Joint pain and frustrated!

[Glitterblue]

I've had awful pain in my hips for quite a while now, and have been in perimenopause for probably 18 months. I've only fairly recently connected the two. With it being the summer holidays we are having more days out and I'm in so much pain I'm actually having to use a walking stick to get around. I finally admitted to my husband just how bad things are (I've been in denial I think, hoping it'll go away and just trying to power on but I just can't any more). He obviously knew I was in pain and struggling but not how bad. He's been trying to encourage me to make an appointment for a while but now he knows exactly how bad it is, I promised I'd phone to make an appointment today.

I phoned this morning and they didn't have any appointments this week or nextwith my GP. They didn't offer any other Dr but asked why I wanted an appointment and they've booked me in to see a physiotherapist. It just dawned on me when I came off the phone that I really wanted to discuss the possibility of it being linked to perimenopause, and discuss the fact that I'm feeling so low at the moment with not being able to do basic day to day things. I took so long to pluck up the courage to see a GP 😩 Also, the pain I'm in is absolutely excruciating and I was hoping I might be able to get something to help with that to enable me to walk and exercise and lose some weight. I just feel a bit frustrated really. I don't even know why I'm posting 😩

Hi Glitterblue, I can fully sympathise how your feeling I too suffer with terrible pains in my hips which tend to be worse at night when I’m in bed
I enjoy long walks but I really suffer afterwards
I’m week 8 into Estrogel & Progesterone which hasn’t helped atall . I’m phoning the Dr tomorrow to book an appointment, doesn’t your Dr release appointments early in the morning
I usually book mine online

It is very likely related to menopause. Oestrogen acts as an anti inflammatory so when levels drop aches and pains can become really problematic. Don’t suffer, demand to try HRT. I had such sore joints and limbs aged only 48, struggled to get up from toilet, floor etc. Very wearing and was taking painkillers daily. Thought it’s just my age but friend said it could be hormonal. Saw GP and on 2 nd attempt with a different doctor started on oestrogen patches. Without a doubt it has helped, noticeable change after only one week!! Stick to your guns, some GPs are v against it others totally for it. I can’t believe that a small patch stuck to my bot can make such a difference. Good luck !

Hi glitterblue I was in exactly the same situation about 6 years ago. Excruciating hip pain. Couldn't lift my legs in and out the car, couldn't turn around in bed, couldn't sit or stand up properly. I also ended up using a walking stick. Menopause didn't cross my mind at the time, not until a few years ago did I connect the dots. I had xrays, an mri, nothing showed up. I saw a specialist, I had physiotherapy which didn't really help. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Devastated me as I was only 49. Not one of the professionals I saw mentioned it may be hormonal. My osteoarthritis vanished after about a year. A miracle, no just my hormones regulating due to perimenopause. Keep on at you doctor about the connection between you hormones and perimenopause. It is a symptom. I wish I had connected the dots at the time, instead of being fobbed off.

I have a connective tissue disorder but the stiffness and joint paint for perimenopuse was very different to that. I started HRT patches and the stiffness and pain was the first thing to go within a week of starting. I’m younger than you are and I had to make a few begging visits to the GP before being taken seriously but starting hrt has made the world of difference, especially to my moods.

Thank you both. I'm 45 but my periods have gone from being regular as clockwork to very erratic over the past 18 months or so. My mum started with perimenopause around 40 I think. I just wish I could get past the receptionist to get to a GP. They used to do the phone at 8am thing but they're not just now - they're barely seeing anyone in person, and everything is phone appointments- just any time between 8.30am and 6pm on the day you're given.

What I was given is a phone appointment with a physiotherapist and IF he decides I need to be seen, he will see me next week. I really just want to see a GP and discuss it all, and I'd rather see one of the female GPs who seem to be quite understanding. I feel so frustrated. I'm in so much pain I can hardly get basic chores done in the house, I can't put my socks on (well I can but it takes me so long and I have to try different ways of getting to my foot!) I can't climb stairs, I can't get up off the floor. I'm in constant agony all the time apart from when I'm sitting in my chair. Getting up from said chair is difficult. DH has been absolutely amazing, he's been so supportive and has taken over so much of the stuff in the house.

