Is it normal to age overnight? Everything hurts!

[1wokeuplikethis]

I’m 39 and my knees have felt pretty creaky now for a couple of years but in the past few months I’ve got sharp pain in one hip/bum cheek, one foot I’m pretty sure has plantar fasciitis, my neck constantly clicks, my ankles are stiff and I need to click them to make them feel better, I walk like a pained penguin for the first 5mins of getting up because I’m so stiff and have had to sleep with a pillow under my legs for the last year.

if I’ve been sat down for an hour (at work) and get up; I’m hobbling.

is this normal?

I have put on some weight, but I exercise regularly - running, yoga, HIIT. The pain is worse if I don’t exercise but day to day, I am in discomfort.

so is this normal at late 30s early 40s or should I be concerned I’m turning to stone?

It sounds like there's something going on with you. You're a bit young for menopausal arthritis unless other hormonal changes you have noticed.

I'm the same age as you, some of this resonates! I have to pop my back regularly...The bum/hip pain might be sciatica...this is super painful...it could just be an inflamed muscle which is trapping the nerve, there are good stretches for sciatic pain but it would be worth exploring the actual cause. If you can afford a osteo/chirp consultation appointment, it might be worth it. Also perhaps get bloods checked e.g. for anemia which can cause stiffness and tiredness. Hopefully it's something simple and easy to work through.

I would be concerned that you had some misalignment in your spine. Sedentary jobs are dreadful for your spine. When something small goes wrong, and you're young and active, you can just breeze through and barely register that there's a problem. Your body accommodates to it. But, unless it's corrected, it leads to other problems. Pain in one area of the body is not always caused by a problem in that area, but can be the result of a problem in another area. For example, my knee pain is caused by fallen arches - it's the feet that have gone wrong, not the knees.

If you can afford it, go see a private physiotherapist.

I'm a nurse. The morning stiffness can be a bit of a red flag for inflammatory arthritis. Have you had any other symptoms such as fatigue or your joints swelling? As inflammatory arthritis is so so treatable, it would definitely be worth going to the GPs and getting some bloods done and being generally checked out

Sounds perimenopausal to me! I’ve been through the menopause and my right shoulder and foot hurt a lot of the time. I was peri from 36 until 46. I’m now 52. My hands used to get stiff and hurt in the mornings however this is less of a problem now.

Oh My God OP this is so familiar! I'm only 35 and it's like Old Age has hit me with a bang! My knees barely function (getting up off the floor is a big deal) my left hip hurts, I seem to have damaged BOTH rotator cuffs, I have a weird pain on the bottom of my left foot and generally I'm bloody stiff and achy. I've been googling arthritis and fibromyalgia, taking all sorts of vitamins by the case and am trying to lose some weight which I figure can only help. My hair has gone to shit, my skin is so dry I'm slathering cream on multiple times a day, and my periods have started to go a bit haywire. I went to the doctor and he didn't really want to know. He referred me to the practice physio for my shoulders but neither he (the GP) no she (the physio) were very interested in the rest of it.

I look and feel like I imagined I would at about 55/60. I don't know what's going on but it's making me very miserable! I'm so sorry for you that you have similar symptoms, but it's nice to know I'm not all alone!

Thanks for the responses - off the back of these I’ve been to the drs today. Nurse took bloods to check inflammation levels which should come back in a week. She said if they are normal, they will do another blood test to check for peri-menopause. So I’m really glad I went.

You've been to the docs today?! Wow! I have to wait 3 weeks each time I make an appointment! Please let us know what the results are!

@@1wokeuplikethis Hiya! Just wondering what the outcome was from your tests?

I had all of this when I was put on an antidepressant called mirtazapine. Luckily I linked the sudden ageing with the tablets. I thought I was going to have to move home because I didn’t feel safe on the stairs and started driving distances I’d always have walked before. I even had to leave an easy dance exercise session because my hips hurt so much.

within a fortnight of coming off this medication I was pretty much ok again.

Glad you had some tests done. Since doing yoga regularly I never go "Oof!" when I sit down or stand up. Muscle tone starts declining in your 30s. I've always exercised and am fit but yoga makes the difference, snd some people swear by pilates.

Did you get an update @1wokeuplikethis ? I have the same and have been blaming having a baby 15 months ago but so wonder if it's peri or something inflammatory.

That is not normal AT ALL. You need to make an appointment with the GP as soon as possible as they could signs of an underlying severe condition such as arthritis.

Two things to consider: what’s your vitamin D level? I had such horrible joint pain when my vitamin D was low that they thought I had rheumatoid arthritis. High dose supplementation and it was gone in 4 weeks.

Secondly, see an osteopath. To me it sounds like something in your lower back/pelvis. I go once a year and it’s pretty much gotten rid of my lower back pain. If something is tight and misaligned in your lower back, it will affect all down your legs to your feet.

I think it's called getting older I'm afraid !

It's really not normal to experience these kinds of symptoms in your 30s purely as a result of aging. I would think something else is going on.

I get a lot of these symptoms and also peri-menopausal, I have high inflammatory markers in bloods so being investigated for this.
I also get psoriasis, so this is one thing that may be what I have, do you have any auto immune issues?

It's really not normal to be in pain everyday in your thirties.

