Achilles and gluteal tendinitis - give me hope!

[SparkleHorse82]

I’ve been suffering from Achilles tendinitis for two straight years. It’s better than it was 12 months ago but causes me discomfort (if not pain) every day. I’ve had private physio which helped the ankles but was quite aggressive in its approach and led to me getting gluteal/hip issues too. When I don’t attempt to strengthen my Achilles my hips improve - but then my ankles and calf tightness gets worse.
I then had nhs physio which was utterly useless.
I’m slowly replacing all my footwear but this is expensive obvs! Even supportive brands like fitflop don’t work. I can only really wear trainers with a large heel to toe drop but they’re not suitable for every occasion eg work.
I’m saving up for shockwave therapy but that’s ££££.
i’m almost 44 and not on any HRT yet. I am on the Mirena coil but this started before that (albeit I don’t think the coil suits so may remove it anyway).
I am doing Pilates, swimming, cross trainer and general strength training to build my oversall physical health and strength. The lack of stability leads to knee weakness too which I need to get on top of.

What else can I do? Would collagen help? How about acupuncture? Is HRT the only solution?
I’m so fed up and feel about 90 some days. I don’t want to live the second half of my life in daily pain and feeling unsteady.
Please… can anyone give me hope?

Anyone?! Maybe I should post in another thread

Hello. Just came on to say if it is in both ankles (bilateral) and in more than one place it may be there is something more going on. Look up enthisitis. Can be to do with thyroid or other conditions especially in your age and female. Ask the GP for bloods and imaging if you haven't already had it done. If you have already done this apologies.

I very much sympathise. I have sudden onset Achilles tendinopathy after being prescribed Ciprofloxacin by my GP when I absolutely shouldn’t have been.

I’m in the early days and I’m so f*cked off about it. I watched some YouTube videos that suggested collagen supplements, anti-inflammatory meds and gentle exercise. And shoe lifts in trainers.

I’ve had it on and off since I was 15. 37 now and a shit load of scar tissue but I can go months without pain and then a flare, on and off. Sorry, haven’t found a cure but it’s in the background now, first year or two it was much more inflamed.

I'm the same, a good strong physio massage and ultrasound really helped. Regularly standing on one leg, strengthens the back and sides.

I've got a Theragun ball which I use to massage the area every other day.

I'm on HRT but physio said it's common in peri, tendons/ligaments that have never given us any trouble suddenly give us a wave!

I wear fit flops trainers and Birkenstocks, never walk in bare feet. I have really high arches.

The physio recommended valsole orthotic insoles from Amazon. They are very good firm quality and are about £24.99.

My Achilles tendonitis, peroneal tendonitis and carpal tunnel have all vanished since I’ve been on Mournjaro. I’m sure weightloss has helped relieve pressure on my feet and ankles but I was significantly improved after jab 3 when I’d only lost 3-4 pounds. I said at that point that even if I didn’t lose any more weight I’d happily stay on it to be pain free!
I’m nearly 12 months in and still pain free, no flare ups

Before the nhs physio referral the GP did do some bloods as I was worried about arthritis as it runs in my family and it all came back clear but I might go back and ask again.
It definitely started in right ankle and then other areas just seemed to add in over time but I wonder how much of that is due to peri and due to my body over compensating and straining other areas

Thanks for this - interesting. My BMI is normal range (about 23) so this isn’t something I’d be opting for but maybe there’s something in this about glucose and insulin I should considering….

@SparkleHorse82 I think MJ acts on inflammation primarily but I do think there is a link between inflammation and insulin resistance, add in peri menopause playing havoc with oestrogen and testosterone and it’s an endocrine nightmare!
MJ also seems to have improved my gyne issues too.

Despite never being more than a size 10 I have had gestational diabetes twice and have to have my HBA1C measured every year - so maybe I’ll go back to the GP and ask more. Thanks!

I had cipro in my twenties and suffered for a week or two at the time. Forgot all about it until recently. Maybe the damage had been laying dormant all these years until peri cropped up?

Did you have Metformin both times? Ask GP to test your B12 specifically, metformin can cause it to be low and low B12 can be linked to neuropathy symptoms.

No, I was fully diet controlled both times but I did end up with postnatal pre eclampsia with my first (9 years ago). I have never had a high HBA1C outside pregnancy but B12 is a good shout. I think I will ask for further tests to rule anything out before I pay for more private physio and shockwave treatment.

You can buy silicone lifts from
amazon and increase/decrease the height as you need to.
you can get shockwave therapy on the NHS but you need to go back to your doctor and ask to be referred to hospital podiatry (not orthopedics) as they can do all sorts of things. I was given custome orthotics and 6 sessions of shockwave, but Id been through the physio first and gone private inbetween (orthotics, physio, even had a steroid injection) but things kept flaring up (HRT may well have helped as now I correlate the dates it all happened in peri/post menopause).

if your GP is a bit useless go online and look up where your nearest Foot Health or Hospital with a podiatry dept is and ask GP to refer you. I recently had to ask for a referral and was really surprised to get an appointment in 6 weeks.

good luck.

Following. I've had achilles tendinitis for months just in the right ankle. My physio was over the opinion that I was putting the right ankle under strain after badly breaking the left ankle about 4 years ago.
It's strange though. I can walk 10000 steps with little or no pain. Then have a sit down then get up 15 minutes later and I'm in agony. Other days I'm in pain from the moment I wake up.

Yes! This is me. I can walk all day and be ok in supportive trainers then sit down and when I stand back up it’s agony! And the next day I will have swelling on the lump again. I am so over this. It’s been two whole years. I want to be able to exercise freely and to try to feel strong again. But I’m only at the begging of perimenopause so this feels like it could be the start of a really rubbish decade 😵‍💫

Did all of this actually work? Or are you still dealing with it years later? I’m so concerned this is just going to be present for the rest of my life now

It made a huge difference then I had another flair a few years later and had shockwave again (six sessions) but also went on HRT a year or so later (I was 10
years post menopause by that point) and it largely disappeared. Im
left with a degraded tendon (like fraying rope) and have to
be mindful (I wouldn’t take up long distance running), and am careful about shoes (but I’ve always had to be anyway as have flat feet and significant leg length diff) but I can walk for miles (my knee is the issue there - joys of getting older) so im in a much better place than I was.

I agree with another poster who said if you are getting it both sides it warrants deeper investigation. I went NHS, Private then NHS again - the change for me was getting in front of injury specialists at the relevant hospital. I won’t lie, it took about 2 years to get through the system but the treatment far outweighed anything I’d had privately.