@embolass I'm so glad you've found something that works for you. I'm a little bit scared of HRT in case it messes with my migraines which are mainly hormonal and have actually calmed down a lot over the last couple of years.

@Thecatsbutler this sounds EXACTLY like me! I have to sit sideways on the seat and pull myself round into the the car and to get out I have to do the same in reverse and use the handle to pull myself out. Talking to a physiotherapist really isn't what I need or want, the more I read about it, the more I think it's connected.

I can relate , post menopausal for 3 years , sailed through it with barely no symptoms but the last few weeks I have had excruciating hip, neck and shoulder pain keeping me awake , I did yoga and was pretty flexible but now I can barely bend , I feel I have aged 10 years plus gaining lbs alarmingly , I spoke to my Gp this morning and she has prescribed hrt kliofem , I'm hoping it will help alleviate the pain and other issues

Just had my call from the physiotherapist. He asked a lot of questions about the pain and said any medical person would expect me to have tried physio first before anything else so I've to have 2-3 months of physio first. He said it could be osteoarthritis or it could be something else with similar symptoms. Given that it seemed to start with sciatica, there's a chance it could be something that's come from that. I don't know if I should try the physio for a while or if I should try to get past the receptionist to speak to a GP as well 🤔

Today I finally got through on the number the physio gave me last week, to make an appointment. Turns out I have to wait another month and have another phone call with another physio from the place he told me to phone 😩 I tried phoning the GP surgery again and the receptionist told me basically that the GP would just refer me for physio. Why is it so very hard to get past the receptionists to get to a GP? The pain is getting me down so much. I can't live a normal life. We have one amazing GP, one who is OK but i don't know what she's like re menopause, and the others are not great and I try to avoid seeing them - well I did, back when we actually had a chance to see them!

Do they let you have HRT when you're still having periods? Mine are not regular at all now but still getting them, just more spaced out and no pattern to them.

I've just started CBD oil to help with peri menopausal anxiety(it has been amazing, I've been hugely surprised) and as a side effect, it has dealt with my other peri symptoms too! In particular, pain from muscles and joints and hot flushes. So I'm just putting it out there, if you wanted a non painkiller answer for your pain

I think you should ring the GP and tell them you want to talk about HRT. Don't mention the joint pain. Once you get past the receptionist, you can ask all your questions to the Dr, while you have them on the phone. I don't think you should be waiting months for physio when it might be treatable with something else in the meantime. Lie to the receptionist if you have to - you need to actually speak to a doctor!

Try turmeric capsules and vegpa fish oil. Worked absolute wonders for me.

Glitterblue your hip pain sounds very similar to mine , I spoke to the Dr this week as it’s really getting me down some nights I can sleep on either side as the pain is so bad , it’s in both hips and down the sides of my thighs .
I had the same response as you I have to try physio first before I can get a referral
The physio did phone me & & after a series of questions said she’d text me some exercises to do which I can print off .if no improvement in 4/6 weeks she’ll do a referral for an X-ray . I just can’t believe that we can’t even see someone in person .

I'm not a fan of receptionists acting as triage nurses, but that's what they do these days, so you have to be savvy about what you say and how you say it. They are not medically trained, so it isn't right, but they seem to organise who gets to chat to a GP based on how desperate the caller is.
I got almost fobbed off by one when I had a UTI that was working its way up to my kidneys, I knew I needed antibiotics. So I point blank, at the fobbing off stage (you should of called at 8am was said on repeat, drink more water etc) said, ,"be that as it may, the moment has passed, I was working a busy nightshift in ICU at 8, what can I do in an emergency after 8am?".She only then said the GP would ring me back. By the time I got the antibiotics ( lucky I stood my ground) I had dull back ache, nausea, chills and felt shocking. Never happened before, just another side effect of perimenopause possibly ( or could of been having caught covid from work a couple of months before, occupational hazard).
I have since had a much easier time accessing my GP, by using the My GP app. If you're surgery uses this try that, it bypasses the receptionist entirely, and the GP will call you back.

