Menopausal aches and pains
Aches and pains are very common symptoms in the perimenopause and menopause. The problem is there can be many different kinds of pain in different areas of the body, and we can experience these at different times in perimenopause and menopause, and to different degrees and different frequencies. And sometimes aches and pains can come and go. So, it's one of these groups of symptoms that can be quite difficult to manage, especially as you never know when they're going to appear.
We're not quite sure about why pain seems to be more frequent during menopausal transition, but it seems there is a link between falling oestrogen levels and pain perception - how we see pain. Falling oestrogen levels can also impact how pain develops, and inflammation. So, there's a combination of causative factors, and the end result can be that your pain threshold is lower.
So, let’s take a look at 5 of these common aches and pains:
1. Joint Pain
When I first started looking into menopause and the symptoms, joint pain seemed to be such a surprising one. I'd never heard of it; but it seems to be very, very commonly experienced, according to the thousands of women who talk to me.
Very often, especially in perimenopause, you get achy joints. You go to the doctor, and they can't find anything wrong, and they don’t connect it to your hormone levels. So, you need to be aware that the aches and pains that you're feeling in your joints may have something to do with the hormonal changes that are going on.
We know that if hormone levels are decreasing, inflammation may increase in the joints. And it can be any joint - you may have one single finger starting to annoy you or you may find that you ache in every single joint.
Then there are ligaments. Ligaments are like flexible ropes that join bone to bone. You have lots of ligaments in your knees and your wrists. In fact, in any mobile joint, there will be ligaments connecting one bone to the other. The problem here is that when hormonal changes are happening, these ligaments can tighten so that the range of movement in your joints diminishes. You can't get the joints to move as far, they become creaky, they become sore. The ligaments pull the joints so they rub together. That's going to cause inflammation and pain.
Dehydration can affect this as well. So, it can be a combination of both hormonal changes and dehydration going on. If you get stiffness and pain first thing in the morning, that's very often a good indication that it's the ligaments that are the issue. Then once you start to move everything eases off and the pain and discomfort disappear.
To help this one, especially if it's first thing in the morning, then have a small shot glass of water before you go to bed at night to stay hydrated throughout the night, and drink plenty of water during the day.
You can look at fish oils. If your joints are a bit creaky, then fish oils are great at lubricating the joints. If you're vegetarian or vegan, you can go with flaxseed oil.
Movement as well. Even if you feel a little bit of discomfort, keeping the joints moving is going to stop them really stiffening up.
2. Muscle pain
Again, muscle pain is a really common one. A lot of you say that first thing in the morning it sometimes feels as if you've run a marathon the day before, and you're literally so sore you can't move.
We've got connections between the muscle and the bone, called tendons. They're a bit like ligaments, but they attach bone to muscle. They can tighten up in the same way as ligaments, but they pull on both bone and muscles, and can therefore cause pain in both. In terms of the muscles, it can affect any area - the arms, the legs, the shoulders, the neck, and the back.
One of the main issues here is low magnesium levels. We need lots of magnesium when the hormonal changes go on, and low magnesium can have a direct impact on muscle function. You may find that when you go to exercise classes, your muscles are sore for much longer and they're much more painful than they were maybe a year ago. And very often that's just a lack of magnesium.
The other thing to be really aware of is if you start to get lots of muscle pain, especially in the thighs and the calves, it can be due to something called sarcopenia, which I have mentioned before in other blogs.
Basically, your muscle mass can be severely reduced. This can be quite serious because, obviously, that's going to affect the way you walk. It's going to affect your fitness. It's going to affect your mobility. So, if you're experiencing a lot of muscle pain and these little tips don't help, please get this one checked out by the doctor.
To keep your muscles nice and healthy, and to avoid sarcopenia, you need to need to eat plenty of good quality protein, drink plenty of water every day, and you need to exercise really regularly to keep muscles strong.
Extra tip:
The herb Devil's claw can help relieve general aches and pains in the muscles and joints. You could try our Atrosan Devil's claw tablets for this. They are also helpful if you are suffering from rheumatic pain or backache.
"Easy to take and have noticed some relief after a few weeks of taking"
3. Breast pain
Again, breast pain is a really common symptom. It often happens as part of PMS, before you've got to the perimenopause and menopause. But in perimenopause, this symptom can be much more uncomfortable and can end up being really painful. It can also last a lot longer.
It's mainly the hormonal levels that are affecting this. If your periods are still regular, then you can look at the herb Agnus castus.
Otherwise, just make sure you're drinking plenty of water because, again, dehydration causes breast tenderness, believe it or not. Breast tissue is a bit like a sponge. If you get dehydrated, the body will hold onto as much water as it can and breast tissue is a great place to store water.
So, if you find that before a period you are getting really sore breasts, or they go up a size, or they feel really hard, very often that's just dehydration. Drinking sufficient water can usually sort that one out really quickly.
Taking a zinc supplement can be helpful for breast tenderness. Some women find a kelp supplement really helpful too. However, as always, for any breast changes, if you're worried about them at all please double-check with your doctor.
4. Headaches
Again, this is such a common symptom in perimenopause and menopause. There can be a lot of different factors here. If you're getting headaches regularly, the one thing I would say, first of all, do a diary. Figure out when you're getting headaches and what's going on around that time. It could be just due to dehydration. It could be due to that cup of coffee you had an hour ago. It could be due to the fact that you had a couple of biscuits or a cake or something really sweet or something really salty. A bag of crisps could do it. It can be low blood sugar if you've not eaten for a while.
Sometimes just doing a simple diary for a week or two, with all the foods and drinks and the times that the headaches are happening, can pinpoint what could be triggering your headaches.
If the headaches do continue though, if you're getting to the point where you are relying on painkillers, please get this checked out by your doctor. Remember, not all symptoms you get during menopause are caused by the menopause. So, just double-check this one.
5. Dental pain
It's not toothache, but you feel a sort of subtle discomfort behind your teeth. This can be due to the fact that gums can recede. Falling oestrogen levels can dry the gums a little bit, gums recede, and more of the tooth is exposed to food and everything. You may find that your gums are bleeding, and maybe sometimes it can get to the point where your teeth actually feel loose.
This is one for your dentist to check out, first of all, just to make sure there's nothing else going on. Do mention to them that you are in perimenopause or menopause so that they can take this into account. Another thing that can help if you find that you're getting a dry mouth and it's affecting the gums is a Sea Buckthorn oil supplement. There is also a supplement called CoQ10, which can be used for bleeding gums.
Sleep and pain perception
The other really important thing here is that poor sleep will heighten your pain perception. So, if you find that you're getting lots of aches and pains and you're not sleeping well, these can be connected. In which case, obviously, try and improve sleep in any way that you can. For some tips to help you sleep better, head over to my blog; 'How to sleep better during perimenopause and menopause'.
So, I hope you found this one helpful. As I said before, pain can show up in all sorts of different ways in perimenopause and menopause.
Please tell me your stories. If you've had any issues with any kind of pain, what happened? What was it? What did you do to sort it? Please share your stories because you know that I love reading and learning from them.
Until next time, take care and have a lovely week.
