Pain in my hip bone

[SpideyMom]

Well that's where it feels. In my right side.

Abit of back story, I suffer with bone pain in my legs. I have for 2 years now and am on a high strength vitamin D tablet. However lately I have been having quite abit of pain in my right hip too, when I sit, and when I move to the point it sometimes causes me to hobble.

Sometimes is feels like the sort of pain you would get it you knock it quite hard on something. Othertimes it feels like a sharp burn.

I had bloods taken last week and everything has come back within normal ranges. I really don't know what to do anymore. I am fed up of feeling like this. The pain tonight is really bad.

I fear I come across a hypochondriac but I just want to understand why I am in this pain. When I got my blood results yesterday I just said to the receptionist well this doesn't help answer why I feel like I do so she encouraged me to see the doctor in 2 weeks time. Even despite bloods being normal I have anxiety over it because I am in pain still.

So what is next really? Has anyone else had this sort of pain and it's come to nothing? I haven't had any sort of injury.

TIA x

Hi @SpideyMom ,
leg bone joint and muscular pains are all classic symptoms of vitD deficiency. As are lower back and groin pain , particularly if standing for a long period. You have mentioned that you have had treatment for vitD deficiency. I wonder what your levels were , when you were diagnosed , and what treatment you had/are having , in terms of dose level, and what your blood level has come back as when it was remeasured. ?
The reason I ask , is that you might not be getting enough , your blood levels might still be low , when considered alongside the most recent research into vitamin D .

I wonder if you have considered the co-factors , which improve the functioning of vitD. i.e. magnesium, boron , zinc.
I wonder if you still have pains , like sternum pain , when pressed with moderate force, also shin pain , . IF you still get those sorts of pains , then it might be that you have osteomalacia, which should resolve , if enough vitamin d is given, over a long period.
Do you have low calcium consumption , dairy free ? possibly vegetarian , ? What is your maintenance vit D dose ?

             These are just a few ideas, which may obviously be totally off piste ...!  BUT ,   is it worth thinking about? especially if there does not seem to be any obvious answers. 

best of luck . Do get back to me if you need further info.

BTBH.

I've been so uncomfortable with it today so thank you for such a thorough response @Bettertobehealthy.

Unfortunately I don't have all the answers but I will do my best. When I was found to be deficient I know the reading was below 5. So I was told it as really bad. I was put on a dose of 2 tablets per day but that was just off the shelf stuff so I've been using simply supplements max strength which I believe is one of the strongest. I've been taking it now for well over 18 months. In fact it is 2 years since the pain all started so early next year it will be 2 years of me supplementing. I also take a multivitamin and b12 supplement.

I didn't think to get my blood results printed this time, but I can do. I think when she told me they are all normal I felt so deflated that it didn't give me any answers, I gave up. I honestly feel rotten. I don't want to be a nuisance to anyone but I hate how exhausted and uncomfortable I always feel. The exhaustion is by for the worst, but the bone discomfort isn't far behind. It feels like it's burning tonight so I have started obsessively checking for lumps

I had a separate appointment with a nurse for a separate issue and we got onto my anxiety. She checked my bloods in front of me and said if only to reassure you, your bloods don't even indicate the something is even slightly off. Everything looks fine. Yet still I feel like this.

I am scared to be honest. As it can't be normal feeling this bad and nothing being wrong

hi spidey , yes 5 is extremely low, I'm assuming you are in UK , and that was in units of nmol/L. ?

It is not surprising that , with that level, you were experiencing all sorts of symptoms. Depression and anxiety , might be others. However , if you have been on high strength, supplement for 18 months. , then that should have corrected that low level. Can you confirm that you have been on 5000 IU per day of vit D3 .. ? tablet form ? for 18 months. Also , it really would be helpful, if you knew what your blood level of vitD3 , was . ? can you get those results..? Did you have serum calcium , included in any of those blood tests ? Are you veggie , or dairy free. ? Do you have any bowel disorders, like coeliacs , IBD , etc. ? .

Just trying to get a picture of what might be going on , if indeed it is related to vit d . Your initial level suggests that it might be . !

BTBH

Hi OP, hope you don’t mind me sharing my experience and what helped me!
I had been getting excruciating pain in my hip. Sitting to standing was particularly painful, I couldn’t put weight on my leg and would hobble off.
Saw a physio and found out I’m hypermobile in my joints. I used to exercise frequently and this died off after having my son. He also told me I had weak adductor muscles.

I’ve been given a few exercises to strengthen them and have started Pilates. The difference has been unbelievable and I hardly have any pain now.

The basic test was to see if I could touch my wrist with my thumb. Worth a try?

BTBH I will request my bloods on monday and I will be able to confirm more.
Yes it's 5000 IU per day of vit D3 in tablet form.
I am not a veggie but don't eat much meat. I am not dairy free, but recently have had to start having lactose free milk.
I have no bowel disorders. This was actually the referall I was at the other day. As this year my motions have become really messed up.

I wondered if it could be iron. I even had my blood results earlier in the year read by the iron clinic in London and they said my bloods are all perfectly normal so it would be a case of trying an infusion and it that didn't help we would know it wasn't an iron deficiency. Was a huge expense for something that they weren't even sure of.

Unfortunately there is always a part of me fearing the worst and I hate that

@SpideyMom Please go back to your GP and request a scan or MRI of your hip. This could be much more than a vit D deficiency, like impingement.

@GoBackToPartyCity I got up early and throught oh god its getting worse with every movement.

I used to exercise too before my DS. I miss it but looking back I was totally obsessed. I sometimes wonder if I've done damage from 6 days a week, 2 to 3 hours each time.

I'm glad you have felt an improvement. I'm also getting pain in my forearm now. When I move my wrist. That's been like it for a few days now.

