Am I in pain or just a bit wimpy?

Brilliant news Scentia

Just reporting back in after 7 days of VIT D and B12 and I feel so much better already. My DH and I are sure this is a psychological cure, but we are taking it and running with it, hopefully this continues and it was just a vitamin deficiency causing my pains. Never did get an appointment at the doctors, I am always too late when I ring and the soonest is the 18th December if I wanted to pre book, I hope I can call next week and cancel that if this is the cure I was after. Thanks for all your help.

Scentia don’t take advice from people on a forum who don’t even know you! Go to the GP and let the doctor advise on what you need. If you live in the uk it’s free or was when I lived there. (Here in NZ I have to pay £40 ☹️)

This post did me a favour too, I'd been forgetting the vitamin D and I get a bit depressed without it.

I sympathise but cant give advice,I have sailed through life without a care in the world, until recently when diagnosed with Arthritis in my hip, and boy does that give me pain sometime I cry it gets so bad, but Perservere until it is so bad I have to take painlikkers.On the bright side, I reach 78 tomorrow,happy days!
You are too young to have so much pain, a trip to the Doctor sounds ike the right medicine.
Good Luck

Scentia please go and see your GP. I tried to ‘ tough it out’ and eventually got a terrible telling off from a Rheumatologist for wrecking my joints . Better to get it properly checked out than not, just because you didn’t want to make a fuss. Good luck!

Good advice Starblaze...I’ve been fasting from 6 pm til 8 am for three years.....hasn’t done me anything but good. I was diagnosed with ulcer and told not to eat after 6pm unless absolutely imperative and unavoidable. I took advice ...cured my reflux and ulcer and lost a stone into the bargain. The posters aches and pains s could well be weigh
problem ...also get out of the gym and more into swimming.

I've seen some very good answers from the grans users, from diet to various vitamins, turmeric, swimming, physio, etc.

Another suggestion is to try acupuncture. I think it is available on the NHS as it is now a recognised and useful therapy. So if all else fails, and after seeing your GP - see if you can get referred for a course of acupuncture or have a few private sessions.

All the best!

I'd pop to the go, just so they can rule out anything, obviously vit d s d supplements are good, you might get a physio referral or other referral, and if so see what the professionals suggest first. With Christmas coming up you will probably have a few days off and can see does it get better a bit? If your job is physical might there be something that your employer could do to make it less physically taxing? They wi take this seriously as health and safety is so important and it's a legal requirement to accommodate your physical needs

About 9 months ago I changed my diet for non pain related reasons although one of my thumb joints was swollen and giving me gyp. I ate very little meat but had salmon, smoked mackerel and one other oily fish about three times a week. Increased my green veg, other fruits and veg, including pulses but no potatoes. Tried very hard to reduce my sugar intake.
It wasn’t for loosing weight but more for health and eco reasons.

Last week, I realised that the swelling and pain in my thumb had decreased, so it is definitely giving a change in diet a go.

I do agree with other posters that another trip to your GP is not unreasonable. I hope you find a way of reducing the pain as it can be so debilitating. All the best

Persistent pain can be debilitating so as this is continuing I would definitely see your GP. If you’re wanting some general advice and feel like you’ll need more time to discuss it why not make an appointment with a Practice Nurse or Nurse Practitioner? I’ve had patients make appointments with me to discuss similar things. You mention HRT. If you’re already prescribed HRT it could be that you need it changing or perhaps increasing because it is supposed to help with pain linked to the menopause.

Wow, such a lot of advice to get through.
When I go to the gym, I do very gentle strength work to keep my muscles working, I don’t run on a treadmill and I will up my swimming and also swap one day for my very first yoga class! I really don’t go mad at the gym and my walk to work is all very flat and a slow few miles each way. I am going to see the doctor on Wednesday and ask for my VIT d to be checked and my b12 as I am vegan and this can be an issue I have read today. Onwards and upwards I will definitely cut out my sugars and salt intake as that is helpful for me. I have done so much researching today, I will be fit as a fiddle once I have implemented all my plans. Thankyou everyone for taking the time to help me out.

I would go for peace of mind. The weather always makes me feel awful but I have Fibromyalgia which is exacerbated by it. Menopause can cause a myriad of problems but some manage to sail through it.

