I see that no one has mentioned carrying a purse(probably heavy) with a strap over your shoulder, some switch sides often as they can feel it getting heavy. I always had it on my right shoulder, no more & even after about 5 yrs of not doing it some movements make my shoulder ache. Last Christmas I was cleaning house & lifting things when my left arm went limp, I do mean limp. I couldn't hold a pencil. Hurt no matter how I moved it with my right arm. Ended up sitting for several days with arm on pillow on my lap to make it tolerable. Nights were a nightmare. I had a little pillow smaller than a sofa pillow & put my arm on that at night & used heating pad(before bed), then later Ben Gay, &Tylenol to finally get some sleep. Each time it would get somewhat better & I could get my hair up in ponytail(I'm in my early 70's) & think I was getting better when I would reach up or back & it would start in again & I'd be sitting doing nothing but going through pile of magazines to see if anything I wanted to cut out before I got rid of them. I was really forced to do almost nothing as it would just hang there, sharp pain which I am pretty sure means it's a pinched nerve but if adjusted it on pillow pain would go away. Gradually it has gotten much better but have to be very careful & now I tend to get warning if reaching will start getting pain so I have to stop. Never taken a statin drug, long past menopause so I attribute it to overworked use as was caretaker for both parents & now that they are gone trying to get my house & yard in order. So if you can't sleep grab a pillow to see if it might help by raising arm or laying arm across it, try different pillows from small to larger. Use heating pad for 30 minutes or so at a time. Try different creams or Capsaicin .1% cream but it will burn like crazy & don't get it in your eyes(flush them with lot of water if you do) & be careful what you do & lot of times it will get better on it's own. As for bras fasten the back closure when you have it around in front & then get it around to back & put arms through & up. LOL Hope everyone gets some relief!

I want to thank everyone and am so glad I came across this forum too. I was diagnosed with DDD back in 1999. after being injured wrking with a child with emotional and physical disorders (god bless) they did not understand I was injured again after having surgery a disc fusion at c5-c6 which resulted in a second fusion at c6-c7. I have a bulge at c7 and at c3-c4. I am considering if I need to have another surgery I will look into the new laser surgery. I have also been diagnosed with DDD iny lower back I fell at a local store back in October in which resulted in my lower back issue and an increase in my neck and shoulder issues. I too began having numbness in my left face after the fall. I too was afraid it was a stroke and was chked for blockage and found non it seemed to slowly let up some to only increase. I am getting ready for another MRI. I have pain radiating down my arms and have arthritis in my neck back shoulders arms and hands now. I do have nerve damage in my left shoulder as well as a loose shoulder joint. I so miss wrking with the children but to high risk for me. I did apply for disability back in 2000 was denied I thought I was not ready to consider myself disabled. again I was told I needed to apply so I tried again in 2005. in the meantime I started a home business/hobby to help take care of my family. I had children at home back then. again I was denied. my doc told me I needed to apt again so I have in and applied only to be told that I was being denied and that I no longer had any disability available to me. apparently if you are not wrking they have the right to start subtracting your disability that you wrked and payed in. where it goes I do not know. Here I thought I was being a strong and good person. my advice to those of you in this same health direction don't Waite, apply. this only seemed to get worse unfortunately and as many of you said. others do not understand the daily pain we go through. and for those of us that want to fight and live, we def pay for it at the end of each day. My husband is a saint. massages me every night to help Eliviate the pain. the headaches I get are deabilitating I either end up with shots or taking a heavy med that knocks me out. some days I'm not sure what scares me more. I want to thank everyone for sharing as well as allowing me to express. it's def a lonely ace to be when those around you do not understand. I don't look for sympathy I just try to find answers and be my own advocate . I too have tried pt several different times and only find that it aggrivates and inflames . I wish you all much strength and support through this. it's sad there are so many of us with this diagnoses and unanswered questions. I am glad however that I stumbled upon this sight. Sorry for the long text! I hope this helps even one person not to end up with no support or no disability. If you would like to talk let me know and I will be happy to share my emai! I wish everyone my best! <3

