I am in SO much pain. Surely this can't just be because I am fat?

[herewegoroundthebastardbush]

This is really a question either for the medical or for my fellow fatties - I'm 5'6, about 14 stone (😬) and 39. I used to be around 10 stone. put on a lot of weight very rapidly about 5 years ago when my mum died, and ever since then have struggled with binge eating and the weight has continued to creep up.

So the past 6 months or so, I'm in horrible physical pain much of the time. It started with my knees, which have never been great since I went through a phase of running to work on concrete in my 20s (idiot). But now it's not just the odd twinge, I'll be literally limping and whimpering and climbing the stairs is murder. I've also developed a horrible permanent pain in my right foot which the internet tells me is plantar fasciitis. And I can't ever seem to get comfortable in bed as whichever way I lie seems to pull the base of my spine out of alignment and it feels strained.

I have a busy life, two small kids and one is at nursery and the other at school, so every day after work I have to do a very brisk march march up the road to nursery and then turn and walk very fast back to school to get the eldest (about 40mins fast walking - or jogging if im late!) all told. I've started to dread it with a mortal fear as I am in SO much pain - some days I'm literally limping and gasping with it, but I can't stop because obvs then no-one would pick up my kids (partner has the car as works in a different city). That's the low point of my day, but just getting out of bed and standing up in the morning is horrendous too, it hurts so much and I literally limp like a comedy pirate for the first 20 mins of the day my foots so bad.

The one time I went to the GP about my knees, she did the head tilt and talked to me about my weight (didn't even examine my knees), and that aches and pains are more frequent as we age so its important to take care of our weight to reduce that. I agree I am too fat and need to lose weight. I am trying. But I see people far fatter and older than me who don't seem to be in total agony as they walk around!? So is this normal and fixable by losing some weight? Or is there something I should be worried about?

Have you had any blood tests?
You've got a family history of RA, painful feet, worse first thing in the morning when you get up, and knee pain.

At the very least you should have blood tests to check inflammatory markers and rule out autoimmune disease.
There is effective treatment (although no cure) for rheumatoid arthritis but it needs to be started early to prevent joint damage.

I hear ya! I am 5ft 4ins and gone down from 15st to 13st but owww my knees! Mind you I have rheumatoid arthritis. I don't know if plantar fascailites or whatever it is is permanent but I had painful feet a while back but it is ok now.

In my case I know it is my weight and am trying to do something about it. (But not by eating shortbread for breakfast at work I won't!!).

Honestly, try the stretches for PF before you spend a penny on new shoes or a physio or anything. They can make a dramatic difference quite quickly. When was the last time you properly stretched your quads or hamstrings too? Tight muscles throughout your legs could be causing your back pain.

I would try the free option of stretching before I did anything. Try to do 2-3 times a day. I used to be skeptical about stretching, but after both my children I found myself in a very sore place just like you. Stretching made a huge difference.

Also, people's results from shoes when it comes to PF really vary. I actually do best if I stay barefoot most of the time, and I wear crocs to run quick errands, barefoot trainers to work out, and more supportive trendy trainers if I'm going out and about. So don't spend money until you know you need to.

I’d ask your GP to check for rheumatoid factor and your Vit D levels. I know when my Vit D levels are getting too low as my ankles start to really hurt.

Calf stretches help for PF as does freezing a plastic water bottle and rolling it under your foot.

She also mentioned pain in her foot, she used the words plantar fasciitis in her op.

Op, the pain in your foot does sound like Plantsr fasciitis, I’ve suffered from it a few times, it’s worse first thing in the morning, It’s awful, those first footsteps out of bed are agony. I found wearing flat shoes made it worse, heels of1.5” suited me. I wore heel supports inside shoes too. Low wedge heels were good too.It’s not weight related, it’s the nerves in the foot becoming inflamed.
Ive also got a knee problem, osteoarthritis, it started in March this year, it got worse roughly six weeks ago I couldn’t walk, I saw my gp. He sent me for an X-ray and my gp offered Naproxen but I can’t take it so he prescribed CoCodamol for the pain, these are string 30/500 prescription only type.
They did help but I was very careful taking them. I’ve got a standby pack ready for the next flare up.
Go back to your go, in the meantime get some pain killers, the over counter co codsmol or paracetamol and nurofen but be careful with the co codamol and don’t take extra paracetamol at the same time.

