Perimenopause or detached from life

Women's health
81

Well, Jay, with the initials CJD.....what else could I be??

I'm just trying to live up to my name!

Hmmm....I can sympathiize with your back pain. I slipped a disc or two at the age of 21, partly down to my job of dry-stone walling and fencing etc for the National Trust, partly from going camping for the very first time and carrying a loaded large backpack from railway station to campsite! I don't know if that's why most of my period pain centres around the lumbar region or if I have one of those back-tilted wombs (wouldn't surprise me!).

My foot problem is possibly neurological now. Had plantar fasciitis several years ago in the spring. First time I saw the doc in the summer (a locum) he did the heel injection straight off (never known pain like it!) but it did the trick and after 3 days of barely being able to stand I was pain free until that October, when I went onto the ball of that foot and heard and felt something snap.

Several weeks of crunching sounds and a feeling like walking on bubblwrap then the pain came and I found my foot kept swelling all over and I could barely walk. Saw doc in December. He took bloods for everything under the sun and decided the only thing wrong was my blood pressure (which raised every time I saw him!) and poor circulation. Put me on Nifedipine and Furosemide. I was on twice the water pill dose than mum and mum-in-law take but foot was always swollen so he upped them to 3 a day! Horrified parents thought I'd wreck my kidneys and my foot was worse than ever! After over 8 hours standing one day both lower legs went hot and red so doc took me off the Nifedipine. I had to go back yet again, virtually in tears. to say my foot was driving me mad and could it be Morton's Neuroma? He pointed to the wrong part of my foot! Sent me for a 2nd x-ray, saying if that didn't show anything maybe he'd have to send me to a foot specialist! Halleluja!!

Meantime, I discovered an NHS podiatry department in town but had to wait 9 weeks for an appointment - last May. They couldn't understand why I'd been drugged up unnecessarily and I was given excersises to do (I have very tight calf muscles and suffer shin-splints when walking hard). By last September I had a wonderful pair of walking boots and orthotics that worked wonders and my foot swelling suddenly went down. The podiatrist was still baffled by my burning pain though and wrote to my doc about an MRI. I was never notified by the docs so my podiatrist got me in for a (cheaper) Ultrasound scan, which showed tears in the plantar fascia caused by the heel injection.

Finally saw a new doc at our village practice at the end of December and he had sanctioned the MRI way back in September but no-one had thought to notify me! Came out more positive and armed with a letter and a choice of hospitals - so it's in my hands now when I can find the letter, find a way of getting to whichever hospital - and remember to do all of the above whilst coping with the peri symptoms and life!

Sorry about the essay! You shouldn't have said you were a former nurse! Trouble is, my foot issues have never been easy to explain and there's now quite a bit of history involved!

Your suggestion of a peri-party for the ladies round your pool sounds fabulous - but how many of us would remember where we'd put our passports etc??!

Thanks so much for listening.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

CJ x

82

Oh boohoo! Just spent ages regaling you with an account of my poorly foot's history - and it seems I used a term I shouldn't! Hope the thing gets approved coz haven't the strentgth to redo it! Boohoo!

83

Madcow..

oh what a nuisance, that happened to me yesterday when i put a website address on.. 😩

Jay x

84

Jay..

I can only think it's coz I mentioned a certain UK-wide organisation that cares for the countryside and historical buildings, to explain why I was dry-stone walling and doing other heavy and unusual jobs for a 21-yr old woman! I was trying to commiserate with you and your bad back as I slipped several discs back then and it leaves you with a weakness for life.

CJ X

85

If only I'd had a warning so I could've removed the offending part!

Jay - I thought your suggestion of a peri party by the pool was fabulous - but I reckon quite a few of us would forget where we'd put our passports - or something else important!

86

Jay...it's happened again!

This time I just said what a wonderful idea your peri-party by the pool would be - but some of us would forget where we had put our little red books needed for international travel!!

87

Aha!

88

Madcow

hahahahahahaha .... passports... i know i have to keep mine in my handbag all the time so I know where it is..

Jay xx

89

good lord... whats happening on here... i mentioned the red book for travel and its stopped mine now..

sacre bleu 😏

90

I know! How peculiar! It must be the spam-word of the day!

Let's raise a glass to the idiosyncrasies ? on the internet .... do pass the port, please!

91

Hi all. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Mad cow, I was prescribed amitriptyline for nerve pain in my head/ face. It helps in as much as it just takes the edge off the pain to make it more manageable. Having said that it does have some side effects. When I first started taking it, it made me really tired esp in the evening, about 2 to 3 hrs after taking it and I felt groggy in the morning. They can make you constipated but I never had that problem thankfully.It also gave me headaches initially but that subsided after a couple of weeks. My friend had amitriptyline for a back problem, prior to surgery and it really helped her. Am I glad I took them? I don't know. Sometimes I wish I had persevered without but having said that I know they helped me to function reasonably well when I was struggling to do so before. I have had to up them though so not sure if the pain is worse or if the effect wears off. If you decide to give them a go then you can always try min dose of 10mg and see how they suit you. I currently take 60 mg but will be coming off them if they don't help in a month or so. The Dr told me that the anti depressant effect doesn't really kick in till higher than 75mg. It is one of the old type anti depressants but tend to be used theses days for pain relief rather than depression. I know they use them a lot in neurology and at pain clinics. I hope this helps you.xx

92

Hi Mooma,

Yes, my amitryptilines are the 10mg dose - and only one to be taken, at 8pm. It was only a pack of 28. I got the feeling they were to be taken when the neurological burning pain in my foot is bad, rather than daily. I have Naproxen for foot pain, too, prescribed by a different doctor. Mind you, they aren't bad at tackling period pain - which is just coming on as I type.