Chronic pain, even relatively mild chronic pain, can really drag you down. You don't need to feel wimpy about that, scentia. If you're still in pain after taking almost daily painkillers, maybe you need a stronger one, in which case a GP visit is where to start. Good luck.

I'm with Starblaze. I'm losing weight on 16:8, strictly no sugar, VIT D3 Better you.
Also, if money ok try good Chiropractor as they are good on diagnostics and have a general blood test. Not enough Vit D 'in' range. Must be well up in optimal.
On bus st mo...

@scentia, I was about your age when I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis, so I would definitely go and get checked with the gp. Hopefully it will be something easily treatable.
My gp told me once that if I had hypochondria I would be at the surgery more than he was. A slight exagerration, I think but, like you, at the time I seemed to be there a lot. And it doesn't sound as though you go without good reason, so don't hesitate, go and see him/her, and good luck.

Always good to check things out with a GP, however, when I went along with just the same problem my doctor told me he had no idea of the cause. That was it, no tests. I suffered through the winter, but in the summer I was fine. October rolled around and back to square one with the pain. I self diagnosed Vit D deficiency bought D3 supplements (400IU) and a week later I was pain free. Vitamin D cant do you any harm at relatively low doses and may well sort things out.

I endorse the daily CLO capsule.

If it is worrying you enough to post on here about it, then you need to see your GP, There is probably no need for an emergency appointment so, just book one on the app. Even if you just get blood counts and advice about painkillers and exercise, it will put your mind at rest.

Scentia
All this exercising your doing. Do you know that Jim Fixx who 'invented' jogging died of a heart attack while jogging.
You can over do it, you know.

I referred myself to our surgery physiotherapist when I experienced terrible hip pain expecting to have to have a hip replacement - he fixed it with a couple of astonishingly simple exercises for me to repeat daily for a couple of months. He sorted the other one the same way 11 years later. All free too!!

Another vote for vitamin D, I’m 63 and have joint pain in fingers and knees.I’m not over weight and my part time work is physical. For me, exercise doesn’t help or make it worse. Mine all started mid 50s half way thru menopause Dr just told me it was part of hormones reducing. If mine gets to bad I take anti inflammatory for 24hrs then I’m ok for few weeks, also Vitamin d definitely helps I notice the difference if I don’t take them. Maybe trial some things out before you make a visit to the Drs.

I hope my experience may calm any fears about your future health.
When I was going through the menopause I developed pains in joints, particularly my hips and knees. I also developed nodules on my finger joints that were especially painful. Naturally I thought it was all downhill from that point. This depressing outlook seemed to be confirmed when the doctor said it was osteoarthritis and that I would probably need a hip replacement in a few years time.
Well it’s 15 years later and I haven’t needed any joints replaced! In fact as soon as I was through the menopause the joint pains subsided and my mobility was not impaired in any way. My finger joints only hurt intermittently when a new nodule appears so all in all I’m not in bad shape for a nearly 70 year old.
My advice is to look upon it as temporary (hopefully) and to try very hard to avoid any heavy duty painkillers. Keep doing gentle exercise (tai chi is a good choice) and taking walks on flat terrain plus swimming if you enjoy it (I don’t). If possible treat yourself to some chiropractic treatment or similar. If the pain gets too bad to bear take a combo of aspirin and paracetamol. By the way I would certainly have blood tests to make sure there is no other underlying cause: I was tested for rheumatoid arthritis. Apart from that I found the doctor of little help.
Hopefully you will improve once through your menopause and I wish you all the best.

Scentia - really glad you wrote this post and for all the people who responded. In similar situation, don’t want to go back to doctors, joined gym and getting to sleep and staying asleep due to pain is awful (combined with hot sweats/menopause). Given the responses on this post, I’m going to aim for swimming and going out for hour’s walk daily rather than treadmill. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

Hi Scentia what exercises do you do at the gym and is there adequate supervision? If you're training with weights it's imperative that each exercise is done correctly and over time, we can all slip into bad habits.

Do you run on a treadmill? I was advised against this as it can be jolting to your body so I use an air walker instead. If you enjoy walking, make sure you have good shoes as even doing this on footpaths can aggravate aching joints.

If your pain is bad enough to be impacting on your everyday activities then IMO seeing your GP isn't unreasonable.

I hope you can find something to help.