Stiff, sore feet - menopause or something else?

[TheWhompingWilly]

Well into the menopause - I'm 51, have hot flushes, no period for 18 months, etc. I get very stiff feet and ankles first thing in the morning and when I've been sitting a while. Once I've been walking for a while, they ease up and I can walk normally without pain but, initially, I'm hobbling around like an old lady. Some mornings I can hardly get down the stairs. Menopause related or something else?

Hi, I am peri menopausal and stiff aching feet and ankles is one of the many horrible symptoms that I have. It's horrible, really bad when I have to get out of bed but improves a lot once I get going. Maybe you should check with your gp for reassurance.

Sounds the same as me. Might be worth a visit to the GP, I suppose. I don't want to do HRT but I wonder if there are any supplements that could help. I've changed my footwear from my usual ballet flats to something with a more supportive sole and I'm trying to lose a bit of weight as I'm a couple of stone overweight. I just want to be able to leap out of bed and get going straight away, like I used to, instead of hobbling around gingerly until the stiffness wears off.

Yes I understand what you mean. It makes you feel really old hobbling out of bed and down the stairs. I did get a prescription for hrt a few weeks ago but I'm too scared to take it!

Can you rule out plantar fasciitis?

I had sore and stiff ankles for months. I've only just realised, reading your thread, that I no longer have them!
Since starting HRT, 2 months ago, that, along with hot flushes, insomnia, low moods, irritability, zero libido, itching and thinking everyone I live and work with, or indeed come across, is an idiot; has gone! Vanished!!
I'm 53.

i always say my ankles don't wake up for at least half an hour after I do!

been going on for a couple of years now....put it down to age and being overweight

then to put the tinlid on it I fecked my ankles trying to do C25K, so that was nice. Am just about over the achilles issue, I find wearing heels is best, flat shoes and barefoot is killing me.

I am going to look into some Old Lady supplements though, have been flirting with B12 and Vit D, but combined with my anti histamines, thyroxine and migraine pills I feel I am going to start rattling!

Sounds like plantar fasciitis to me, too. Overnight, your calf muscles get used to your feel being at a less than right angle to your legs. When you get up and walk on the, the calf muscles are tight and need to be stretched before your feet will 'work'

Calf stretches are the way to go. There are lots of descriptions of stretches around. At least three times a day, i would 'hang my heels' off a step. Press the heels down and feel the tightness in your calfs eventually start to release. The more you stretch your calf muscles, the better it gets.

There is an alternative approach, where people are encouraged to wear shoes with heels, so the calfs can stay 'tight'. Much better to get on with the stretches and get it sorted. All the best.

I've become increasingly stiff all over - fingers, elbow, back and have just gone back onto HRT to see if it will help. I'm 53 and feel like an old woman.

If it's arthritic then you'd be best using fish oils like cod liver oil.
Weight won't help at all- think about the load on your feet all day.

Why don't you want HRT ( if it were to help)?

I'm doing stretches whenever I remember, otherwise my feet are killing me.

There this video by Lisa Maree on You Tube, it's great.
Also, I find completely flat shoes very uncomfortable, I need a bit of a heel or hiking boots or a fit flop type of sole.
Another thing that kills my feet are the raised bobbles, for lack of better word, on the pavements, the ones that are there to let blind people there's a crossing.

Will try some stretches. Also looking into changing my diet as I've read that carbs and sugar make it worse. If I drop those and just generally eat more healthily, that should get the weight off which will all help.

Don't think it's plantar fasciitis as my mother has that and my symptoms sound different to hers. However, if it persists, even with all the changes I'm planning, I will visit the GP to rule that out.

Don't want to do HRT as I feel it's just postponing it. Surely when you come off HRT, you just get the symptoms then? I'd rather just get it over with now.

I don't think it's necessarily true that HRT postpones it. It's the most helpful thing I've ever taken.

I've always been very opposed to HRT (for me, not generally) but I'm starting to consider it. It wasn't too bad when it was just the hot flushes but there are so many other niggly little things now. The sore feet are the last straw as I feel like an old woman. I'll give myself two months to really try and lose some weight. If it doesn't help, I might give HRT a go.

It's such a shame that so many women are misinformed about HRT and denying themselves something that may help!

No, HRT doesn't just 'postpone' it.And that's on the basis you come off it- I've been told by my consultant that unless anything changes with my health I can stay on it forever- as can many other women.