I agree that’s how I book appointments in the patient access app

You have my absolute sympathy I am going through exactly the same thing right now. I have been trying to see my (very young male) GP for nearly six months. I gave up in the end and tried a different (middle aged female) doctor who phoned me after a three week wait and wouldnt hear anything about menopause and insisted that I self refer to a physio. Sent me a link. Looking at the link it says to only refer if it's an emergency as they are so overloaded. And that it might be months of waiting if it's not urgent. How do you define that? I'm not on deaths door but, like you, my life is impacted. Such a pain that the GPs dont seem to want to engage with menopause. I dont understand it, it's so obviously connected. I always tried to avoid HRT but think it might be the only option. It would be nice if the GP gave a shit. But the impression I get is that they just dont.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm at the end of my tether now. I'm in so much pain, I can't even live my life yet I still can't see a GP. DH emailed our local councillor the other night to ask her advice, after I almost fell in the living room purely from bumping my toes into the rug-y hips just can't cope with anything "different" other than very careful and slow walking and it threw me into the chair next to the rug. That sounds very dramatic but honestly, if I stand on anything or the cat darts in front of me, I almost fall. 0She contacted someone high up locally in the NHS who actually replied to DH that same night - Saturday night. Today he had a call from a senior community nurse saying she was coming to see me. I actually broke down on her and she was so lovely. She said I must see a GP and it must be soon. She said she would go and talk to them and see if someone could phone me or see me. Then she phoned back and said she had hit a brick wall, they said I had to phone reception to make an appointment, or do an e-consult to get someone to phone me. I've done the e-consult and apparently someone will call by 6.30pm tomorrow. I've asked funny feeling it'll be the useless one though. I seriously can't cope any longer. I can't do normal day to day things. I can't go for walks. I can't do basic household chores. Dh is doing it all as well as working full time and I feel so useless. My best friend is coming once a week and doing a more thorough clean of one room per week. I keep bursting into tears, I'm just so down. I can't sleep. I'm a mess. I'm absolutely exhausted and have no enthusiasm for anything any more. Still no period since late June and I've started getting hot flushes.

@humblesims how do you decide if it's an emergency? I wouldn't have a clue - I can barely walk around my house but I'm alive and breathing so I'm probably not an emergency but I'm in too much pain to have a life and I'm only 45.

Can you go to A&E? Can you contact your local authority health board and complain about your doctor's surgery?
I'm sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread but could you book a one off appointment with a private doctor? I did this recently for a gynaecology appt for a prolapse and they referred me for treatment via the NHS but it cut out the initial waiting time for the NHS gynaecologist and treatment was then in the hands of the health board
Failing all that I'd just turn up at the surgery and tell them it's an emergency and I must see someone there and then. If they refuse then start formal complaint to the practice manager.

You need a list to make the best use of the appointment.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/menopause.php

Go to this website and list all your symptoms to do with menopause (especially the stereotypical things to do with hot flushes - do not minimise).

Ask for HRT. Also ask for full bloods, including vitamin D VitD should be highest this time of year, but there is often a lack around menopause and it can make joint problems worse, especially hips, hands and feet and neck (ideally you should take vit K2 and magnesium with it if you are low).

Ideally you should have x-rays before physio so that they know what they are working with - ask about this if you get the chance.

Good luck if you get a phone call 🤞

@Melroses I thought that about xrays - but the physio said i wouldn't get any until after I'd had physio and was about to be referred to a consultant! Surely it makes more sense to know what they're treating first? The nurse this morning said I really need xrays before anything else.

You would think so. Everything seems to be so messy at the moment.

Will your nurse get back to you at some point?