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[Deb51]

Hello I'm new to this forum.   I'm 51 and have all the usual menopause symptoms like hot sweats, lank hair, hair loss, foggy brain, mood swings,  irregular heavier periods and have been like this for about 10years.  But 6 months ago I had a shoulder op to remove a bone spur and damaged tissue. During the first 3months of recovery my arm was in pain with nerve buzzing!  When it started to calm down it spread to my other hand and eventually to my left foot.  I have had MRI scans and no nerve pitching can be found.  Now into the 6month it's in both hands and both feet although my right foot is not so bad.  I have numbness behind my toes too and my hands hurt.
If I am busy doing something or lost in a good film it can calm down and then it comes back as soon as I move or realise it.  I am being checked out by a neurologist at the moment but he doubts he will find a cause (I doubt too)
I've tested whether resting or using the gym has any effect and neither makes any change so I stick to the gym lol.
My question to you is how long have you suffered tingling hands and feet for and if you benefitted from any medicines or vitamins etc.? I'm a bit scared of HRTs side effects.
I have read other posts and am shocked so many women have such drastic life changing symptoms all made by our own bodies, it's so frustrating and depressing, men just don't understand do they!

Thanks ladies x

[CLKD]

HORMONES! 

When ladies are pregnant it is common to suffer Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  So your symptoms may be similar.  Or you may have a nerve trapped in the neck which will cause radiation down the arms, have you seen a physio.?  There is a nerve in the front of the thigh which can cause acute pain - I get this when I've been bending over at antique fairs, it took over 12 months for me to realise that this too, is postural.  The pain is so sharp and deep in the thigh in the night that I scream without making a noise 

There is never not a cause for tingling 

[Deb51]

I'm sorry to hear you have such pain CLKD.

I have had Emg nerve tests which say I only have wear n tear  in my neck and lumber area with such minor interference of nerves that it cannot be causing my symptoms.  My neurologist has told be its more likely to be arthritis, funny how it's come all at once after an op on my shoulder.  I don't have arthritis symptoms he was just trying to suggest something rather then saying he couldn't find what causes my numbness and tingling.  I was completely without this pain before my op! !
I first thought I may have been mishandled while under gen anaesthetic and this damaged my spine but the MRI scans say not.  I have been seeing a Physio from 2 days after my shoulder op 6months ago and she cannot find anything to cause my symptoms and in fact is very interested in my case.
I do Pilates once a week and when I can I go to the gym but I don't go mad I Just try to do some cardio and small weights just to keep from bright a couch potato!

The neurologist said if my lumber area was pinching a nerve that would trouble my foot it would be the top of my foot and shin and not the sole and back of toes where I get it. So he signed me off.
It's frustrating not knowing what is causing it and whether it's hormones and if it will ever go away.

[honeybun]

One of my early meno symptoms was pins and needles in both of my hands. I thought it was a trapped nerve until I realised it had gone when I started HRT.

Dont thinks it's uncommon to be honest.


Honeybun
X

[Deb51]

Honeybun, when you had it, did it have bad days and good days or was it just continuous at the same level?
Mine fluctuates. Never truly gone but I can have days where it's really bad or just slightly noticeable and not in any pattern, certainly not coinciding with a period cycle.

[Puffin Mama]

Hi Deb51

Very cute dog on your photo!   I have had and am still having a lot of tingling in hands and feet - can also feel mine around my mouth, which is very odd!  Mine has been on and off since the start of the year and I also get odd muscle twitches with it sometimes, which persist for a few days and then disappear.    My GP initially thought carpal tunnel and as it is quite common in pregnancy,  I can quite see that it would also appear in menopause, but after examination said it wasn't that.  He did suggest that it might be caused by anxiety - which has been my worst symptom of meno - as overbreathing causes that tingling feeling in hands and face.

It would be interesting to hear what your physio comes up with - I have been thinking about seeing my osteopath to see what he thinks, as I am also getting painful joints, particularly the knuckles.    I have just started a magnesium supplement to see if that helps -will report back if it does anything, as that is supposed to support the nervous system - and also help with sleeping, which would be an added bonus!

Like you,  mine remains the same whether I am exercising or doing nothing.  My GP thinks there is no cause for concern and as he is very thorough,  I have decided to believe him and just try to ignore it.  What really frustrates me is that I have no idea how long all of this will go on for and it's impossible to predict from day to day how I will feel.  I fully sympathise and hope you find some solutions soon - it's maddening!!

Puffin

[Annie0710]

I'm having painful problems with my left shoulder blade , the pain gets quite intense and in one particular place, as well as I am unable to put my chin near my chest I am getting weird feelings in my left arm, it changes it can be a feeling of a IM shot in the upper arm or dead feeling along with a floaty feeling of the whole arm going down to the palm of my hand, but it's this terrible sharp pain at the back which at times is almost reducing me to tears

Pins and needles in hands/legs/feet are also typical of B12 deficiency (symptoms of menopause overlap with B12d) so might be worth checking that out too

Annie

[Annie0710]

I've tried all that, I really don't rate the gels, I've tried hot water bottles

The first attack I did put down to sleeping weird as I had my grandchildren in the bed all night and think I curled up right at the edge (remember mine being little flinging arms everywhere and didn't fancy a fat lip or black eye )

But this is getting worse, the pain is like a throb (radius about a 50p piece size) I'm guessing the arm problems are to do with a trapped nerve from the shoulder blade but I hurt daily everywhere but these shoulder blade intense pains are bringing tears to my eyes and a quivering lip :-(


Annie

[Deb51]

Gosh I'm not alone! All this unexplained pain we are all suffering.  Most of the posts are about explained symptoms of meno or HRT etc. 

