Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

I have been wondering if the following is a symptom of menonpause. I am hunched over when I get up in the morning for about 30 seconds. I walk like I am 100 years old. By the way, I am a very young 52! Also, my legs and ache when I get up after sitting for a while. I keep searching the Internet, but I haven't found a ddefinitive answer yet. I feel my symptoms are too vague for a medical professional. A doctor would have to start putting me through "G-d only knows how many and what kind of tests!" I need to hear from others wh share my symptoms. I am definnitely in menopause. I have had the blood test to confirm and on top of that, I have about 20 hot flashes a day. I just need to know for sure that these aches are related to menopause, not "G-d forbid" bone cancer or something!

When I get out of bed, I have pain in my knees, ankles, and the bottoms of my heels. It goes away in about 5 minutes, so I live with it. I assume it's some kind of arthritis.

I want to share with you about an auto-immune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. One of the main symptoms is not being able to stand up when you get out of bed. Feeling like you're 100 is right on. I know, I have it. I'm 54 and was diagnosed 5 years ago. I am also in surgical menopause. There is a blood test that you must be positive for: HLA-B27. However, only about 20% of people HLA-B27 positve actually get the disease. Twice as many men get it as women.

Please check out these symptoms. If there is any chance you feel this way please see a rheumatologist.

From Mayo Clinic:
Your condition may change over time, with symptoms getting worse, improving or completely stopping at any point. Early signs and symptoms may include pain and stiffness in your lower back and hips Ч which is often worse in the morning, at night and after periods of inactivity. Over time, the pain and stiffness may progress up your spine and to other joints, such as those in your hips, shoulders, knees and feet.

In advanced stages, the following signs and symptoms may develop:

Restricted expansion of your chest
Chronic stooping
Stiff, inflexible spine
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Eye inflammation (iritis)
Bowel inflammation

Please check out this link:
http://www.spondylitis.org/about/ankylosing_spondylitis.aspx

If I can answer any other questions, please feel free to email me at: nj-white@cox.net.

Regards,
Nancy

I so understand what you are saying. I am 49, and in December I was declared post-menopausal after one year with no periods - blood test confirmed this as well.
I too feel like I'm ancient overnight: everything seems to ache/hurt with varying intensity, bones and muscles included. Upon awakening I have trouble walking. My feet hurt when I walk, my back hurts, I currently am having a bout with sciatica, and I also have some weird gastric thing going on, but with vague symptoms that are difficult to describe. I am also depressed a lot because of this, and it seems that so much appears black these days and crying is the norm. Thank God spring is here and the beginning of the gardening season - it's the only thing that I still seem to have interest in, but I am afraid even that will be taken away from me. I have to take it slow and easy out there this year, as last summer I was already feeling easily overwhelmed, and the smallest thing would set me off either screeching like a woman possessed at DH or dissolving into tears. I feel like my body has been hijacked by some evil force - so depressing. - Anna

Hi Phyldelux - The studying that I've done shows that more than half of all menopausal and postmenopausal women experience varying degrees of joint pain. Muscles respond to hormonal changes by feeling sore and cranky. Sleep loss can make you ache. This too can be related to immune system effects mostly caused by fluctuating hormone levels. Getting plenty of rest, using herbal aids, eating nutritious foods and avoiding toxins are seeming to help me tremendously.
Bobbi

Thank you all for responding. I'm going to see a
rheumatologist.

Phyldelux,
Please let me know what you find out. Here is my email address: az-sunshine08@hotmail.com

Good luck!
Nancy

i couldn't help myself from replying because i found a solution. hope it works for you. have to start with:

i'm 48 and i suffer from dysmenorrhea. one day i just kept googling until i thought something looked interesting. that search resulted in a fish oil supplement study (dosing), then a fish oil quality study (consistency), and a final link from that study to a listing (bad, good, better, best). answer: walgreen's finest "one-per-day omega 3 fish oil" - 1200mg one-day dose "softgel". one every night on an empty stomach (i can't swallow that sucker, so i pop it with the short end of a seam ripper and squish!). then ramp up to 2-3 horse pills of this before, during, and after period (for a total of 10days).

