Does anyone take HRT? Can’t work out if menopause or autoimmune.

[BoPeeple]

I recently went to the doctor with:

Muscle aches
Insomnia
Tight chest
Dry eyes
Vaginal dryness
Brain fog
Dizziness

She said I was a bit young to be perimenopausal and sent me for full bloods, mainly on account of the back and shoulder pain and that my hands are quite knobbly.

It came back positive ANA and also very slightly raised rheumatoid factor (16).

The GP doesn’t seem too worried as the C protein was normal and ESR more or less fine. She’s told me to have more blood tests in a couple of years to monitor it and has agreed to try me on HRT.

I’ve been taking it for just over a week and the joints on my fingers have become suddenly very stiff, painful and swollen. I’m also getting tingling in my limbs. My other symptoms haven’t reduced at all.

I haven’t had this before and now I’m worried that I have got RA or lupus after all and have exacerbated it with the HRT.

But wouldn’t my bloods be more raised if I had either of those? I just can’t explain this horrid joint pain.

Oh, I also have the odd palpitation and a weird constant sore back of the throat/burning.

Have they checked your thyroid OP?

Sorry you’re experiencing this. Sounds like you may need more tests/referrals to get to the bottom of what this is.

I’m on HRT and Levothyroxin for hypothyroidism. Many of the symptoms overlap so it can be tricky to figure out which medication to tweak. I had to get advice privately on the end as my GP just didn’t seem to know enough about managing perimenopause and hypo together.

I too was worried about RA as it is in my family.

Could you ask for more bloods, and a referral to a rheumatologist to discuss?

I was also diagnosed with Reactive Arthritis after having COVID last year… that caused joint swelling in my hands and feet, random pains, all sorts of problems. I’d never heard of it previously, apparently lots of viruses (eg flu) can bring it on. Might be worth asking about? It normally goes within a year.