Painful menopause

Freda1100

Hi please can you tell me does menopause cause osteoarthritis symptoms to go worse. Some days find it difficult to walk and stand let alone exercise.

helpline_team

Hi @Freda1100

Thank you for posting on our on-line community, we are sorry to hear you find it difficult to walk and stand with your condition.

You may feel that you will have good and bad days and hopefully not too many bad days, there are several things that can make a condition of Osteoarthritis (OA) worse, stress and anxiety can play a part in making your condition feel worse, also over doing it, we often hear on the Helpline that people will have days when they are pain free and decide to do everything in one day, such as cleaning the house, doing the garden etc, but often then find that they are in pain for a couple of days after so it is all about finding that right balance.

If you feel that you are having more bad days than good because of the pain, it may be worth speaking to your healthcare practitioner for a medication review and with their medical experience they may be able to answer that question for you.

Unfortunately, we don't appear to have a lot of information about arthritis and menopause, but we do have Sarah's story in which she talks about her arthritis and menopause and what she has experienced, we hope that helps.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/august/i-wanted-to-get-my-arthritis-pain-under-control-i-wasn-t-thinking-about-the-menopause/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/

Take care, we hope you get the pain under control very soon.

Best wishes

Chris

Helpline Advisor