HRT tops up your hormones when they are all over the place during peri. If and when you decide to come off it, your hormone levels have plateaued so some of the symptoms of meno may well have gone. Some women find they come back for a while but not so bad as before. Some women find they never come back. Some women find they come back with a vengeance and decide to carry on with HRT.

It's not a case of 'getting it over with' - Oestrogen deficiency is for life. The short term symptoms like hot flushes last for up to 15 years they now know, not the optimistic couple of years they used to talk about. longer term symptoms like thinning bones and heart disease happen 10+ years after meno due to loss of oestrogen, along with vaginal atrophy and prolapse for some women.

I don't understand why anyone would want to put up with any of these when - even if just for a few years- they could prevent the symptoms.

Willy, interesting to read your thoughts on carbs and sugar. Six weeks ago I stopped eating carbs and sugar for three weeks (to lose weight) and most of my symptoms got so much better. After three weeks I fell face first into the bread bin and am back on the sugar and carbs and within two days my symptoms were just awful again so I do actually think there is a link with diet. I'm starting carb and sugar free again today so it will be interesting to see what happens in a couple of days. At the moment my flushes are off the scale.

Menopause here too. My ankles were sore in the morning. Saw this on utube.Use your rolling pin to lessen tightness in your calves. So sit on floor and move your calf up and down on the rolling pin. You will be amazed how tight they are. Check it out on utube for correct procedure. You will look daft but it helps. I also the one on the step. Much better. And no flat shoes, ever even round the house

initially, I'm hobbling around like an old lady. Some mornings I can hardly get down the stairs

I knew someone who used to do that. They had a weird hobbling side to side walk for first 20 minutes or so, almost every morning. It was very funny to watch.

He was my boyfriend's 15yo little brother.
But sure, go for it. Blame every undesired physical symptom on (peri)menopause. Why wouldn't you?

lijkk - fair enough, but my stiff, sore ankles started with my other peri symptoms, and vanished with HRT.
Your post is neither helpful, nor sympathetic (particularly to a 15 year-old in pain!)

It sounds like what I have all over.

I take hrt, Vit D, magnesium and fish oils. The vitamin D made a big difference to my neck.

Keep moving, do plenty of yoga, stretching, pilates. If I am too tired and sit in one position too long on the sofa and hurt, I go to bed instead where I can lie in a better position.

I think it is the effect of reducing oestrogen levels on the ligaments around the joints. They lose their elasticity.

Definitely plantar fasciitis so get a referral to your local podiatry clinic. They will give you exercises which help in most cases. Classic signs are that the pain is worst first thing in the day then wears off. If you get a chance to put your feet up during the day on getting up it is painful again. Try wearing shoes with a springy base (trainers, fit flops and the like). Orthopaedic gel insoles help and walking barefoot makes it worse. I have never heard of a link with menopause, most probably it is just age related.

I used to have this. Was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency and after a few months of taking a supplement it stopped.

Mild plantar fasciitis can go away. Whether vit D has anything to do with it is not a recognised link as far as I know. Age, sports injury wear and tear and being overweight are. I have been suffering extreme pain for 9 months now and the exercises do help. If I get out of bed without stretching it is excruciating (feels like the flesh around my heel is ripping away). If I do some stretching I limp for about ten mins before I can walk normally.
As this post is on the subject of HRT can I say I couldn't live without it. I have a tiny pellet of oestrogen inserted under my skin twice a year then for the other 363 days I forget about it. Am on it for life.

Have been peri menopausal for a year and feel like I'm losing my mind!! My legs ankles and hands tingle and also have pins & needles. Wake up with leg pain and stiff ankles and feet take a while to work. The stairs are the worse as literally have to lift my legs as so sore. I have recently been diagnosed with vitamin b12 deficiency and had all 6 injections but no improvement in the legs at all. Also on 125mg thyroxine Dr keeps saying its the menopause but offers no advice!! Can't take HRT as have migrane with aura Any suggestions?

Carolyn, I also had the pins and needles in my hands, difficulty going up the stairs as well as the pain in my feet. All went after taking vitamin D supplement. I was very deficient. It might be worth trying that.

Carolyn you might need to re-think the no HRT because of migraines.
Migraine is not a contraindication for HRT. has your GP told you this? If so, here is some info from the Migraine Trust where it clearly states that women with migraine can use HRT.

www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/trigger-factors/menopause-and-midlife/