Michelle King Robson, EmpowHER's founder, explains why she had joint pain after her hysterectomy.
Michelle King Robson:
After having my hysterectomy, I started experiencing joint pain. And I thought that that was, you know, something that I had maybe picked up something the wrong way, or I had exercised and I had hurt my knee, or I had maybe hit my elbow. And I didn’t realize it, but really what was happening to me was that the joint pain was traveling kind of all over my body.
So it would go from a finger into a knee, to an elbow, back to one of my hands, and it was constantly in motion, even my ankles. And I just thought, well, this is really odd because I have never really experienced anything like this before. And I thought, gosh, could I have the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, for example. I mean, I had no idea, but it would come and go. So it wasn’t consistent, and that’s what made me kind of think, hmmm, something’s not right here, and I just got to get to the bottom of this.
And what I discovered was, in my case, because I didn’t have enough estradiol in my system, I was getting joint pain, and for women, that’s what happens. They get joint pain, and it travels. It will go from one knee to another knee. It will go from a finger to a hand, to a wrist even, to an ankle. I mean, it can travel all over the body, and yet you’ll be diagnosed. And hips is also another area that I hear about a lot on the site.
It will go from area to area, and you don’t know what it is, and typically you’ll go in and they’ll say, “Take some ibuprofen; put some ice on it. Maybe you injured it somehow.” And really, that’s not what it is. It’s just that your hormones are not balanced and you don’t have enough of something in your system, and that’s what’s causing you to have the joint pain.
Once you get the balance back, the joint pain goes away. It’s amazing how it goes away. And now today, if I don’t do, for example, if I forget to switch my patch out, because I take an estradiol patch, I use one to balance my own estradiol. And when I don’t switch my patch out like I should, all of a sudden, I have that joint pain. It will be in one knee or another, and it instantly tells me, “Ah, you forgot to do this,” and it’s just a great reminder.
You will know your body so well, and actually we, as women, know our bodies so well already. We just aren’t tapping into it, and we’re just thinking, “Oh, you know, it’s got to be something else.” No, no, no – there’s something to this. If something is going on with you, there’s a reason why it is happening to you and you need to get to the doctor and you need to figure it out.
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Add a Comment7 Comments
I am the exact same nearly seven weeks since complete hysterectomy. Am in absolute agony with joint and muscle pain. I can't bend down to pick something , my hands, feer, back, shoulders everything in complete agony. So down
June 17, 2018 - 7:56amThis Comment
I had a total hysterectomy one year ago,
June 17, 2018 - 1:05pmand have not had this experience.
However, I had gone through menopause
12 years before my hysterectomy & asked
the dr what would happen afterwards -
He said nothing, because I had already
gone through menopause. And my menopause
was easy - nothing happened.
After the hysterectomy? EVERYTHING
happened. I did get hot flashes for the
first time & the dr gave me premarin creme
to use 2x a week, inserted into vagina, just
a very small amount.
And it has worked out well for me, so perhaps
you need a bit of estrogen to help you over
the rough spots -
Good Luck!!
This Comment
Hello i am 40 years old a d i had a the surgery and it got infected i went back in they cleaned it back out and left it open for me to pack ihave been having very bad join pain all over my arms and legs and the bottom of my feet and they don't know what's going on can someone help me.
October 22, 2014 - 6:21pmThis Comment
Hi. ill be 54years old this june25 Im a breast cancer survivor for 5years now and still taking tamoxifen and
June 21, 2010 - 2:55amwill stop tamoxifen according to my oncologist by Dec 15, 2010, i also have Hypertension, controlled diabetes
and osteoporosis, what i hate most is my back lower pain. Im taking daily calcium, and once a month ibandronate bonviva, im also taking metformin and atenolol. At least im doing a 3x a week stretching for 30 mins only. Im also having my every 6months check up. My bonedense result last week was negative from osteoporosis, but still the pain in my lower back occur. Im a filipina from Philippines, hope you can share to me other ways or hope to gain more health knowledge with this group
thankyou and more power.
This Comment
Hi Titabeth
Are you looking for any information in particular? Maybe I can help you find something?
Thank you for visiting the site.
June 21, 2010 - 3:54pmThis Comment
What kind of doctor does one see, my gyn or regular doctor or rheumatologist?
January 1, 2019 - 2:44pmThis Comment
Will estradiol help more than premarin??
October 14, 2017 - 3:59pmI am having dreadful pain 5 months after
total hysterectomy - back, hips, legs, feet.
This Comment