I’m a similar age, height and the same weight as you and was having exactly the same joint pain, it was excruciating.

Having an allergy test and finding out that I was allergic to wheat solved it for me. Since cutting it out of my diet I feel like I’m in my 20s again. I’m still fat, but now I’m not in pain anymore I’m starting to want to exercise more again so I’m hoping to lose a couple of stone. But for now, I’m happy to just not be in pain.

I'm not overweight so can't speak on that, but I will say KICK UP A FUSS. Go back to the surgery and ask to see another doctor, tell them the problem and insist they refer you on to a specialist. Ask for pain relief. Please don't start taking over the counter medication, that's a slippery slope. Hope you get sorted

For goodness sake- go to your GP and get some tests done. Being in pain like this is not something to ignore or try 'alternative' treatments , or even physio.

RA (rheumatoid arthritis ) is hereditary sometimes. There are many treatments now (drugs) but you need an early diagnosis before it becomes irreversible.

Your GP can send you to a rheumatologist for investigations.

Your weight is an issue and without judgement, you will be in the obese category, so finding help to lose weight is essential. The weight will be part of the reason your joints are complaining!

Your very painful foot could be causing all kinds of problems because of your limping to compensate.
you do need to go to the dr. Are there any other GPs at the surgery you could see instead?
It could all be related to the foot making you walk / behave in a twisted way. If so you may need physio, prescribed exercises / stretches and / or shoe supports and you can probably solve this with help (and you follow the regime, I am sure you will).
If this is fixed there may or may not be some other underlying issue.
You are not that big, honestly. Not big enough for a dr to refuse to think about anything else.

Something that makes me angry about GPs is that sometimes they will make you come back repeatedly by telling you to go away and only taking you seriously the 3rd or 4th time, as if they are assuming that nothing is serious until it has been lived with for however long they deem long enough (although they don't know how long you have been trying to live with it / solve it already) (They will do this while sitting under a poster haranguing people for wasting appointments.) It may be that you have just had your first go and your eventual treatment will take 2 or 3 and it's just part of the process. It is annoying

I'm in a very similar position to you. Same height, same weight although a little older. I'm having the same problems as you. Knees hurt, back hurts and I have plantar fasciitis. I'm trying hard to lose weight. What I am finding helps is a VERY gentle yoga. I've been doing a kids yoga video on you tube!! It's definitely helping especially with my back. Like PPs said make sure you're not sleeping on an old mattress.

Had an afterthought: are you taking statins, OP?

I had the dosage of a statin increased twice a year or two ago, and both times the pain in my knees shot up. It was ages before I realised the coincidence, my statin was changed for a different one, and the pain reduced again.

Peri menopause?

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I'm heavier than you and 10 years older and haven't had any knee problems. I'd be going back to the GP if I were you. It doesn't sound right at all to be constantly in that much pain.
I did have PF a few years ago and can sympathise with you. On advice of Mumsnet I bought Sketchers and wore them constantly - kept them by my bed so they went straight onto my feet when I got up and didn't take them off til i got back in bed at night. After about 3 weeks the pain disappeared completely and touch wood has never reappeared.
Good luck, I hope you can get the support you need from the doctor.

I strained my knees from overdoing it (I didn't sit down for about 4 weeks apart from eating and sleeping and did A LOT of walking and had an accident). I am obese and so my weight and not resting is what did it. Nonetheless, the GP told me to self refer to physio. The physio has given me exercises which are improving things a bit. If it doesn't help the physio will refer me for imaging to see what's going on. That's the process here.

I think you need to see if you can self refer for physio (wait here was 5 weeks) and if not then see a different GP and insist.

Physio will help work out next steps if needed. You can look the exercises up online on the NHS website. A physio will be able to tailor them to you but you will be able to find generic ones. Just go easy and don't push yourself. Also stop if it's painful.