All my bloods came back normal and the rheumatoid factor was 8.
I don’t have any autoimmune issues.

my joints are still killing in my lower body. I take magnesium, vit D supplements.

I guess I need to make another appointment for a blood test for peri

Don't just assume it's your age. Go and get checked out. I've had countless older relatives assign old age as a diagnosis but then after suffering for ages discovered it was something treatable.

Have they checked your iron and B12 levels? What about your folate?

From the point of view of somebody with autoimmune arthritis (so glad I've had it long enough not to have been dismissed with 'it's your age, dear/it's your withering ovaries/hormones, dear/you're not exercising enough, dear' and other patronising bollocks).

1. Get your gait analysed and a new pair of running shoes. Bet you overpronate and your shoes are knackered. This would affect your ankles, knees and lower back/hip, cause plantar fasciitis, push your posture forward and strain your neck, as some things are being stretched too much, others are shortened.
2. Get orthotics for all of your shoes. Customs through a podiatrist if you can afford it, £20-ish from Amazon if you can't.
3. If you wear little ballet pumps or other slip on shoes or pull on boots, don't. Same applies for anything you end up gripping to keep on your feet, as your ankles are probably dropping in. Laces are your friend. Might need a larger size to fit in orthotics, but the idea is to not further injure your feet, ankles, achilles or to tear all the attempts your body has made overnight to heal the plantar fascia as soon as your feet touch the ground in the morning. You could try taping your foot overnight or wearing a cheap nightsplint so that it heals at the correct length, rather than shortening because it's not under load at night, too.
4. Do you have a good yoga teacher? If you're following a video, you could be developing bad habits and not strengthening particular muscle groups - such as your lower back (inner glutes, particularly) and outer thigh muscles. I'd wonder if your leg on the painful side is turning inwards for standing poses.
5. How old is your mattress? If you're already sore from your entire chain from head to foot being out of alignment due to needing supportive shoes/arch supports, you aren't going to feel better if you're then sleeping wonky due to the mattress being crap.
6. How high or how old are your pillows? If you're sinking into a knackered mattress or tipping your head so your neck is permanently bent as you sleep, you're putting strain on the neck muscles. Sometimes a shaped pillow can be great to teach you the proper position your head should be in at rest.
7. Have you had a workstation assessment? If you've got a rubbish chair (and you're already out of alignment + aching from not sleeping comfortably), the desk is wrong, your screens are too low and at an angle, the chair doesn't move freely, etc, then you're quite likely slumping forward. This then hurts your neck, lower back and hip. You could chuck in an eye test to make sure you aren't leaning forward and peering at the screen due to it not being totally clear.
8. Lay off the weightbearing exercise for a bit - try swimming. The warmth and support will help and you'll maintain fitness and strength as you heal the injuries/overuse. Resistance machines are also good as they encourage you into less unstable positions (free weights would likely cause further injury whilst your posture and existing pain is needing to be solved).
9. A sports physio could be useful to see to identify further imbalances and suitable ways to combat them.

Might sound weird that I'm not banging on about immune stuff or perimenopause, but sometimes, it is just biomechanical issues that cause pain.

@NeverDropYourMooncup Wow! That is a lot of things to consider! I'm having very similar issues to the OP and I've been wondering about things like my shoes (ancient and falling apart) and my mattress/pillows (ancient and lumpy) and how much they're having an affect. I'm 'between jobs' at the moment which means I'm spending a lot of time in said uncomfortable bed, and feeling skint and unable to justify new things. But it's try of course they certainly can't be helping!

Where does a person get their gait analysed? Who by? I feel like I need to see SOMEBODY (GP doesn't give a shiny one) and didn't know if it should be a sports physio or chiropractor or what. Again, I can't really justify the expense, but I'm struggling to move around at the moment!

Running shop. They want you to be comfortable (and obviously to buy their footwear if there's something suitable).

I've always gone to independent shops and they've been really helpful in taking account of budget, too - my first pair of properly fitted shoes were massively discounted due to being an older model - they said they were actually better suited for me than the new, shiny and expensive ones they had on display. I've also gone in for newer pairs and they've always told me if they don't have something suitable in stock/other brands to try that they don't sell.

ETA: Mattresses are really expensive - when money's tight, sometimes it's worth it to try a mattress topper first. I had a huge amount of hip pain but managed for another ten years (yes, I know that's bad, but I had no choice, really) with a cheap memory foam topper before the hip pain came back - and now it's on the new mattress to give a softer surface on top of the firm mattress I needed. Before I heard of them, I'd been using an older quilt underneath the base sheet to try and stop feeling the lumps.

Didn't think it made such a difference until I started dating DP. Three overnight stays and then he had to come to me instead - and then he hardly ever went home because it was so comfortable compared to his own bed!

Wow Mooncup, thanks for such an incredibly informative response. That is so helpful. I’ll work my way through your suggestions and see if something helps.

I think my netball trainers are duff, my feet always hurt so much after a game. I bought some archies flipflops this summer and they were so much better than regular flips so I’ll definitely look into inserts.

my feet are big (size 7.5) bony and buniony so shoes are always a nightmare. I generally wear trainers most days but I’ve reached that point in life - or through being totally out of alignment - that putting my slippers on at the end of the day makes me sigh with happiness.