Muscle pain and stiffness - is more oestrogen the answer?

[EmmaStone]

Hi, I'm late 40s, and started low level oestrogen about 6 months ago to target urge and stress incontinence issues (taking Vagifem 10mg, plus have Mirena coil).

However, I wondered if my very achy and stiff muscles might also respond to increased oestrogen? I've had rotator cuff issues for a few years, also VERY tight calves which caused plantar fasciitis. I'm currently getting a monthly sports massage to help with the shoulder/rotator cuff, regularly exercise including yoga, but my muscle tightness seems disproportionate.

Has anyone else experienced super tight muscles and found HRT helped?

I should also point out that I'm not exhibiting any other 'normal' menopause symptoms.

Yes, HRT has helped me massively with stiffness and achy, post-exercise muscles. For me it's one of the main benefits from taking Estrogen. Before that even just Pilates would leave me aching for days, despite having exercised 4-5 a week my whole adult life. Now I am back to lifting weights etc without much need for recovery (and no stiff robot-walk the morning after!). You don't say what dose you are on, but if you are using Estrogel you can vary/build up gradually to find the level that suits you.

Gyrotonic is excellent for stiff joints and muscles - it's really helped me.

I started HRT specifically for my joint pain and stiffness, and I also am finding my muscle tightness much better. I had to add extra oestrogen to my starting dose to get to a good place, but I can't believe the difference

@CMOTDibbler can I please ask how many squirts of oestrogel you're using? I'm using two but haven't noticed any improvement yet.

@bluecrayola as I've got sensitive/ weird skin, I decided to take tablets (obv in conjunction with my dr) so take Bijuve plus an Elleste solo which is a total of 2mg oestrogen but I have no idea how that works out in terms of gel.
I also use vagifem

If you’re just using Vagifem (not clear from post) you won’t get any benefit from that other than local effects (vagina,bladder etc). The absorption is practically minimal so if you want systemic oestrogen you will need a patch, gel or tablet.

Ah, okay. Thanks CMOTDibbler.

Brilliant, excellent news everyone. I'll be making a GP appointment soon 😀

I haven been advised to lower my cholesterol, does anyone know if you can take plant sterol tablets whilst on HRT? Thankyou