Kelly

Jun 15 · Replied

Community post

Thank you J.S., and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.

Jun 15 · Posted

Kelly, 57. Been on HRT for nearly nine years now and honestly my joints are the thing nobody asks about and I never quite know how to bring up. Like, I mention the hot flushes at the GP because that's the easy one. I don't mention that my knees feel like wet gravel every morning or that my hands ache after I've been carrying the grandkids' stuff around all afternoon. It's just become the background noise of my life and I've sort of... accepted it? Which I'm not sure is the right thing to do. I started doing a proper walking plan about four months ago, nothing dramatic, just building up distance slowly and going out most days. The knees have actually settled a bit, which surprised me. Or maybe I've just stopped noticing. Hard to tell. What I do want to ask my GP next month, and I'm writing it here so I actually remember to say it out loud, is about staying on HRT long term. I'm 57, I feel better on it than off it, but I've never had a proper conversation about what the ongoing picture looks like for my bones and joints specifically. Every review feels a bit rushed and I always leave thinking I should have pushed harder. Also been trying to eat more protein. Not obsessively, just making sure there's actually something in my lunch other than toast. Feels vaguely sensible. x

Jun 13 · Replied

Community post

Just popping back to say thank you, especially Tamsin. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.

Jun 12 · Posted

57 and I talk about my knees to absolutely nobody. Not my sister, not my husband, not at book group. I just quietly accommodate them. I stopped kneeling down to sort the bottom of the dishwasher. I get out of the car differently now. I didn't decide to do these things, I just started doing them and one day noticed I had. It's the joint pain that's got under my skin more than anything else from the last few years. Not the flushes (gone, mostly), not the sleep (better on HRT), not even the brain fog. The joints. And yet it's the thing I mention least because it makes me feel old in a way I'm not ready to feel. I've started walking every morning. Nothing dramatic, just out before my husband is up, forty minutes, same route. I tell myself it's for my head but honestly it's because I read something about weight-bearing activity and bone density and it scared me enough to get my trainers on. I've got a DEXA scan question written in my phone for my next GP appointment. I've been on HRT for six years and I want to actually talk through what that means long-term, properly, not just a repeat prescription conversation. Also eating more protein than feels normal. Eggs at breakfast, which I never used to bother with. No idea if it's doing anything yet. Just wanted to write it down somewhere. The thing I feel most and say least. x

Jun 8 · Replied

Community post

Thank you J.S., and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.

Jun 8 · Replied

Community post

Thank you J.S., and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.

Jun 8 · Posted

57 and I have become one of those people who talks about the weather, the grandkids, what's on telly. What I don't talk about is my hips. Or my knees. Or the way my hands feel like they've been left in the fridge overnight. I just... don't bring it up. My husband asks how I am and I say fine because honestly where would I even start. I've been on HRT for nearly eight years and it's done a lot for me, genuinely. But the joints have crept up quietly and I think I've been pretending they haven't. Did my first proper walk this week, like an actual intentional one with a route and everything, not just nipping to the shops. Forty minutes. My knees complained the whole second half but I went anyway and then I sat in the garden and felt weirdly proud of myself for about ten minutes before the stiffness set in. GP appointment in a couple of weeks and I want to ask about long-term HRT, whether the joint stuff is connected, whether there's anything I should be looking at. I've also been trying to eat more protein since someone mentioned it in a thread here and I have no idea if it's doing anything yet but it feels like something I can actually control. Anyway. Just nice to say the hip thing out loud somewhere. x

Jun 8 · Posted

I need to tell someone who will actually understand why this is a big deal, because my husband just said "well done love" in the way he does when he's also watching the football. So. Background. My knees have been the thing I don't really talk about. I mention the sleep, I mention the hot flushes, I've had the long-term HRT chat with my GP more times than I can count. But the joint pain has been quietly getting worse for about two years and I kept just... not leading with it. Partly because I didn't want to sound like I was falling apart, partly because every appointment there's always something more urgent to mention. Silly really. Anyway. Earlier this year I made myself write it down properly. Not a dramatic list, just a note on my phone. When it's worst (mornings, always mornings, getting out of bed is a whole event), which joints (knees and one hip, the left one), whether it eases through the day (it does, mostly, by mid-morning I'm usually alright). I took that to my GP in March and it felt so different to just trying to describe it on the spot. She actually listened. We talked about bone health, she mentioned a DEXA scan which I'm on the waiting list for, and she asked about my activity levels which, honestly, were not impressive. So I started walking. Nothing heroic. Just started going out in the morning before the day got away from me. Ten minutes at first, genuinely. I felt a bit daft. But I kept going and I kept adding to it and I didn't push it on the days my knees were grumpy. Saturday I did five miles around the reservoir near us. It took me nearly two hours because I'm not fast and I stopped to look at some ducks for an embarrassingly long time. But I did it. And my knees ached a bit after but it was the normal kind of ache, not the oh no kind. And I felt, I don't know. Like myself again? Like the version of me that isn't just managing. I'm 57. I used to think that ship had sailed. It hasn't. That's all I wanted to say really. It genuinely hasn't 🤞 x

Jun 7 · Posted

The thing about joint pain is that it doesn't feel dramatic enough to make a fuss about. It's not a crisis. It's just there. Every morning, stiff hips, achy hands, and I sort of shuffle to the kettle and wait for it to ease off and then get on with the day and don't mention it to anyone. 57 here, post-meno, been on HRT for a few years and it has genuinely helped with a lot of things. But the joints... I'm honestly not sure where HRT ends and just ageing begins and I have a review coming up where I want to ask properly about continuing long-term. I keep reading different things and I want to hear my GP's actual view for someone my age rather than a general leaflet answer. The walking has helped me more than anything else I've tried. I started doing a proper route, about 40 minutes, three or four times a week, and I notice it when I stop. Not dramatic, just a baseline that's slightly better. I've been trying to get more protein in because I read it matters for muscle and I don't want to lose more than I already have. Eggs, chicken, a bit of cottage cheese which I have made my peace with. I just find it odd that the symptom I feel most constantly is the one I talk about least. Maybe because it sounds like moaning. Maybe because people just say "oh yes, getting older" and change the subject. Glad this room exists honestly.