I've started to monitor and keep a record of my pain and tingling (feels more like a hot buzz actually) just to see if I can find a pattern after all.  Then when I go back to the Gp I will have something to fight with as my go is not very helpful unless it's to refer me to a specialist.

I hope you all find some relief for your pain and help.  Xx

[Juanita]

Hi Deb
I have just joined forum , intrigued by your post , I have tingling feeling in back of my hand the top of my feet my face just one side and top lip ,I started migraines about six weeks ago and the GP and I think it is because of the menopause , I get the the tingly feeling worse just before a migraine . But the hand and top of the foot are there most of the time in the background . Started on menopace which has magnesium in but might double check if It is high enough dose . It's a weird experience . Good luck with yours

[Puffin Mama]

Sparkle, that's exactly what it is - a fizzing feeling! I've had it for the past 3 days and am desperate for it to wear off as it makes my legs feel so weak and odd. I have been taking magnesium tablets every night for the past few days and my thumb is twitching less. I am also sleeping slightly better but I have awful joint and muscle aches. I think I may try a liquid supplement as I don't think I absorb things that well. Hope everyone is feeling a bit better today
Puffin x

[Deb51]

Hi puffin mama, try Epsom salts in your bath or a foot bath if you are a shower person instead of bath.  A 20min soak with a cupful of salts is pure magnesium sulphate.  I read that if you take tablets (poor quality ones) you don't absorb them they just act as a laxative.  Epsom salts is better as it doesn't go through you like a dose of salts( pardon the pun) it gets absorbed through the skin. A great muscle relaxer after a hard day and very good for the heart muscles!

[Puffin Mama]

Hi Debbie
Thanks for that  - I had been planning to get some Epsom salts and  see what effect they have so will follow your advice over the weekend.   My legs are actually feeling a bit better but now my throat is playing up again! - it's like a merry-go-round (not in a nice way!!),  I get rid of one weird symptom and another one resurfaces. 
Shall look forward to my relaxing bath!
Puffin x

[Deb51]

I've been signed off by my neurologist because he can't find any reasons why I have this nerve buzzing and pains in my hands and feet.  He suggested I go back to my GP for arthritis pills! The check of it!  I have had so many blood tests that prove I don't have arthritis or any disease or deficiencies in vitamins and minerals but that was his answer!
I have been seeing a lovely physiotherapist since my op in October and she has asked all her colleagues, read books and enquired with every professional medical person she comes in contact with about my symptoms, bless her.  She has come up with the fact that I was given steroids at the time of my op that could have caused my nervous system to have a reaction and that the neurologist would hardly agree with that as it is not medically proved.  I do not feel ill with the buzzing hands and feet and I feel it's more like an allergy.  This reaction along with menopause after the shock of the op I could agree with.
My letter from the neurologist was very detailed from all the tests I had and I was pleased to know I have no nerve pinching or disease or deficiency, but I was frustrated with no answer to my problem. 
I've started taking Promensil with red clover isoflavones (high in natural isoflavones phytoestrogens) I'll see how it goes and report back soon.

[Briony]

Hi Debs,

Although younger than you, my story is very similar. I have lost count of the number of MRIs I've had and varied diagnosis - none of which has helped.  Wasn't until a neurologist assessing me for MS suggested that hormone related  fluid retention can cause issues similar to Carpel Tunnel, but in different places (for me it was my shoulder and fingers initially, then later my ankle, foot and random toes) that I found answers. It is believed that what f-r does is niggle the nerves, but as nothing is actually trapped, it won't show up easily in MRIs/nerve conduction tests (though thinking back, the physician who did my nerve study did mention issues relating to a woman's cycle; at the time I thought he was nuts). It got to  the point I couldn't wear rings, necklaces, bras with straps or normal ankle socks without pain and or tingling. I was so scared. It put an end to my love of running too.

A few years down the line, the only advice I can give you is: eliminate vit B12, iron  etc deficiency  (if you haven't already); push to see an endocrinologist (in case it's another hormone causing the problem - you can then be referred to a gyn. if required); if they offer ADs for pain/symptom relief, agree only if they still agree to investigate further and read up on their side effects first (I ended up in casualty on one!); remember that the symptoms will probably go -  they may return again too, but it will once again ease; keep a diary so you can look for connections between symptoms and hormones;  find a sympathetic GP, ideally a DRCOG qualified one, and don't be afraid to move practice if you're not happy (best thing I ever did); once you know it's hormonal, don't worry about damaging yourself in the gym/exercising. Instead, listen to your body, alter your routine if necessary (I now have to cycle rather than run) but try to avoid doing no exercise at all if your'e used to it previously - providing you're not in pain; try not to feel like you're 'weird' because your symptoms aren't like the majority of people's on here, nor convince yourself it can't therefore be hormonal (I've never had a hot flush, for example, and for a long time believed this meant that I had some form of undiagnosed illness rather than crazy hormones - this meant a worried even more!).

Sorry if that sounds long winded. I just wanted to get across what I wish I had known three years ago. Now, thanks to this site and its amazing forum members and a wonderful new GP, I have trialled both HRT and Qlaira and have found a lot of relief. Have bad days, still, but now I feel far more in control of both my mind and my body.

Good luck x

PS Have you googled the 34 symptoms of menopause site? V reassuring.