My mother-in-law is a former physio and she said they used to be made to practise a pain-transference exercise on patients with chronic pain as the body isn't supposed to be able to concentrate on 2 areas of pain at the same time. Hmmmm....!

Thanks for your info and suggestions x

93

The thing with amitriptyline is that the effect builds up over time so if you just take odd ones here and there you won't get the pain relief effect but you will get the side effects each time as your body won't get used to it. If you don't have pain all the time them maybe something else would be better for you, that you can take when you need to. Probably a good idea to check with the doctor or pharmacist. Hope you manage to sort something out. Living with pain is no fun and stressful in itself. Good luck. Xx

94

Hi Mooma

thats very good advice ....

do you like my ittle cartoon lady 😃 think we should find a funny pic to cheer ourselves up... 😃

thought that one was nearest to resemble me hehehehehehe

have a great evening Jay. xx

95

Hi Mooma,

Thanks for your thoughts. I never thought of that - that it's not a good idea to take odd antidepressants now and then! I was prescribed Fluoxetine for PMT after a miserable 5 days of crying uncontrollably for no good reason from the very first day of my September period! I only took them for 3 days, felt better, so stopped. Same again the following month, but none since - if I can do without, I will!

I'm hoping to find out what is causing the burning pain in my foot, and the odd slightly numb sensation around the area of all but my big toe. Had it since December 2012 and it was only during an ultrasound scan last December that tears in the plantar fascia were found - something I, and my podiatrist, suspected after I felt and heard a snap near my heel in October 2012! I'd had the excrutiating injection in the heel for plantar fasciitis that August, so I knew it was likely. However, my doctor took loads of blood tests for other things then put me on water pills and circulation-boosting drugs! Ok, Iseem to have a tendency for puffiness around the ankles when standing or sitting for long periods, but my right foot was horribly swollen and puffy with the injury! My blood pressure was high every time I saw the doctor for a very good reason! I knew nothing was broken, especially after the first x-ray, but he sent me for another one last March and said I would need to see a specialist if nothing showed up!

By this time I was in so much pain and fear and could hardly walk sometimes, so I found an n h s podiatrist locally, who was happy to see people without a referral, and I finally got seen at the end of May last year! It took 'til September for the swelling to finally go down and for me to be able to walk without a limp, as long as I wore some walking boots with special ortotics. My lovely podiatrist wrote to the doc to refer me for an MRI scan but I heard nothing and in December she got me the ultrasound scan. When I saw a new doctor at our village practise he said he had sanctioned the request back in September - but no-one had contacted me, or the podiatrist! Now it is in my hands - but I have yet to rediscover the letter I was given with my special code number on it to book an MRI scan!

Doh!

Jay - I love your idea - but swapping the jazzy pattern for a picture is way beyond my hormonal capabilities at the moment! I've just written a more brief history of my poorly foot, leaving out mention of certain travel items! Fingers crossed! By the way - do you REALLY have a Mrs Slocombe blue-rinse??

CJ x

96

wow! I have found some kindred spirits and it would seem that I am not a total fruit loop after all... have been taking a plant derived mineral supplement for a while now and have been thrilled with the results. my hair is has actually started to look like hair (instead of straw!!) and my skin has a lovely glow again and I now feel part of the human race again having been 'out of it' for too long. My get up and go got up and went and I was a very unhappy bunny (but I didnt care!!! Mad or what?) luckily a good friend suggested the supplement and I was willing to give anything a go at this point in time and I havent looked back!! not sure if miracle's the right word but I have noticed some amazing improvements :-)

97

Hi Madcow

oh bless you, that sounds painful alright... good lord... poor you...

so what do you do now with no number ....

it was bad enough when I had my bunions done hahahahahahahah yes I really did, I lived in Saudi at that time and had them done, and they sliced my big toes off at the base of bone and it took weeks to reattach, and also sliced the bunion etc, fantastic surgeon he was, explained everything to me, wow after it did smart abit for a few weeks.... my big toes didnt wiggle for a good long while, i saw an xray a few weeks later and so weird seeing big toes not joined together... well worth it though... 😄 can wiggle them now ...

Mrs Slocombe oh i am laughing here, no I havent got a blue rinse, dark ash I am, out of a box of course 😃

excellence 8.1 😃 looks like that style in the morning until i pin it up though hahahaha

Jay x

98

Nicole

so what is the derived mineral called ? was it Maca ...

Jay xx

99

Wow, Nicola! Tell me more about this wonderstuff! The last time I had hair, not straw, was when I had a proper, salon dye-job - 14 years ago! As my "baby" brother is getting married this summer I'd like to look less Worzel Gummidge, more Aunt Sally (yes, my cheeks are just as rosy!).

Ouch, Jay - I really don't want to read your account of bunions again - I'd rather have my plantar doodah any day!!

CJ x

100

Madcow

hahahahahahahah I knew that bunion info would help 😃

Jay xx