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Hip pain in middle of the night; dull ache that wakes me up. What could it be?

By Anonymous April 28, 2009 - 1:11pm
 
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I am in my mid-30s, and have recently been having pain in my hips in the middle of the night. It reminds me of the RLS (restless leg syndrome) commercials, although I do not have any of these symptoms (no needle-sensation, no crawling-sensation). It is a dull ache, and I try to move my hips and legs around to get rid of the pain (it feels like it is deep inside, not a muscle or bone), but moving it seems to irritate it a little more. It is actually not on my hip bone, but closer to the middle of my "gluteus maximus" on each side. It's been happening the past few weeks, always around 2am or 3am and wakes me up.

I've been taking some ibuprofen, and eventually falling back asleep, but would rather not have to keep taking medication.

When I was pregnant with my child 3 years ago, I had a real problem with my sciatic (spelling?) nerve in my hips. Feels similar, but not the same.

Any suggestions?

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EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

I wrote the above and wanted to describe the sensation I am feeling today. It feels like Icy Hot has been rubbed all over my left leg and foot.

July 28, 2010 - 7:45am
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger (reply to Anonymous)

Anon - Thanks for both sets of comments. It's good to know that you will be getting an appointment and looking after your health. If you haven't poked around the EmpowHER site yet, please do. We have a lot of good information from other women who've had some of the experiences you've gone through, and we also have a lot of helpful articles, and much more.
Please keep us updated and let us know how your appointment goes, we wish you the best!
Take care, Pat

July 28, 2010 - 5:28pm

I began to get pain on my hip area at night when i was in my mid 30's I would wake up and it would be really sore to move. Went to a doctor and they had no idea, went to a herbilist and they recomended magnesiem in liquard form that i have just before i go to bed. It seems to releive the soreness most nights, I can get proper sleep! It doesnt cure it, if i dont take it it comes back, but I dont take it every night and it seems ok. Maybe this might help some of you, I know it made a huge difference for me!

June 30, 2010 - 12:34am
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger

Anon - It must be frustrating for you to deal with this pain and to have seen doctors and go through tests but still have no answers. There are a number of conditions which can cause hip pain that will not show on the exams that you had. This article is a pretty comprehensive overview of hip pain causes, why don't you take a look and let us know what you think?
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hip_pain/article_em.htm

June 28, 2010 - 5:20pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I am so glad to hear I am not alone!!
I am 44 have been a runner for 15 years and I have this dull aching in my left hip. I have been to my PCP an orthopedic doc, and had x rays and an MRI-which showed nothing. For example if I sit in a hard chair for a couple of hours the next day my hip aches. Sometimes when it rains it aches. I sit all day at work but run approximately 8-12 miles a week. Any suggestions???

June 28, 2010 - 12:51pm

Hey there. While I don't wish my hip problems on anyone, I must say it's great tp have found this site and to see that others have the exact same symptoms as I do ... especially another male around my own age. I'm a pretty fit 60 year old and ex-marathon runner who has never had such hip and glute pain before. Some associated lower back pain also, but over the past three months have been getting very little sleep because of it. Have even worried about the possibility of kidney and/or bone cancer ... and I've never been one for looking on the "dark side" - always positive, but lack of sleep and stress do get you down if they go on too long.

I have wondered also about the nightime medication I take too, although have been taking these for a long time now. 500mg metformin hydrochloride (Diabex XR) for borderline diabetes, plus 2.5mg Crestor & 3000mg fish oil to maintain cholesterol below 4. I'm visiting my Specialist in two weeks time and intend bouncing this off him. I know statins can cause muscular problems, but my dosage is so low I'd wonder about that having an affect.

Anyway, thanks for all the good avenues for research and trial, and I'll post again after specialist advice if I find out anything new.

Hang in there my fellow hippies!!

April 28, 2010 - 5:09am
Expert HERWriter Guide Blogger (reply to adamous)

adamous - It's nice to have you with us. It looks like you're going to be quite a contributor, and we wish you the best for your appointment with your specialist. I hope you'll update us and stay in touch. Pat

April 28, 2010 - 6:57pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I too have been suffering the past 2 weeks from rabid hip pain, in both hips, though the left is much worse (and the side that I tend to lie on the most) - I orignally put it down to the fact that the sprung base of my bed was older than me by about 15 years, and got rid of it, putting the fairly new mattress on the ground to test that out. One week later, and I've now decamped to the spare room and I am really starting to suffer from lack of sleep. Nothing seems to work. I'm going to buy a new bed tomorrow in the hopes that it really is the mattress and not yet another ailment (diabetes & high blood pressure being top of the list). I'm just praying it's nothing serious....I'm only 29 and my 70 year old mother is in better shape than I am! Will definately be following this thread as it's good to see other reasons for what's going wrong!

April 24, 2010 - 3:11pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I am a 55 yr old woman who has had bouts of hip pain over the last 15 years. The bouts typically start at night, awakening me out of sleep and vary from a dull ache to a feeling of "bombs going off in my hip or hips". The bouts can occur in one hip or both and can last anywhere from a few hours to a full day or two and can occur every few months. Ibuprophen sometimes helps a little and walking during the bouts is possible but sore at times. I have found that lying on my stomach while in bed, and rotating my hips outwardly provides more relief than anyrhing I can take for the pain although it only helps for as long as you can stay in that position. Early on, doctor examinations and scans never really showed anything wrong. My primary care finally sent me to an orthopedic doctor 2 years ago who finally diagnosed CHRONIC HIP BURSITIS AKA TROCHANTERIC BURSITIS AKA GTPS. He said most cases of hip bursitis occur only once, never to return, but said there are those few who develop chronic cases. It commonly awakens those who have it, out of their sleep. Just as a note to those who have posted, I did have severe sciatica years back during a pregnancy and wonder if there is any correlation to having developed this condition as many of the causes listed during my searches do not "seem to fit". There are those cases that develop without any apparent cause. I hope this helps someone who has posted here. Go to a search engine to bring up more info on symptoms, causes and treatment.

April 19, 2010 - 1:52am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

This matches my experience - deep pain when I lie on my side, relieved by lying on my back with my knees apart ("frog" position, I guess you'd call it.) I'm going to look up "revenge of the piriformis", which sounds like the most likely thing to me. This doesn't act like bursitis or sciatica. Doctors will give their best guess, but often have gaps in their knowledge; doing your own research is important, as you're the most invested in solving the problem. . .

August 9, 2010 - 8:55am
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