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[Puffin Mama]

Hi ladies
Haven't posted for a while as had no weird symptoms to report    (although perhaps I've just got used to them!).  However,  I have now been hit by a new wave of symptoms and am highly fed up!  Not so much weird as really annoying and it would be good to know who else has / has had similar and what helped.  I have always been prone to lower back problems, ever since I had my daughter, but they generally resolve after a few days.  This time, I've had backache on and off for the last 6 weeks - I felt it twinge while I was doing yoga but assumed it would settle down as it normally does.  I was clearly being optimistic as it has grumbled along ever since - not as bad as the first few days and when I manage to do yoga, that seems to help as I presume it is stretching the muscles - but I now wake up every morning with a stiff back and can't even bend over to put pants on  .  It eases up during the day but never goes away completely.  My questions are: is backache more likely in perimenopause?  and should I see my GP or will they just tell me to take ibuprofen and use a heat rub?
Coupled with the backache - although not caused by it, I don't think - is the vague nausea that now hits me when I get up in the morning and lingers all day.  It doesn't stop me eating but it does put me off eating certain things (sadly not chocolate  ) and it's starting to annoy me.  I can see why meno might cause nausea in the same way that pregnancy does but any idea of how long it might last would be good!
Just to complete the picture,  I also currently have cramping feelings on and off (like period pains but period has recently finished so shouldn't be that),  bloating (and attendant wind  ) some of the time and just feel very tired, to the point where I could put my head down on my desk and go to sleep.    Is there  anyone else who has had any / all of this and cares to share??  I am feeling most sorry for myself 
Puffin x

[Mary G]

Puffin, I have something very similar to that which flares up every now and then.  It feels like a combination period pains/bowel pains, the lower back is very stiff and inflexible, slight nausea, fatigue, low mood and a general feeling of being unwell.  In my case, it is caused by a urinary tract and vaginal infection so I have a permanent supply of mild bladder antibiotics and some vaginal pessaries which I have to take when this strikes.  The strange this is, the symptoms are not that obvious at first and would not necessarily point you in the direction of this type of infection but it sounds like this could be your problem.  In my case, this is not to do with the menopause but a hangover from having had a contraceptive diaphragm/gel which caused permanent damage to my insides. 

Sometimes I think HRT is a doddle compared to the horrendous problems I had with contraception!

I hope that helps.

[Puffin Mama]

Thanks Mary G - it does sound very similar to what you have.  I did wonder about some kind of UTI but thought my symptoms would be different, if that makes sense?  Sorry to hear about your problems with contraception - one of my GPs suggested that I try a Mirena but I had such a bad experience with a coil some years ago that you couldn't pay me to have to one put in now!   Think I might go and see my very lovely GPs and see what they think.  It just seems odd that I can't get rid of the back problem so perhaps I should go to my osteopath and see what he thinks - I've seen two different ones in the past few years, both fabulous, and both able to pick up on way more than the musculo-skeletal stuff
Puffin x

[CLKD]

Did you have a recent X-ray Puffin Mamma?  How is your foot wear? sitting position, do you need a new mattress?

[Puffin Mama]

Hi CLKD,  I haven't had any recent X-rays and think my footwear is ok - I can't wear heels as I can't walk in them!  Mattress is fairly new although I had wondered about that and I have in fact asked for a new office chair to give better support to my back.  Needless to say, this will probably take weeks to appear as health and safety does not seem to be a priority here (despite me working in a school!!).
Sparkle,  I should have known  .  Are we twins?? I never imagined backache as being something that would just go on and on, but may now have to revise my thinking!  At least it isn't spasming, as it has done in the past, but is just stiff - my worst moment with it was when I tried to get into my best friend's car a few years ago, as she always gave me a lift to the station after we had dropped our daughters off at school.  My back was already playing up and as I lowered myself carefully into the seat, something went into spasm and I couldn't sit down, so tried to stand up again.  I was in so much pain I though I was going to faint and had to lean against the car with my arms across the roof until the world stopped spinning  .   I had to be accompanied home on foot by my friend, who still remembers the incident vividly  .
I also wondered if it's low oestrogen and I am slightly prone to 'funny' joints anyway - but I am only on progesterone as the moment as even small doses of oestrogen made me feel ill, which makes me think that it can't be low......  my periods are still regular-ish but I have had several 6 week / 3 week cycles and what I now find really annoying is that I have no warning of them.  I used to always know a day or two beforehand as I would get some cramping but now they start without warning - I got caught out at work last week and had to rush off to the chemist at lunchtime  - the cramping now comes after they have started.
I am exactly like you with sleeping - I could easily sleep during the day and fall asleep on the sofa in the evening on a regular basis.  I go to bed and fall asleep almost immediately - which I suppose I should be grateful for! - but then wake several times a night.  At least I don't have to contend with a snoring husband 
My 12 year old daughter is alternately impressed and horrified at how easily I can produce wind these days 
Puffin x

[CLKD]

May I giggle …………. 

I realised after 2 years of acute deep thigh pain in the night that it was caused by bending over cabinets at antique fairs.  I had pulled a muscle/nerve, was OK in the day but in the early hours it struck, painful enough to make me shout albeit silently!