here's the thing - the first morning after i took the very first dose (long before my period), i woke up pain-free. i say "pain-free" because i swear i needed a new mattress (and was totally pissed that ikea no longer carried the evje latex mattress). bent over and stiff was how i went to the bathroom every friggin' morning for 2years (?) and i thought it was the mattress (bj's). well, pessimist that i am, i had to make sure that was all i took the next night, just to be sure. i don't remember when i stopped stretching just to wake up, but now i can do that again. and no more painful heels.

okay, it also reduces leg cramping during my period and the abdominal pain has also decreased, but it think i'm gonna go with novasure on this issue.

so, fwiw, i really don't think this (fish oil) will kill any of you to just try it. for the value alone, don't get any other brand, please. and try to get it when it's bogof (this week!). and don't bother with the fsa/hsa from work, just pay for it out-of-pocket. thanks for reading and good luck.

Nancy,

I, too, have been told I have AS (just an off-hand remark by an orthopedist whom I visited when the back pain got really bad about 7 years ago....he said my discs were nice and fat and "you must have ankylosis or spondylitis or something like that". Then he walked out of the room....how nice.) I researched it and it sounds like what I have. I'm not much on doctors, so I haven't been to a rheumatologist, because, from what I read on the internet, there's not much they can do for it anyway. Am I correct in assuming this, or have there been new developments in treatment? What do they do for you, and have you found any relief from the unrelenting pain? I have had this for about 25 years.

Hi Louannie,

Yes there is something that can be done to manage the disease. I can't believe a doctor would say that and not follow up. I'll add him to my list of stupid doctors. I don't have much good to say about orthopedics when it comes to auto-immune diseases like AS. AS can cause a host of other problems. Do you test positive for the HLA-B27?

I do Enbrel Injections and take methotrexate. The Enbrel manages the pain and the methotrexate slows down the progression of the disease.

Because of the medication, I live virtually pain free. You wouldn't even know I have the disease. I do get stiff, but not too bad.

Please see a rheumatologist. It's so important to manage this disease.

I'm going to send you a pm.

Nancy

Oh, well, see, I just don't want to go that far, the injections and the methotrexate...I'm more scared of the cure than the disease, I guess you'd say. :)

If it started being seriously debilitating, I suppose I would do what I had to, but for now I just keep going, deal with the pain, and pray for healing.

As for testing positive for HLA-B27, I've never followed up the comment with a visit to a rheumatologist. I just researched it, thought, "Yep, that sounds like it", and then went on.

I don't know how to get a pm....I really don't come here much, I just came because of the Estroven thread which came up on a Google search, and ended up looking around a little bit. :)

To the poster about the fish oil....I take fish oil, 1000 mg per day, and I can't tell that it helps the pain from the inflammation any, but I keep taking it anyway because it's good for your heart.

I understand you fear...but with this disease if you get worse it may not be able to get fixed. These drugs prevent it from getting worse. Life is too short to live it in pain.

Click on the link next to your name that says (my page) and it should take you to you messages.

Please take care of yourself. If we don't, who will?

Oh boy, can I relate to this topic (hence, my username)! I feel like I'm 96 years old, not 56. Mostly when I get up in the morning, but really, all day long. I had hip bursitis before meno came along about February of this year, but now, I swear, every joint and muscle in my body hurts! I've researched and researched and have decided it's probably menopausal arthritis. And my calves hurt when I get up in the morning now! It's like all of my muscles and ligiments freeze up overnight and I can hardly walk from the bed to the bathroom. Thank God for hot showers!

Right now I'm trying liquid AND pill form Glucosamine with condroitin, Devil's Claw, Boswellia root, fish oil softgels, you name it, I've tried it. I gave Sam-e a try and I think I might actually go back and give that another round. It also helps with depression. You can do google searches on all of these things if you want more info.

