Persistent joint pain at 45 despite staying active and doing Pilates

[ItWillBeDone]

I'm hoping you can give me some words of wisdom please. Have got really painful joints. Both wrists (carpal tunnel symptoms), both ankles, both knees. Not just first thing in the morning, constantly. I am active, do regular pilates (modify moves so I don't hurt so much) and regular cycling. I'm 45. Any suggestions as to how I can fix this? I am overweight but struggling to lose it (through lack of willpower and stress eating).

Low carb helped me with both weight loss and inflammation. My joints feel great. If I go onto carbs for a holiday or something, I feel like an old lady after.

Have you been to the doctor? Sometimes autoimmune issues and / or things like rheumatoid arthritis can cause these sorts of issues.

I'm 36 and have very achey joints. Issues with my knees, sore wrists, frozen shoulder ... it goes on... I am hyper mobile and am told this causes a lot of my issues.

Thank you. I haven't been to the doc. Thought it might be an age-related thing. Might give the low carb diet a try though.

HRT usually fixes this at your age.

Additionally have you considered hypermobility? I was diagnosed with this at 46! I had no idea that my achy back after standing and my knee pain and my achilles tendinitis and tennis elbow and sore hips were related to hypermobile joints. I do some basic physio every day now and its made a massive difference.

But I would look at HRT first.

See the NHS physio in case they have ideas but pilates is usually pretty good for most things. I don't have strong enough legs which causes my knee pain according to mine. I've just been diagnosed with gout as well after a painful foot, so that's another thing to look into.

Glucosamine Chondroitin and MSM
has stopped my achey joints … I really notice a difference when I forget to take it.

For me this was perimenopause and was resolved ( surprisingly quickly) with HRT. Joint pain was probably my main perimenopause symptom.

I had huge pain in my ankles, knees and hips in my forties. So bad I woke numerous times a night and hobbled when I stood up from sitting for a while. I really thought I was on my way to joint replacement.

Peri really can impact on the joint fluid with some people as far as I can tell. I started HRT and virtually no pain any longer.

If I was you I would definitely get to the doctor and have a discussion.

I had exactly these symptoms (eventually was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which seemed to be a “we don’t know what’s wrong” diagnosis)

I was convinced it was peri menopause and got on HRT and am so much better these days

Collagen has been an unexpected miracle for my joints issues

Joint pain was my only menopause thing (apart from vag dryness/atrophy which all women will experience eventually if not treated).

I'm slim (bmi 20), active and healthy but from mid-late 40s I started with joint pain in my fingers, especially in the morning. I was checked for rheumatoid arthritis and my GP thought it was probably osteoarthritis. It would come and go. Then I started having trouble getting my socks on in the morning because my back hurt so much, I developed a bit of a limp because of pain in an old injury in my foot and I actually had to kneel on the floor to feed our cat because crouching fown was painful. By this time I was about 54, post meno and felt about 90 years old.

Because I was feeling a bit flat and I'd discovered HRT might help joint pain I decided to give it a go.

Within 4 days of sticking the first patch on all my joint pains had gone and it's no exaggeration to say I felt like a new woman.

It might not be the reason for you OP but I'd hazard a guess it's the reducing oestrogen that's having this effect on you.

Also, I've been taking cod liver oil most of my life and still do and I practise yoga regularly but that didn't stop the joint pain caused by oestrogen deficiency either.

I had all these symptoms along with raised inflammatory markers . Knees were so bad l was having steroid injections into my knees every 4 months. (I also had high blood pressure and cholesterol) . All cured for me by loosing weight on Mounjaro.

I had had success on keto, general low carb, fast 800, fasting 16:8, slimming world and weight watchers. Sadly along with the vast majority of humans , I had no real problem losing weight on any of these programmes, my issue was the same as the randomised trials. I could lose it. I just couldn’t sustain it. I lost 8st in 2024 and remain at 9st 3lbs give or take a pound or two for 23 months. Maintaining on a low dose.
All weight related issues are resolved including Inflammatory markers . Depending on BMI and co morbidities you may qualify on nhs

Me too. Had to come off hrt for health reasons and felt about 80 with stiff aching joints. Feel 30 years younger after starting collagen an the effect started within a month.

Don't start any "alternative" supplements until you've had a doctor rule out rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Just because it's peri menopause don't automatically assume that's responsible.
My rheumatoid arthritis started at 52, exactly the time I started menopause.

Carrying excess weight is bad for joints whatsoever the root causes.

Me !!!! Turns out my body doesn’t like additives and preservatives. If I don’t eat anything that is highly processed I’m better. Marks and Spencer’s have been my go to food shop now as they have so much less junk in their food. Maybe eat clean for a few weeks to see what happens.

GP, rule out a medical cause and maybe ask about weight management if it’s ruled out as that might help.

Similar experience, but psoriatic arthritis. If I'd have assumed my joint pains were meno or weight related I'd have risked going without the correct treatment to prevent destruction to my joints.