I see many people in bad footwear and it crosses my mind that they may well have bad backs  .  An X-ray  will give you an idea as to 'wear and tear' ; also, a DEXA scan for osteoporosis?

Chronic pain can cause nausea 

[dahliagirl]

If I am aching, feel like an old lady, tired, can't be bothered to think - then it means I need to start back on the vit d tablets.

I am taking them with magnesium now, because I have found out that low vitD affects your magnesium uptake and this leads to the aches.

A bit of daily sunshine should help (if you can cope with the pollen!!!)

[Hurdity]

Hi Puffin Mama

Sorry to hear you have been feeling rough.

I just wondered what progesterone you were taking and why? If you have started skipping periods then it is likely your oestrogen levels are on the way down - although nausea is often an indication of high oestrogen! What is certain is that your own hormones are fluctuating up and down sometimes in an extreme way - which will be causing a whole host of symptoms. As you say you don't know what's coming next which makes it frustrating and difficult.

Although you will expect all sort of symptoms - some familiar, some new - during peri-menopause - any symptoms that is unusual for you or which persist - you should go to the doc to be checked out and especially re the bloating if it doesn't settle. Back-ache may not necessarily be muscular - as others have said it can be associated with bowel or bladder problems as well as uterus.

Tiredness can be due to all sorts of things hormonal! Low testosterone, low oestrogen, high progesterone, underactive thyroid - amongst others. Also things like low iron and some vitamins. Have you had a blood test recently re thyroid and a general one? Perhaps a good idea to go to the doc - mention the tiredness especially as well as the other symptoms and they should refer you for a blood test/full blood count etc.

Hurdity x

[Milamam]

Hi Puffin,
I have been in constant muscle/nerve pain since the beginning of May - legs, hips, especially when sitting/standing; then these subsided but got sore stiff neck and shoulders and extreme tiredness. I would wake up at 6:30 allfine and by 10:30 am ready to go back to bed!

Did some blood tests as I was due for a review with my gynae. Everything was all clear and fine ( thyroid, iron, etc) but estrogen very low (95 pmol on Day 3) and Vit D very low (33). These two explain why I am soooo tired and achy all the time!

I have increased estrogen (was taking Femoston 2/10 half tab x day) to the full dose and have also started Vit D  drops. I know it takes time, and I still ache all over but hope things will settle. With this nonstop rainy weather it is so hard here to get the sunsine that we need!

I hope things will improve for you, too!

Milamam

[star-mam]

Aww, poor you Puffin mama 

I think your symptoms are all quite 'usual,' you have described how I feel a lot of the time, except luckily my back ache wears off after being up and about for a short time; although I can no longer lean over the bath to wash my hair on a morning!

 I have just been prescribed anti-sickness tablets as I had really bad nausea (I think it is caused by my HRT mainly as it's just come on since I started taking it) but if your nausea is mild then maybe try ginger to help ease it.

Hope you're feeling better soon x

[CLKD]

Whilst I know that ginger eases nausea I've got to the state where I don't fancy anything >shrug>.  The smell and texture of food right now makes me edgy.

[Hurdity]

Gosh Milamam - where do you live? Must be up north somewhere? We've had lots of sunshine here in SW England and I do make sure I get out in it when I can. I appreciate that's difficult for women who are working full time - mind you I have always been a sun worshipper so always used to make sure I had some sun even if short time at lunchtime. Those Vit D levels are very low! I had mine measured in mid March and they were 92. I was curious before they were measured because it was the end of winter and there has been such a lot of talk about Vit D levels and how everyone in Northern Hemisphere must be deficient at that time of year - and I was sure I wouldn't be! Hope you feel better after your increase in Femoston. My achiness improved after starting testosterone.

Hurdity x

[Milamam]

Oh, Hurdity, I live in Bulgaria! But this winter was long and very gloomy . We did get some weeks of warm and sunny days in the beginning of April, but since then it has been constant rain! I packed the winter jackets and had to unpack them! This morning alone was 2C, at least the sun is out!

Regardless, I do spend an hour or two outside but seems not enough! I so hope that I'll catch up on sun in the summer. Strange strange weather conditions these days.

[Puffin Mama]

Hi everyone and thank you all so much for the replies!   Have felt too tired the last couple of evenings to put the computer on - so am typing this at work  .   

I was diagnosed with very low Vit D levels a couple of years ago and do take a supplement.  I also take an iron supplement as blood tests showed me to be very anaemic, despite trying to pack plenty of iron into my diet!  If I run out of it, I do notice the difference pretty quickly. I also take magnesium powder, which I did find helps with my sleep, but I can't take it regularly as it upsets my bladder!

Hurdity,  I am on 50mg of Utrogestan in the run up to my period, taken orally.  I was initially put onto oestrogen patches but even cutting them in half,  I felt quite unwell.  I saw Nick Panay as my local menopause clinic and he reckoned that my symptoms - bad anxiety, low mood - were indicative of low progesterone instead, so prescribed me the Utrogestan.  I'm not convinced it has made that much difference, as I still get some days in the month when I do feel quite anxious, but it's not every month.  As you say,  hormones are fluctuating so much in peri that it's hard to get the dose spot on, I imagine.

Oddly,  I felt full of beans yesterday but today, feel very lethargic and achey again - although the nausea has diminished a bit 

Puffin x