Sorry I don't have any answers, but I just wanted to let everyone know that they're not alone. I'm just praying for the day I'll wake up and it will all be gone. Hey, the hot flashes and finger tingling is gone, I can hope the rest of it will leave me too! :-)

Dear Folks,

I just found this site while searching for "menopause" "sweating" and "muscle cramps" and I was surprised to find people posting about my other symptoms which have been labeled as "Fibromyalgia" by my family doctor whom I have a very high regard for however I keep thinking it's not fibro but something else because when I did searches for Fibromyalgia symptoms they were not as similar as all of the postings on this page which sounds identical to ALL of my symptoms!

What I found strange if not coincidental is the fact that we are all GARDENERS! I wonder if there is a correlation to our symptoms to gardening which was the only relief I found to my depressing state!!! But, could this be causing my symptoms or yours? I do not use gloves when I garden or mulch. How about you? I also have pressure treated fencing in my yard. My stiffness and soreness became a far more debilitating problem 5-6 years ago when I moved to my little cottage and began gardening on a much larger scale than before and for a lengthier period of time. I avoided the sun prior to 10 years ago too but I stopped getting a rash from the sun so I began to garden.

I believe my symptoms started around the age of 39 which is when I "started" gardening. I had a much smaller property and garden back then and one of the symptoms I had was pain in my arm muscles when putting curlers in my hair! It was also when I had major back surgery and I began to get stiff muscles upon waking up in the morning. When I moved to my cottage with a larger garden the Fibromyalgia type symptoms royally kicked in and I stopped menstruating at the age of 44. I am now 49 and feeling like I'm 99.

My neck hurts, bottom of my feet, calves, ham string, arm muscles, back pain, sciatica, eyes and my brain is affected too. I can't remember things that are current or past very well. This is not old age I'm a very young 49 . I used to be always happy even when things weren't going very well but after major stress causers for the past 10+ years I am just constantly depressed, no libido, no desire, no happiness...just pain and stiffness every day.

I am excited upon finding these postings and I urge anyone reading or posting to this site to please keep returning and maybe posting other symptoms and ideas as to what might be causing this. For all we know it could be China related...lead in our products, etc. Maybe "WE" can figure out what is causing us young 40-50+ year old folks to feel like we are in our 90's. My Mom NEVER complained like this.

In my next posting I'm going to post a link to a new thread that I'm going to start in which we could compare notes or symptoms in an orderly question and answer type of way and enable posters to add any additional symptoms or possible causes. I think most of you will like the format of the new page I'm going to start. It's going to be very interactive and hopefully very useful. I'm also going to do a little more research so please, please, please, check back in a couple of days for a new posting link and let's see if "WE" can find a cause or a cure!

Sincerely,
Eva

Eva,
Actually, I'm not a gardener. I found this site while researching all of the aches, pains and other maladies that hit me after I stopped taking the pill. So I don't think it's related to gardening at all. There's another site I visit and it's not related to gardening and they all have the same things going on. It's just these stupid hormones!

As for Fibromyalgia, my theory is that this is what doctors tell you when they have no other answer for you. I used to have a great respect for doctors (and still do as far as their training and such), but I don't think they have all the answers - especially where menopause is concerned. They're just as baffled as we are about what's going on with our bodies.

Yep,I am 39 this has to be perimenopause.. for me anyways, this is NUTS,, I have a hard time using my hands for about the first 3 hrs I am up. drop things, cant count out change, writing is impossible,Stiff in hips.Joints all ache.Neck stiff, I tried different pillows, beds thinking it was that, and heaven forbid if I sit longer than an hr, I feel mummified!And burning upper thighs I thought it was RA, went to the doc and Rheumatoid Factor is 5 NORMAL!!!!!!!!!. Go figure its MENI again!!!!!!Feel like I need to hang out a sign like in the hurricanes.. GO AWAY MENOPAUSE!!!!!

I've been having bad pains in my neck, and down my spine. I have osteoporosis, so I don't know if it's related. My right hip is bothering me.

I'm 53, in menopause and on HRT, Boniva and cholesterol medicine.

I also have a tingling feeling in my upper left thigh. Don't know what that's about.