EllenP123 , I have been mulling over what to post since I read the above last week. I am sure you did not intend it to be humerus but I laughed reading that you" went to bed 49 and woke up 100". I have been struggling with horrific leg pain for over two years. I daily think holy moly how in the world do people with chronic pain function.Although I have been dealing with my leg pain for months I am not going to categorized it as chronic. My first reaction to my leg pain was to see an ortho specialist who dx the leg pain as stress fractures since I had carried over 900 pieces of granite over a two week period. Yup I counted them. The M.D. gave me a few packets of celebrex that was given to him by the pharmaceutical sales rep. I told the Doctor I am allergic to Aleeve. Alleeve makes me swell and I gained five pounds after three doses. I was smart and had removed my wedding band . It took a good week to reduce the swelling since Alleve has a long half life. Those who are allergic to aleeve are recommended not to take celebrex. I questioned the Medical Doctor who assured me I was misinformed. I took one dose on the way home since the leg pain was horrific. Within two hours I was a mess. It felt as someone was squeezing my heart. I did not need to be hospitalized but monitored . I no longer take Motrin since this is a sister NSAID of celebrex and Aleeve. My point is there are some majorly hubris doctors out there who screw up at your expense. I have had a few nights where I cry cause the leg pain is horrible. No position soothes the ache . I have tried rest, aspirin, warm soaks, ice packs, massage therapy,accupuncture and a dose of darvocet . I came across a book a few years ago about how the body is aligned in two parts. While attempting to find a position to relieve the pain I massaged my toes, foot pad, achilles tendon, tibia ,fibula, knee,thigh, hip ,butt and lower back with a tennis ball. What I figured out is that the pain is in my knee area but when I massage the upper thigh and achilles the pain goes away. A few years a go I had tennis elbow from shoveling the driveway for five hours. When I massaged the shoulder blade and my pectoral muscle the elbow pain disappeared. Pain is not simple . One must identify the source. For me the pain is due to overused muscles and menopause. I am tiny but can llft 60 pounds with ease. If you gave me 62 lbs I balk. I think for some the pain we are experiencing is the lose of estrogen so our tendons get brittle. I too went to bed feeling great and awoke with the crippling pain. What i found that works is to take care of yourself. Take breaks when doing your chores. Swim. Stay active. Place down pillows under your hip and knees at night. Take calcium with magnesium DAILY eat bananas three times a week. The potassium helps with any cramps MAssage your legs from toes to butt with a rolling pin or tennis ball. Make sure you stretch the ham strings( the rear thigh leg muscles). So after two years of several medical visits, accupuncture treatments and masseuse visits for me I figured out what works for me. Some who go into menopause never experience leg pain whereas others are crippled. I was 45 when the periods stopped. My male ob gyn said this was impossible. Sorry but not everyone is a text book case. I have had some wonderful male physicians but at this point in my life I need someone who is informed on a women's life cycle. THe key is to enjoy life. Drink the coffee if it makes you feel good. You will need to experiment with your diet , and supplements. I found that black cohosh did squat. Eating the bananas and religiously taking my calcium with Mg helps. You are not alone. Pilates helped too!!!!!! My mind is racing since I need to get my chores done. A sip of wine at night helps some. For me a little rhum took the pain down a notch. My best solution is the stretcthing and staying active. I am still in pain at times but I can manage it.

Hi purplesky i too have joint pain mostly in my legs like awful restlessness growing pains and i get pins and needles in my feet and hands and my shoulders ache , i have had blood tests done but they do not show up anything different with my hormones yet but my doc says im definatly peri , i have days when i feel totally weird and i feel like ive got some horrible disease even tho i probably havent its amazing what havoc hormones wreak on us ist it, i think its much more confusing to gauge where your at with the monthly cycle thing and symptoms when youve had a full hysterectomy like i have because of the absence of periods you know what im mean , the doctor reckons its difficult to get anything from the blood in peri that indicates a positive result because bloods nearly always show up normal LH and FSH even though most of the time its actually altered , the symtoms dont seem to have any fixed pattern really and are quite changable do you find that