convenient. His office is only 40 minutes from my home so I got to meet with him personally, but he does welcome phone calls as well. I give him a hug and thank him each and every time I see him (during my follow up consultations) for giving me my life back. I hope this has been of some help to you. Best of luck!