Cheerful1, I too have the spine pain and tingling in thighs and right hip pain. I can only tell you what my DR told me yesterday I have SHINGLES!. Its called PREDOME!

One of our neighbors was a woman in her upper 90s. She took multiple brisk walks *every day*, including to the grocery store which is about a mile down the street.

Someone asked her why she does it. Her answer: "If I don't, I won't be able to move." Instead of using her aches and pains as an excuse to not walk, she walked to alleviate her aches and pains.

The way we eat (healthy foods vs. processed/fast-food) and get daily activity/exercise can make a world of difference.

Read the book Younger Next Year.

Posted by iam49goingon99: " What I found strange if not coincidental is the fact that we are all GARDENERS! I wonder if there is a correlation to our symptoms to gardening which was the only relief I found to my depressing state! But, could this be causing my symptoms or yours? I do not use gloves when I garden or mulch. How about you?"

It is already known that infectious arthritis (bacterial, viral, fungal) can be contracted from soil or plants. Infection by certain worms and parasites found in soil can also cause joint and muscle pain.

My symptoms started after I started gardening. I never wore gloves. I often had cuts or scratches on my hands from gardening while I worked. I also have another theory about my pain and that is that they also started right after I had some major dental surgery work done and the dentist infected me with something while the work was being done.

Phyldelux, that sounds just like me. Same age as well. Before menopause kicked in this time last year I was well on my way to getting my degree in IT - I only had a months work to go. Then menopause kicked in. I think if it had just been the mental slowness I would have coped. But, I also got the physical problems of hot flushes, 'crawling' sensations over my skin PLUS what you described - the pains in my lower leg area. It seems to be more like the tendons/muscles rather than the bone. If I push on my achilles tendon (at any time) its really sore. Its at its worse when I first get up and after sitting for awhile then lessens after about 10 minutes but it never goes away completely. I stopped going for morning walks as I thought it would be aggravating the problem but it made no difference so I've resumed - its still painful to walk but not getting any worse.
It seems to be directly related to meno as thats when I first noticed it. I hope it goes away when meno is over (whenever that may be!). Has anyone had this? and (a) is there a way to lessen the pain? (b) does it eventually go away?

Are you taking any medications?...Like Cholesterol meds? They can cause muscle weakness and pain.

I'm also having a lot of muscle and joint pain--feet, hands, neck, shoulders, hips. I'm 52, not yet in menopause (it's only been two months since my last period), but I do believe the aches and pains are hormone fluctuation related. I'm going to weigh in on the meds/no meds discussion above between Louannie and njw. I watched my mother, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and was on methotrexate and several other drugs, manage her pain but suffer horribly from the side effects of the drugs--shingles, open wounds that couldn't be closed, etc. She died a very old woman at the young age of 79, and spent most of the last ten years sitting in doctor's offices dealing with the side effects of aggresive RA medications. Life is short and pain sucks, but it is true that the cure can sometimes be worse than the disease.

I am 61 years old and have chronic pain and stiffness in every joint in my body. It feels like I have bursitis and tendonitis everywhere. I have TMJ symptoms. I have had hot flashes for many years. I have seen many doctors and had numerous blood tests, MRI's, bone scan, X-rays. Nothing shows as abnormal except I have osteoarthritis, stenosis and scoliosis. The last doctor I saw, a neurologist, said I had fibromyalgia. I agree I have many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia, but I am not convinced that is the problem. I've tried anti-inflammatories, steroids, accupuncture and now am doing chair yoga and meditation. The yoga and meditation seem to help the most. I'm taking Lexapro so that I don't cry every day. I'm also taking calcium, magnesium and fish oil to see if that might make a difference. I have been a very active person but now am limited in what I can do. Where has my life gone? I'm too young to feel this old yet.

Ellen - I feel the same way - where has my body suddenly gone. I am on the cusp of making the Synthroid decision, but am scared of side-effects such as osteoporosis. I used to be an avid walker, but then the pain stopped me, and then I gained weight, and then meno - and now thyroid diagnosis. Sigh. Can the cure be worse than the disease? Doctors are hard to come by and I don't want to lose the one I have, but she poo-poos natural therapies bigtime....what to do....