Some GP surgeries have on site physio available on NHS and you can self refer without seeing a GP. Details will be on the surgery website, together with self referral form if it is available.

IME ( many years of fibro) GPs are hopeless when you’re in pain. Unless it’s an obvious broken limb they do the head tilt and offer pain killers and/or antidepressants, their cure all.
Try a mattress topper, Dunelm do a good one about £40, don’t bother with the Dormeo ones, waste of money.
Try: Stretching in the morning before you try walking. Start very, very gently, build it up.
Epsom salts. Soak in a bath for at least 20 minutes. Not easy when you’ve young dc but worth trying.
Tens machine. Cheapest one from Lloyds Pharmacy is brilliant.
Hemp cream, massage into your feet, put on some socks immediately after. Some people swear by Tiger Balm but I’ve never got on with it.
Heat or ice. Find which helps and apply either to painful areas.
When you walk try to relax , pain makes you tense up, your breathing gets shallower but we don’t notice that. Try relaxing as you walk, deeper , slower breaths. It’s one if the little things that takes a % of the pain away.

I’ve found no one thing stops the pain but several things take a percentage of it away if that makes sense.

Read up on the difference between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. I think the first can be detected with a blood test, which your GP should do

Even just one session with a physiotherapist could be really helpful - get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan set up that you can do at home. It might be something as simple as tendinitis and you are constantly aggravating it. A physio will spend plenty of time assessing you rather than the limited time a GP has!

You need a physio. Private is best if you can afford it, if not NHS, but there will be a wait. Sounds like you need to be given daily exercises and stretches.
In bed I sleep with a very small cushion tucked under my stomach for support as I also struggle with my back. I'm a side sleeper naturally but I twist and it hurts.

Theres no way of us knowing whats wrong with your knees, but you do need to see a better GP. That level of pain requires more investigation. I have osteoarthritis all over the place. It started in my knees. I was 32 when that started. I had to have a new hip last year because of it (at 48 after years of pain) i too am overweight and whilst it doesnt help, its not the cause.

The only thing is as I understand it autoimmune disease is even harder than "anything at all if you are fat" to get taken seriously by a Dr. With the connective tissue disease, can it actually be diagnosed? I can't even entertain something I'm going to be spending the rest of my life trying to convince people I'm not making it up - my mum had that for years and it did a total number on her mental health, I haven't got it in me ☹️

Even more importantly if it can be diagnosed can it be treated? I can't live the life of someone with a chronic invisible disease - again I saw what my mum went through, she had a miserable, limited life and ultimately killed herself - not because of the chronic illnesses per se but I must say having experienced this chronic pain for 6 months, I can understand far better why she ended it if she had to endure it and worse for decades, and then deal with poor mental health and poverty from never being able to work and other life shit. I don't want to live like this. I want to be a good mum for my kids and be active with them and help them with their own children when they have them. I cannot cannot entertain an illness which means that I can never be that person 😭

Plantar fascititis can be brought on by knee problems.. resolve the knee and the PF goes away because the foot is no longer inflamed by overuse.
Are both knees a problem or only one? If both knees (and no obvious injury) it might be autoimmune, as someone said earlier.
Are your arms or hands affected?

I was successful in getting a referral to a NHS physio, but it took multiple GP visits and it was a 9 month wait for an appointment with the physio (who was great, once I got there)

I'm no expert, but my SIL has similar symptoms and she's always been overweight - she's been told to lose weight and never has. Also, have a colleague who has knee problems, he's seriously overweight.

I think you really need to see GP and demand help/support for the pain. If it's something that they can diagnose and treat they can help and you find out yourself exactly what you can do that might help yourself naturally. If it's down to your weight and you don't think changing your diet would help enough, then again ask GP for support. Hope you manage to find out what's causing this and feel better soon.

Joint pain can be a symptom of vitamin d deficiency. I've had this and it's so painful, crouching to put a load of washing in was agony in my knees, for example.

I needed a loading dose of vitamin d to boost my levels and need to take a daily supplement. I'd ask your GP for a blood test to check it.