Am I hypermobile or am I just easily influenced by the algorithm?

[hastenotwaste]

To be fair, instagram keeps feeding me videos about hypermobility and at this point I don't know what are truly signs of the condition and what is not!
I have:

• chronic pain especially hips and feet
• shoulders that tend to slightly come out of joint
• tight joints (but was bendy as a child)
• v flexible hands still
• ibs
• trouble focusing eyes
• sometimes see stars/black out when getting up (not so much now as I am careful. As a child sitting on the floor in assembly and then being told to quickly get up and walk out was always a problem!)
• Hashimoto's
• dizziness

I know nobody here can diagnose me but my question is: do you think it's worth seeing a private dr about this (GP not interested). Can they actually do anything to help anyway? Btw I am in my early fifties and this has got worse since the menopause.

I’d try a physio for your hips/feet/shoulder problems

I was diagnosed with hypermobiity by the physio that was treating me for chronic back ache.

There's not a lot that can be done to treat it but strength training and keeping active definitely helps.

I don’t know huge amounts about this but I am hypermobile and it’s very obvious. Many joint bend back the wrong way, as in what used to be called double jointed. For example If I sit on the floor and stretch my legs out in front of me my heels will come completely off the floor and my legs will be bent upwards. My fingers bend back, my arms bend, I struggle to hold a pen or pencil in the correct way because my fingers bend the wrong way. I just think you’d know if you were?

Physios can assess this, as well as give you recommendations for avoiding injury if you are

I think a lot of people have hypermobile joints without having one of the more serious conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos. I have flexible joints, osteoarthritis and my skin heals very slowly but I don’t have joint subluxations or get dizzy when I stand up.

Me too. I'd just never really thought about it before. Which I realise makes me sound a bit dim. 😁

Thanks for the replies. I'll see if I can find a physio first.

I have all of these symptoms apart from the dizziness. Also had bad SPD in all pregnancies. I have never been officially diagnosed but my son has so I presume its genetic. He can bend his hands back further than me but I am more flexible overall. Constanlty had plantar faciitis, tendonitis, tennis elbow etc ober last few years. Anyway, like you joint pain got really bad during menopause and I'm now paying for all that showing off at parties that I could do the splits both ways, gymnastics and marathon running I used to do.

Main this I've found that helps is using elasticated supports, which i now routinely wear on both knees, elbows when playing padel and one ankle every day (other ankle is fine weirdly). I do tai chi and go to the gym and swim which definitely helps keep it under control.

Its a pain, literally.

I’m hyper mobile and was diagnosed by MSK consultant many years ago. Confirmed by various physios.

More likely if you have a comorbidity such as dyspraxia or other ND?

With the joint pain, shoulders slipping out, IBS and dizziness, I’d say it’s worth getting assessed rather than assuming it’s just Instagram influencing you. A proper assessment could at least tell you whether hypermobility is contributing to your symptoms and whether physio or other support might help.

Rheumatology dxd my hyper mobility spectrum disorder. All 5 female members of my family have it at varying degrees with pots, orthostasis, neurodiversity and fibromyalgia as co-morbidities. Have a look at the Beignton score. My ex H had it too, very bendy legs and repeated shoulder dislocations. I think there's a genetic element to it.

Hi OP.

I had my DS reviewed by a physio I found on the EDS website. He did a full Beighton on him. He didn't qualify though does have some hypermobility.

The physio said that when he diagnoses it, he will write to GP so it goes on your medical file which is important for things like antibiotics (there is a class that shouldn't be used for HSD people).

So you could go this route.

Yes, all the symptoms you listed shows that you must get a checkup because this can worsen as well and that could be dangerous for you. With age this happens but diagnosis of it, management plan for it and evaluation of your condition all requires time so you should be considering it.

I’m very hypermobile (9/9 on Beighton score). I can’t say it affects me at all. I’ve dislocated my knees a couple of times and I have mild POTS, but nothing that causes me any problems.

Why is neurodivergence a comorbidity, do you know? Genuine question. I've seen this elsewhere but I don't understand why it would be.

I think I'm hyper mobile but it was just shrugged off as being double jointed all my life. It's not until recently I've realised it is a medical issue with associated difficulties like joint pain.

I don't think the researchers really know yet. There are theories such as maybe there's a shared underlying biological developmental predisposition in some people, or whether several partly independent conditions are clustering together for multiple reasons. Current research suggests there may be some shared biology, but it hasn't established one cause. Five female members of my family have hyper mobility so I think there's a genetic component to it. I think eventually much more will be discovered about these things.

Yes, I expect that's true. I have MEcfs which also goes with ehlers and hyper mobility and maybe pots and mcas too.

I think hyper mobility is definitely genetic but I kind of just thought in the same way that any other physical traits are. DS has my knees and bendy joints.

i don’t think anyone knows the answer to that. There is a consultant psychiatrist in Brighton called Dr Jennifer Eccles. She speclialises in tbe interface between neurodivergence and physical health issues, in particular connective tissue disorders (hypermobility is a symptom of connective tissue didordrers). She posts
on social media as DrBendyBrain. Her YouTube films are really goods