I do what my Mom did. Before I get out of bed, I lay on my back pulled each leg up to my chest several times, then both of them. You don't have to do more than 3 or 4 times. It makes a world of difference to me.

Yoga will cure all of this pain. Get into a daily basic yoga class, and work your way up to more intense yoga classes. They have them at your local ymca, rec center, church, etc. You can even buy yoga on dvd if you cannot leave your house.

Aching joints in the morning is often related to an "inflammatory" type of arthritis, versus a mechanical (osteoarthritis). I too, have ankylosing spondylitis, but this is not a very common disease. What is common, according to my gynecologist, is that many women have aches and pains in menopause. We start to age rather quickly.

I am 53 and do alot of standing on my job. I have had surgery for a torn tendon and plantar fasciitis on my right foot. I still have pain after this surgery. I fight it every day. Anytime I take a short break and sit I get up walking like a very old woman. My feet and hips hurt so bad. I can't sleep well for aching all over. I am giving the glucosamine a trial period of 3 months. Hope it helps. I would love to feel like exercising again.

I too, have the same problems. My hips, knees, arms and elbows feel soar and hurt. I don't know what's wrong. Im 54 years old, no period any more, a few hot flashes/night sweats, nothing intolerable. What can I do? I can't sleep at night because most of the time anywhere I try to lay hurts or seems soar.

It's amazing to find so many with the same symptoms. The bones in my feet feel like they are breaking when I try to walk after just 5 minutes of sitting. If I had to get up and run fast in an emergency I would fall flat on my face. I have been diagnosed with hip bursitis and now it feels like the poisen has settled in my feet. The Ankylosing Spondylitis gene along with the autoimmune gene runs rampant in my family, but I havn't been tested, like others I wonder what would be the point you have it or you don't. My 30 yr old nephew took the embrel and other new drugs and now suffers from deabilitating sycosis's. No one will ever know if it was from the pain or the drugs. I have take Cortizone Shots for my Bursitis, which seems to help everything temporarily (3 months max) but the shots are not recommended for extended use. I too love to garden, but symptoms started during a period when I was working too much to garden. I sometimes will take a Vicadin just to be able to work in my garden, I pay for it afterwards, but it is just to depressing to not do the things you love or feel you need to do all the time. I feel like people think I just like to whine all the time and it is so embarrasing to get up from the table at a restaurant and try to walk out without looking like an old lady, I am only 58.

I've been having the stiffness after sitting mostly in my legs for the past couple of months. I'm 52, & in menopause induced by chemo for breast cancer. (Was not menopausal prior to chemo last year.) Have been taking Tamoxifen for 9 months & wondering if this has anything to do w/stiffness...? Anyone in similar situation???

Anna--If you have hypothyroidism and do not take your prescribed Synthroid, you're asking for a lot of trouble. The thyroid regulates your body.

I first started feeling like I was 100 years old when I was in my early thirties or 40s. Can't recall how old I was then. Turned out to be hypothyroidism.

But now, I have aches and pains again--when I get out of the car, I'm stiff. When I get out of a chair after sitting for awhile, I'm stiff. This has been going on for a couple of years. I'm overweight, so thought it was because of that. It's not my thyroid. That's regulated.

But I have spine issues, neck issues, heel spurs (which causes pain in my arches, amongst other things), arthritic changes .... But haven't had x-rays in years so wonder if my spine has worsened. Quite likely.

I used to get massages but haven't in years. Right now, that sounds wonderful. Never get deep tissue massage. The massage should not cause pain while you're getting the massage--you'll just tense up more.

I wish there was something I could do about these muscles aches. People stare at me when I get out of a car--that's how stiff I am. After about 30 seconds, I can walk more easily.

I take Ibuprofen daily. Not good for me, I'm sure.

Oh, and I don't garden.

