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[Donnalawrie]

Hi,
I am so tired and so fed up with my joint pain.
Was on evorel sequi for one year and went back to doctor as joint pains have come back, doctor said I need to go onto evorel conti which I wasn’t sure of, but, have now been on for three weeks, I feel like 100 years old so sore, especially in the mornings. Went back to doctor to ask about the estriol gel she was not keen to prescribe gel and has given me a prescription for anti-depressants to help with the joint pain. Been on them for four days and I am just so sore, do you think the pain will subside with the anti depressants, really not sure it was the right course of action for me?

[Taz2]

Hi Donnalawrie. Have you had blood tests to make sure your pain is not down to anything else such as vitamin D deficiency, thyroid or low iron? Just making sure it's not being blamed on meno without checking for every possible cause. Which joints in particular are painful?

Taz x 

[Donnalawrie]

Thanks 
Had loads of different blood tests last year prior to starting her, waiting to see rheumatologist.

[Taz2]

It's good these have been done. I take it your inflammatory markers were up if you have been referred to rheumatology. I hope your appointment soon comes through.

Which anti depressant have you been prescribed for the pain? I was given amitriptyline for my fibromyalgia and it took around three weeks to begin to make a noticeable difference to the pain. It was a low dose of 10mg. Which painkiller do you use?

Would your GP put you back on sequi if it suited you? I'm not sure how old you are but conti can be prescribed from the age of 53 or if you are at least a year without periods. Sorry about the gel not being prescribed. You would have also had to add in a progesterone of course. Maybe your doctor was unsure of the regime?

Taz x

[CLKD]

Morning.  As oestrogen levels drop muscles may become lax = aches and pains.  Do U take pain relief? 

Why anti-depressants, as Taz suggests, Amitriptyline may help but others are not used 2 ease pain.

MayB keep a mood/symptom/food diary to chart progress, to discuss with your GP?  Is there a Doctor in your Practice dedicated to women's health?

It may B that your hormones were interfering with the HRT. 

[sheila99]

When you were on sequi did you notice a difference between the oestrogen only and the combined phase? If you did perhaps evorel sequi would suit you better - and there's no need to be on a conti regime even if you are post meno. But I agree with you, gel would be better as you can increase the dose to see if it eases the pain. Perhaps a different gp or a referral to a menipause clinic?
Did hrt ease the pain originally? If it did it's probably safe to say at least some of it is attributable to oestrogen deficiency even if there's something else as well.

[Limpy]

Morning.  As oestrogen levels drop muscles may become lax = aches and pains.  Do U take pain relief? 

Why anti-depressants, as Taz suggests, Amitriptyline may help but others are not used 2 ease pain.

MayB keep a mood/symptom/food diary to chart progress, to discuss with your GP?  Is there a Doctor in your Practice dedicated to women's health?

It may B that your hormones were interfering with the HRT.

Anti-depressants are sometimes prescribed to ease pain. They affect the way pain receptors in the brain work.  Was the explanation given to me by a neurologist treating MS related pain.

[CLKD]

Interesting: which ADs in particular as amitriptyline is an old variety ...........

[Limpy]

Amitriptyline was the first, worked by virtue of creating such massive brain fog that the pain was masked for a while. Seem to remember Nortriptyline as well, that just exacerbated my MS. Prozac was also tried, mostly to combat fatigue - just generated mega rattiness.

BBs  - Propranolol was tried but didn't really do much to alleviate the pain.

[Donnalawrie]

Thank you all for your replies, I hadn’t heard of using anti-depressants for pain relief and was just so at a loss last night.
I have been prescribed amitripyline 10mg. I am 46.
When first prescribed hrt last year it did help for first few months, managed to lose a substantial amount of weight and felt great, then the symptoms returned slowly from December.
I hate the way the doctor makes you feel like your the only person experiencing these issues.
So glad of finding this chat group and really thank you for replying.

[CLKD]

Prozac made me 

[Felix]

Hi
I had exactly the same problem when I moved from Sequi to Conti. I was like having stiff cardboard joints and a raw sensation in my mouth. When I stopped the conti the joints were fine.

I tried the gel and utrogestan regime but couldn't handle the utrogestan.

It's all very individual - good luck I hope you fine something that works for you

[CLKD]

Any improvements?