I'm starting to panic that I'm being OTT but I really do feel this pain. I keep trying to remember knocking my body off things to cause this sort of discomfort but I've done nothing

What is impingement?

What's your calcium level?

If I don't take supplements I get bone pain - it's either a burning inside the bone pain and / or feels like the bone has been hit by a big heavy metal bar.

When I had my calcium levels taken earlier in the year it was bang in the middle of the normal range. I think they retested again. I will ask to see my results on Monday

Are you on FB? If yes, find the Vitamin D group and get their input.

I take Magnesium Malate to balance the Vit D. Most people will also take Vit K, which I can't as I have wonky blood, but if you go ask the group they'll help.

There's also a really useful group called Hyperparathyroid Action 4 Change www.hyperparathyroiduk.com/about-us. I'm not suggesting you have HPT, just that the people in that group are very knowledgeable with regards to the various endocrine issues.

I was getting sharp pain in my hip. Got progressively worse so I walk with a limp.

Eventually got sent for x rays. I have moderate arthritis in my hip socket and an impingement on my femur. Will need a hip replacement eventually although they seem reluctant to do it now as I’m only 45. Can’t bend down to tie my shoelaces, shave my legs etc.

This morning is terrible.

I can't seem to get out my head that something is wrong. I shouldn't as my bloods all are within normal ranges but the more pain I feel the more I am scared of what it could be

Your GP will most likely refer you to a specialist (I don't know which one).

I find it hard going to my GP to be honest. I do because I want to get to the bottom of this but everytime I go I am made to feel like a nuisance. Like I am wasting their time. And that's hard being faced with that each time and that's not with the same doctor too, it's different doctors.
If I could choose where to spend me time it wouldn't be at the doctors dragging my little boy along with me!

When I was sent for my most recent bloods the locum said I can send you for an xray but I feel it will he wasting everyone's time as you aren't presenting any signs from the results you are getting as a need to investigate further. Straight away I felt a drain on the NHS and said let's just do bloods. The pain has since got worse .
But when the receptionist told me no further action as everything is normal I felt completely deflated as none of the doctors feel anything is wrong

I know how you feel.

I ended up going to see a private GP. I think it was about £60, or maybe £120 (can't remember, was about three years ago). He was the one who had the time to listen and to make suggestions. Bloods were expensive (£600+), but they got me on track and back into the NHS system. I've twice paid for private Consultant consults and gone back into the NHS for the investigation work.

It might be worth you going the private route even if just to have someone listen to you.

As an aside, I'd been to the NHS GPs four times. Felt daft as all I could explain was I felt like every cell in my body had reported in sick. Bone pain. Exhaustion. All varied without any apparent rhyme or reason. We've never quite got to the bottom of it, but over time I've figured out a mix of supplements and a restricted diet and getting enough sleep and walking / exercise, and together it all seems to be, on the whole, working. I've had some excellent help along the way from people in the know, and friends and family, and they've supported me especially on the bleugh days. If I don't take any of the supplements for more than a couple of days or am inconsistent then I know about it - the brain fog is back, as is the bone pain, the stabbing pains, the exhaustion, etc. etc. etc.

That sounds awful @MrsMozartMkII. I am glad you now feel adequately supported.

I wish I had the means to go private. I feel with my GP it's all about their budget. When I was first diagnosed with VIT D deficiency it dragged out for months. I kept being send for bloods and xrays to be getting nowhere. I returned to the doctors once again and he rolled his eyes as I walked in. I broke down. It was only then he took my seriously and said it will test my vitamin D levels and the reason why he hadn't until now was because its an expensive test to request. Sure enough it came back extremely low.
Earlier this year a bowel specialist sent a report to my doctor requesting them arrange a calcuim blood test because he wasn't able to do it at the hospital he was consulting at. The battle I had getting them to send me for that test. They refused for ages but his report
was actually requesting they send me for it. That is what I am faced with all the time being told it all costs money.

If I could afford to go private I would do it in a heartbeat.

I am in my earlier 30s and a lone parent to a 5 year old boy. This doesn't help my anxiety one bit, especially when there is still no answers.

I was on fb earlier today and what's a video from children in need last night where a young girl went to a concert and the next day woke up with pain in her side. In the space of no more than a week it was discovered she has a tumour that had spread, yet she presented as OK until that pain started. God bless that little girl but it's sent me into a panic that you really can seem OK but are actually not.
The locum performed a range of movement tests and to be honest in had not issues. He was happy with my range of movements but again it doesn't change the fact I am in pain

MrsMozartMkII sorry also what supplements do you take?

I’ve had on/off hip pain for many years. When I first went to my GP she sent me for a pelvic scan because she said problems in the uterus can cause hip pain, everything was fine. But the pain continued so I was sent for a MRI scan which showed nothing of significance.

After years of going back and forth it was decided it was hip bursitis and impingement. I had a cortisone injection which seemed to help. The pain has been mild now for a good year.

I would take your GP up on an X-ray at least OP.

Thank you. I am back there at the end of the month where I will discuss what next.
To be honest that was on the advice of the receptionist to see what the next step will be

Tonight it's really hurting to move :-(

Please try to push further tests. Extreme case here, but my hip pain ended up being a broken hip caused by osteopenia

@littlebigspoon may I ask how that was found? Through bloods or scans?

Do you have health anxiety OP? From the way you post it seems likely

Now went that doesn't mean the pain isn't real! I know myself what it's like to have the anxiety but o feel this is making things worse for you

In your position I'd be forgetting about bloods for now and supplementing etc and tell the dr you'd like to insist on that x Ray please. Yes this could be down to vitamin D levels etc but equally it could be wear and tear on your hip and that needs ruling out. Or in

The broken hip was found through X-rays and CT scans. A Dexa scan revealed the rest