I had what I thought was a sciatic nerve problems. It first started(1996) with a numb left leg when driving long distances. Then around 2003 I couldn't sleep on my sides any longer because of shooting pain down my legs. In 2005 I started menopause. I am now 60 (2011) and it seemed to start with getting out of bed in the morning but now it happens if I sit for even 5 minutes. I noticed the other day that I had been up running around all evening and I still had the same pain sensations. My joint pain is below my waist in my hips and knees. Recently I was on a cruise and I saw an acupuncturist. He didn't think it was a sciatic problem, he thought my flexibility was an issue. I don't know if that will help me but I am going to try to find one in the Wash DC area to give it a try. I too believe it has to do with menopause. I am not a gardener. I used to do pilates faithfully and am trying to get back into it. The acupuncturist recommended yoga. Good luck everyone. If you find something that works let me know. Diana

I am 55 and am having these same symptoms. I am surprised to find so many women my age with the same complaints. I did a search for leg stiffness after sitting and happened to find this thread on one of my favorite gardening sites. I ride horses but have had so much weakness in my legs that it has become almost impossible to climb up in the saddle without a mounting block. Stairs have become very difficult too, both up and down. I never had any injuries to cause this but have weakness, pain and stiffness. Recent knee x-rays were fine. This has been coming on for over 5 years and is getting much worse lately. It does not feel like bones or joints but more overall deep muscle pain. Reading this does give me hope that it might go away.

Well, in a way its nice to know I'm not alone here.!! Wow.
Fibromyaglia was diagnosed just last week ! ( i dont think it is that.).......... pah, given pregabalin and not working, previously taken Amatryptiline, with tramadol and ibuprofen.... nope,still in pain, in fact the discomfort is getting worse.
So much so that a normal sex life has gone by the wayside and even a simple thing like turning over in bed is now almost impossible.! I can only sleep propped up and on my back. I am ONLY 56, NOT 86.... So, why do I feel like this.
I am considering a sex change !! LOL Joking, but men dont seem to suffer with this.
I had a full hystorectomy in 2001,took hrt for about 8 years, came off them.... started noticing stiffness after sitting still.... writing became difficult, holding an iron, curling tongs etc made my hands feel as though they had been blown up with one of those blood pressure machines ?!! Then my feet felt the same... I have been told I have plantar fascyitis... then now I'm told that I have NO arthritis as the blood test said so, O.K. so I take a coctail of pain killers but, it doesnt really stop / ease the symptoms. Fed up of the non stop pain,(and lots of hot flushes) I return to my GP who suggests it to be Fibromyalgia and has given me Pregabalin. I am 1 week in on them, and still in agony. I cannot move in bed when I wake, am in dire agony in my back and hips, need to pee, can't move, cant control so sometimes need to use a pad. I cry with the pain almost every morning. My ribs / chest feels as though Ive had a piano on top of me all night. I just pray it will stop. Elbows, hands fingers feel siezed, feet stiffen up, knees almost lock when I need to stand for any time and then hurt like hell when I do move, stairs are difficult, coming down 1 step with both feet at a time. PLEASE........... MAKE it STOP.

I'm glad I found this forum. Now I don't feel like I am nuts. I am 58 years old (today) and two and a half years post-menopausal. Up until about 4 years ago I walked 3-5 miles a day (sometimes more), ran 3 1/2 miles a day, did yoga regularly and lifted weights at the gym twice a week. A divorce and a variety of other things forced a lifestyle change but I still wouldn't say I was sedentary, however more than a year ago I started experiencing excrutiating pain in my feet, especially after getting out of bed in the morning. As someone else wrote, if I had needed to run out of the house in an emergency I would have fallen flat on my face. The last few months the foot pain has lessened but now my hips and thighs are in almost constant pain. Is is depressing, especially since I am unable to be as active as I once was. I will be calling a doctor in the AM. Thanks!

