My body is falling apart. Very depressing.....

[TheBlusher]

I'm 55. Post menopause.

I have terrible heartburn and a feeling of a lump in my throat, acute calcified periarthritis in my foot (very painful), painful coccyx, terrible pains in my feet/ankles after resting, headaches, painful arms, no strength whatsoever.

It's only going to get worse isn't it ☹️

I’m 6 years younger and feel the same. Torn tendons in both ankles so struggle to walk, after 6 years of debilitation due to that seemed to finally be improving and now have a frozen shoulder and am in agony. Topped off by a chronic bad back.

Ironic thing is I try so hard to keep fit, couple of spin classes a week, walk the dog 3 miles a day, Pilates and weight lifting every week. I feel 90yo and dread how much worse I’m going to get. Think my GP is sick of me, only Thurs and I’ve contacted them 3x already this week trying to get appts.

Sorry to hear that. I'm embarrassed to contact the GP as I have so many different issues

Whats your eating & drinking like? Do you do any excerise? Have you had blood tests?

Mine too! Chronic back pain and signed off work . Blood tests shows just a couple of deficiencies. Need to lose weight but feel stuck in a vicious cycle. You are not alone!

Are you on HRT? Sound like a bloody broken record on this website but I had so many aches, pains and injuries before I started it. Miraculous stuff (for me).

Heartburn - are you taking supplements by any chance? Magnesium and iron both cause me horrendous heartburn. I can't tolerate either, even really expensive 'kind on stomach' stuff.

Are you on HRT? All those aches and pains you describe are typical of women post-menopause who aren't. I was getting full of aches and pains in my mid-40s and now at 51 I feel fine, but I'm on HRT and have been for six years now. I honestly don't know what kind of state I'd be in without it!

Edited to say: it's very common for women in midlife to suffer badly with heartburn and acid indigestion (the 'lump in the throat' sensation is another symptom of that). Dietary changes can really help - giving up caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, greasy/high fat foods, acidic foods and many more - Google 'low acid diet'. And for the weakness - you need to do weight bearing exercise. That's why so many women are taking up weight-lifting.

Hi OP. Me too. Except I take all the HRT!
Diet is good, exercise is excellent - weights, swimming, yoga, walking.

I have tendinitis in both elbows, silent reflux which I'm ignoring as the PPIs were so horrific to take.
Asthma.
Achilles tendinitis, bad knees from hypermobility.
All three prolapses + multiple gynae surgeries.
And the last few days my cervix has really been aching for want of a better word. Could be the mirena has moved a bit, who knows!

And I've stopped going to the doctors. I'm sick of going. Life is too short!

I wonder also how I'm going to get on in a few years time!

You sound like you need oestrogen. And ‘no strength’? Do you do much exercise? It’s vitally important at this age to be doing weights as well as cardio.

Lastly, heartburn plus a feeling of a lump in your throat should always be checked out by a doctor.

I have a litany of things too and I get sick of coping with them.

I can recommend orthotics for food arthritis and ankle/knee pain. I even wear them in my indoor shoes.

Please try to see the GP about some of this stuff.

I am seeing the gp next month with regards to going on hrt.

I’m 45. I’ve had agonising back pain since I was 28. I have a bursitis on my hip that just doesn’t want to get better. My feet feel numb and painful all the time. My knees are so bad I struggle to get up. They’ve felt like that for almost 10 years. I try to do a lot of walking to help but it’s agony. I push through the pain but I’m on a lot of painkillers as a result. Last year I had a shoulder injury that took nearly 6 months to heal and even now I’m still wary in case it flares back up.

I have massively swollen ankles all the time. Everywhere I touch on my body it feels like I’m pressing a bruise and it hurts. I’ve been suffering from mild incontinence for several years now, and have started experiencing some anal leakage now too. I have a constant headache that started when I was 17. Diagnosed with “chronic daily headache” and told nothing they can do. I wake up needing a wee 3-5 times every single night, so can’t remember the last time I really slept and got the deep sleep I so desperately need.

Sometimes, like now, I fight back the tears when I think about the constant pain and how I could have 30-50 more years of this. It’s no way to live. If it weren’t for my kids, I’d not be here anymore, this isn’t a fun life. I can distinctly remember one day I was walking through Tesco car park about 15 years ago and suddenly realising I didn’t have any pain anywhere. It lasted a couple of hours. I almost wish it had never happened, as then I might have forgotten it’s not supposed to hurt like this.

So I hear you OP, it’s just shit!

Oh and I cannot lose any weight despite barely eating anything and walking 20-40k steps a day.

I'm 61, started hrt 3 months ago as I haven't needed it before as I had an easy menopause, all my aches and pains gave gone, I've more energy, I sleep better and the brain fog that I thought was getting slightly forgetful as I get older has gone completely to say i feel 10 years younger is actually an understatement, so if you've not tried hrt, I suggest you give it a go

I’m 60 and anm unable to take HRT due to too many risks. I have a pretty good diet all fresh produce lots of fruit and veg little red meat oily fish twice a week etc apart from a weakness for chocolate!!
I walk approx 13-15k a day have an active job but I’m slightly overweight (too much chocolate), my colleagues frequently comment on how much energy and enthusiasm I’ve got.
Ive been through a relationship breakdown which devastated me and am now alone. But now frankly I’ve never felt better both physically and emotionally I’m not saying I don’t get aches and pains I do but I’m determined not to let these impact too much on my life; my New Year’s resolution was to spend as much of my spare time as possible with my DCs and doing things I really want to do (for the first time in my life).
Don’t let your age hold you back. When I turned 60 I realised that if I was lucky I might have 20-25 healthy years ahead of me if I was very lucky maybe a few more I’m determined to make the best of them.

I can sympathise as I also have heartburn and in general menopause has been a bit of a shock.

BUT it doesn’t have to be all downhill from now. I think the menopause is a difficult time because it’s like suddenly falling down an unexpected step down. But you can get your balance back!

Make sure you:

• eat well
• don’t drink
• keep your weight down
• exercise - move every day - that’s probably the most important one (walk instead of driving, lift some weights etc)

53 here, very painful osteoarthritis in both knees possibly hernia in my stomach (awaiting further tests), several autoimmune conditions, general pain and stiffness and tiredness I can't take HRT due to oestrogen positive breast cancer a few years ago. I feel like I'm falling apart.
I swim 1km every day, do body pump twice a week, yoga. I am quite overweight despite zero alcohol, no UPF and only 1 meal a day. It's shit and I dread getting older and feeling even worse😭