Vitamins and/or supplements

[sohardtopickanewone]

Just wondering what others experiences or advice are regarding supplements.
I'm way past menopause by a few years, no hrt or anything but have started taking some supplements to support joint health, I'm worried about my knees and hips which have recently started to ache.
Did some reading and asked some friends, here's my list, does this sound about right?

Vitamin D & B
Turmeric
Glucosamine, MSM & Chondroitin
Collagen
Omega 3

It's definitely worth doing a bit of digging into medical research papers on supplements.

Mine has shown there is little proof that glucosamine and chondroitin help.

Omega 3 can be found in oily fish and foods but some in supplements is derived from fish in contaminated waters.

Turmeric- the jury is out but it may help with inflammation generally in the body.

Collagen- there was a detailed prog on the radio (science prog) on this a while back and it came out as a no-no - can't do anything by swallowing it.

Vit D- everyone should take it.

My research matches Jingle. (Despite my SM being FLOODED by glucosamine products tempting me to ignore the lack of evidence and my sore hip 🙄)

I take creatine too. It has a reputation as being for weight lifters. But it has proven brain-stuff benefits.

I had hip and back pain for years - both went away within a week or so of starting HRT.

I’m just taking vitamin D at the moment.

Me too. HRT has solved everything bar a bit of brain fog for me. It used to be much worse. Don’t suppose I can expect miracles 😂

I've found Biotin really good for nails. They were starting to getting really ridged but the biotin has really helped.

Creatine and vitamin D are the supplements with the science behind. Go with those.

What is creatine supposed to help with?

I take vit D, and use a magnesium cream against leg cramps

@JinglingSpringbells that's interesting, have wondered for a while if it's a waste of money as you read such mixed things about collagen.

I would take iron, b12 and possibly magnesium

I take a combined magnesium/calcium/vit d supplement.

I also started taking ashwagandha for low level menapausal anxiety and its been amazing

Like @BananagramBadger and @Vivisays I started HRT after over 5 years post menopause. I'd originally gone to the doctor because I thought I was getting arthritis in my hand and kept going to a physio for pains in my knee. After just over a week, both were gone. Other side effects include better sleep and less brain fog. I thought I had been fine in Round 1 of the menopause, but apparently, it's quite common for women to get new symptoms even years after their last period.

There was a programme on Radio 4 a few months back- can't recall the name of it- but they looked at it in depth. There are also features online about it and you can get a summary through ChatGpt of all of this.

The bottom line is that swallowing collagen doesn't mean it 'stays as collagen' in the body that can help joints, skin etc.

It's a con.

I'll have a look for the radio 4 programme..been on the fence for a while. Quite happy to save our money!

I can't take HRT unfortunately but my joints are incredibly painful. Atm I'm trying collagen (the peptides one which are the building blocks for collagen).

Glucosamine didn't work for me but were an absolute lifesaver for stbxh. He thought he was going to have to give up work due to his painful hands but within days they were uncurled and less painful. The dose recommended is 1100mg daily and if it hasn't worked within two months then its not going to work at all (for that particular problem) so I think it's more beneficial if you have arthritis rather than lack of hormones etc.

Biotin is very good if you have weak nails.

Turmeric does have some science behind it for joint inflammation.

The point with collagen is that by the time your stomach acid has digested it, there's no 'collagen' left to get to your joints. There was a doctor discussing this on the radio programme.

After loads of research I take

magnesium
omega 3
ashwanga (jury is out but I find it great)
Vit D3 with K2

@INeedAnotherName none of my business, but something you might want to check in with your doctor on. I was also in the "can't take HRT" category when I first started menopause. This time round, I saw a different doctor who specialises in women's health and menopause. After considering all the options and weighing the reasons not to take it versus the reasons to, we decided it was a level of acceptable risk. Obviously, this may not be the case for you, and I don't mean to come across as a zealot - but just wanted to flag in case it's worth a second look.

Cognitive health and preventing muscle wastage. Women don't get enough of it. Article here https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250523-the-surprising-health-benefits-of-taking-creatine-powder

There are hundreds and hundreds of studies on creatine and I wish I could find the website that pulls all of the studies together (it's not just about creatine but there's an excellent website that essentially pools all of the studies on loads of supplements together and I just can't remember it!). It's one of the most studied and tested supplements and not just something that is beneficial for strength training.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7910963/