I also am 53 and suffering exactly as you all seem to be. Wow. Are we related? Haha. Menopause must be the culprit. Peri-menopause introduces the aches and soreness, then the real thing later? "Excuse me Im Mr Soremuscle, Ill just sit down over here, very very slowly, not sure if I'll be able to get back up again though".
Even if I sit for just a few minutes I am all sore and stiff when I stand back up again. I am taking fish oil but will be getting some Krill oil as well next week. Dont feel much better yet. I work all night lifting boxes and running up and down a warehouse, and when I go to bed after work, I am moaning like woman in labour. Such a cry baby. But its real. And I wonder what in the hell am I gonna be like at 60? Or 70?

I have most all of these same symptoms. I am 52 years old and stopped taking Estrostep birth control pills in Feb. 2011. My periods stopped completely. I am not taking hormone replacement therapy but wonder if that would help. I started having some of these symptoms a few years ago but the syptoms have gotton much worse in the last few months. Deep muscle stiffness, pain, lack of flexibility, back pain, neck pain, tight legs, soreness, and recently water retention in my fingers and hands. It is the worst getting out of bed in the morning and I do feel like I am 90 years old. There may be some sciatica or T-band issues, Piriformis and Psoas muscles involved as well as hamstrings and calf muscles. I sometimes get the walking on pins and needle sensation and recently have a great deal of heal pain on my right heel. It really hurts to walk. Walking or not walking (resting) does not seem to improve things. I need to get back to the gym and hate the thought of working out when I am in such pain but not working out seems to have made things worse. The hot flashes occur mostly at night and I do have night sweats. I do sometimes take Magnesium, Glucosamine & Chondroitin, Arnica, Tramadol, Advil or Allieve, baby Aspirin, Vitamin D, A general Vitimin for adults over 50 years but I have not tried Omega 3, Fish oil or flaxseed. I do try to drink a lot of water but I also drink 1 mug of coffee each morning and 1 or 2 glasses of wine 5 to 7 days a week. I am cutting back on the wine and wonder if I need to quit coffee, sugar or dairy. Any suggestions are welcome.

I, too, am very stiff after sitting for a long time. I found that stretching my 53 year old self helps a lot, so much so that I got a Yoga for Beginners DVD. It has really helped with the soreness and muscle cramps. I have also found that taking an occasional Naproxen when the pain is really bad helps not only the achy joints but my allergies as well. During one particularly bad stretch of soreness, I was taking one Naproxen in the morning and found my allergies, which have gone haywire during perimenopause, calmed down considerably. I felt almost normal again!

I too am 52 almost 53 years old. Still have periods although skip a month every so often, I think this month may be one. I to have the stiff, fatigued legs, after sitting for a while or after getting up in the morning. I feel like I always need to get up and walk, then it hurts to walk for the first few minutes then I am fine. I am on fish oil and it has helped somewhat. When I get really uncomfortable I take Tylenol. I do have a history of Lymmes Disease and wonder if that also has something to do with it. Both my sister and mother have hypothyroid. I get tested every year and I do not have it.
I have a lot of trouble sleeping at night, I do get night sweats and some day sweats.

Also another strange symptom, I am burping so much and so gasey lately. I really watch what I am eating and how I eat it. I do have GERD.
Back pains, and calf pains and knee pains.

I know what you are all going through and it is no fun!

I just joined this group because I saw some of the posts on the web. I guess I wanted to share this info because I see that so many are having the same issues as I was having with joint and muscle pain.
I'm 56 years old and female. I had no idea what was causing the pain in my joints and muscles. I attributed it to age and menopause and just kept pressing on through the pain every day.
It's been over a year now that I've been getting worse and worse. Couldn't lift a gal of milk without sever muscle pain or climb the stair without using the hand rail. It got so bad that I almost collapsed going up the step to my home.
I went to the doctor and had my blood tested which revealed a Vitamin D dificency. At the time, I really didn't believe taking a vitamin would do much good for the kind of pain I was having. Until it got so bad that my husband and I did some reasearch and found out that yep...the doctor was right. I should have started on the vitamin D when he told me to. After just the first two weeks of taking Calcium 600 with D twice a day, I can't believe the results. I didn't think it would make such a difference so soon. I have no more pain, I can walk up the stair without using the hand rail now. Even an ankle I had that used to hurt so bad that I kept in a brace is now almost completely pain free. I had no idea a vitamin D deficiency could cause so much pain in the joints and muscles. This is my story and I hope it might help some of you, but please don't be like me and ignore your doctors advice. You have to have your blood tested to find out before you start taking vitamin D. I hope this info helps some of you too.

I hope to find a solution to my pains as posted here. I started getting pain from getting out of bed in the morning or any kind of sitting whether it's in bed or on a chair. Like one of the posts said, I would fall flat on my face in an emergency. I started having pains as I approached 50 and am 51 years old, pre-menopausal, vitamin D deficient in sunny California, and low in iron. Not much of a gardener and will try some of the suggestions and post if I have any results. Also, never took a birth control pill. Hopefully this info will help narrow down the symptoms and find an answer to this painful condition.

I feel sorry for you all that seem to feel just like me, but I guess I feel a little better knowing I am not alone in my symptoms:always very healthy & active,one of those people who always looked 10 years younger than I was. When menopause hit, I frequently told people I had aged 10 years in one year. Now, 4 years later, where I used to literally jump out of bed full speed ahead, I can barely walk for a few minutes until "the blood gets going". I ache all the time- feet, legs, knees, other places but not quite as intense. I can't sleep due to the aching; I was an insomniac anyway, probably restless leg syndrome my whole life, but I could deal with that- it's all I have ever known. As bad as they sound, I contemplate the artificial hormones- and until this, wondered why anyone would do such a thing to themselves. I'm figuring this is all major arthritis settling in. I looked up the ankylosing spondylitis disease some of you were talking about, but that doesn't sound like me so much. Started reading about fibromyalgia, & I do have the tender points they talk about, but I have those all over my body, & have for years, so am thinking on this. I'm figuring we all don't have cancer, so that's a good thing. I just watched Madonna do her thing at super bowl half time last week at the age of 53, one year younger than me, & wonder what has happened to myself. All I want to do when my husband retires is to hike...not looking so good! As for gardening, I used to have a quarter acre garden & grew most of our food, even raised chickens & hogs, but weeding killed my back so much I stopped. I know I have an overactive immune system, due to contact dermatitis & such (another reason gardening became problematic- suddenly I became allergic to dirt!), so I figure all of this is auto-immune stuff- my body literally attacking itself!? Don't have health insurance...so I guess I just have to fight through the pain. Going to try to get into excercising again- while I am active, all is just a physical life routine- farming- but I can tell stretching is some of what my body needs. Easy to put oneself last on the list of "to do"...if anyone finds the answer, let me know!

Hi Lor57,
I've been coming here for about 3 years and it never ceases to amaze me that there are new ladies posting constantly with the same symptoms as me. I feel really bad for them cos I know how awful I feel at times. We're the same age and like you, I used to be always on the go. Then all of a sudden, menopause hit me like I had driven into a brick wall. I was originally diagnosed with fybromyalgia and then about 4 years ago I got exzema. I have never had skin problems and yet my GP decided it was contact dermatitis and had nothing to do with menopause.I have to add that I also started having really bad hot flashes at the same time. My GP didn't put 2 and 2 together! I havent exercised properly for about 2 and a half years cos I've got no energy yet I know I should try. I also get really bad joint pain in my hips and shoulders if I sleep in the one position for too long. About a year ago I started taking supplements, including Vit D which has taken away some of the joint pain and fish oil helps too. I would say, if you can go down the natural route instead of taking artificial hormones, its probably better for you. However, if you have a GP who cant be bothered with menopause symptoms then he/she will probably quite happily hand them out.I'm sorry I have no definitive answer to all this. I really wish I did cos this has been going on a while and to be honest it makes me incredibly unhappy.The only positive thing that has happened in the past year is the hot flashes have diminished. I would love to have my old self back and I'm damn sure my husband would too! Hope you stay as well as you possibly can.

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

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RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

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RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

RE: Aches when getting out of bed, or after sitting

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