joint pain and breast feeding..??

[Sally81]

Does/has anyone else suffered joint pain post pregnancy or whilst still breast feeding?

I've had achey hands and wrists for a while since my son was born (he's nearly 18 weeks) which is becoming bothersome.

But worse is my sore knees! getting up and down is a bit painful at the moment and I feel like an old woman. I've honestly been worried that I have the early onset of arthritis or similar but my husband reckons it's down to breast feeding and it'll all get better when I stop....

Really?? Anyone else shed any light or experienced the same?

[Fuschia]

I had joint pain after child no was born and the physio said it was the after effects of pg

I am not sure if there is a link with bf per se but it didn't recur with subsequent bsbies - perhaps due to feeding chair and better bed

[Pickle]

Yes, definitely, and I think it's fairly normal. While you're breastfeeding your ligaments etc. stay very soft/flexible, which can lead to joint pain - for me it was my back that caused me the most bother.

It will get better with time, but if you're worried or in real pain you should see your GP.

[buggie]

I seem to stiffen up way quicker than I did pre-baby and have ongoing tendonitis in my non-dominant wrist (annoyingly the side I'd be most likely to hold bugglet on).... am rubbish at medical stuff concerning me, so while I sussed the wrist was a pregnancy overhang, I just thought reduced fitness/increased tiredness was causing the stiffness!!

[Fuschia]

This is interesting

http://www.arthritis-treatment-and-relief.com/joint-pain-related-to-post-partum.html

I think it would be sensible to see the gp to rule out anything worrying

[JS33]

I had severe wrist pain after giving birth, as did several of my friends. Apparently, something called De Quervain syndrome is common among new mothers. (I also had some other tendon issues, including a bad problem with one thumb.) I found that wearing a brace that kept my wrist straight helped a lot. Eventually the problem with my thumb got bad enough that I was referred to specialist who recommended either a steroid injection or minor surgery, but luckily it more or less cleared up by itself before the NHS was able to schedule the surgery.

[new mother]

I had the same pains without even an attempt to breastfeed! I wonder if it is from lifting the baby and unaccustomed weight stretching the various ligaments then settling down again....

[Kes]

Sally81 - It'd be worth asking the GP, it's probably just the a hangover from the pregnancy and carrying the baby about, but I had a lot of aches and felt like I'd aged about 20 years after I'd had my daughter, after many months it turned out I had a thyroid problem caused by the pregnancy, started on pills for it and felt like a new woman! I know someone who had a form of arthritis caused by pregnancy too, so probably best to rule those out. Hope you're on the mend soon.

[Sally81]

I've been feeling a little bit better the past day or so, but it all comes and goes. Like most of you have mentioned, I definitely have a bad back too. I've always had problems with my lower back, but I obviously put the recent aches and pains down to bending, lifting, carrying, pushing buggy, feeding, changing...takes its toll eh?!

I will certainly mention everything to my GP but to be honest I don't feel I have much faith in GPs nowadays. I feel very fobbed off by them most of the time and I have a feeling they'll tell me to wait and see if it gets better, which I will.

But if it doesn't, I'll chase it up, especially in light of your post Kes- thank you and I'm glad you got to the bottom of your problem. I did have a few tears the other night as I felt physically wrecked! Do you mind me asking what your symptoms were?

[newcomer]

Pregnancy, breastfeeding and the associated hormones have all sorts of unwanted side effects on the body. Check out this earlier link which talks about the link between joint pain and relaxin.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,580291,586826#msg-586826

Another thing to check is to make sure you're getting enough calcium. Pregnancy robs your body of a lot of your calcium stores and you might need to try to build them up again. I hate dairy, so I ended up taking a daily calcium supplement.

[Kes]

Hi Sally,

My symptoms included extreme tiredness, aching all over, very heavy periods and little weight loss post pregnancy despite exclusive breast feeding. The problem of course is that many of these things sound "normal" for a new Mum and it was only after I started treatment that I realised how I was feeling was more extreme. I was also quite depressed at the time, this is a symptom and wasn't helped by the fact that I felt I was being pathetic (everyone feels like this and they're all doing ok etc) not that I was ill! The one more specific symptom is a goitre (swelling in the neck) and fortunately for me a med student friend spotted I had this and suggested I get tested, I've never been able to see it myself but if it wasn't for her I don't think I'd ever have thought to go to the GP about it. Thankfully the tests and treatment are very straightforward and the first few weeks on the pills I felt like superwoman!

I've written a couple of blog posts about it too:

http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.com/2010/07/bit-of-medical-rant.html

http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.com/2011/05/czech-out-this-new-research.html

This is a bit of a common rant of mine now - if it'd been picked up sooner I'm sure I'd have been able to enjoy my little ones early months far more than I did.

Of course this may well not be the problem for you but I'd just ask the GP outright about it as they might not think of it otherwise. - Good luck!

K

[Fidgetsmum]

My knees have been terrible after both births and two things have helped - firstly, accepting that your body is different after giving birth and the relaxin hangs around for a while (after my first child, it took a year before me knees were back to normal). Also, core exercises are important for everything, particularly backache, leg joint aches but even for your arms - if your core muscles are strong, the angle you stand at is different and puts pressure in different places in your arms.

Do check that you're not anaemic with the GP and if you can afford it, go and see a postnatal physiotherapist - I did, only for four sessions, and it really really helped.

Good luck.

[Fuschia]

I went to the go feeling unwell a few weeks post baby snd they automatically tested my thyroid iron snd urine

[Saffron]

I agree with Fidgetsmum. The relaxin hormone hangs around postpartum. And, even when the relaxin has gone, the effects (loose ligaments etc) will linger for some time. I had tendonitis in both knees postpartum b/c of this. I also had back pain, but the GP kinda ignored this at first. Turns out the back is probably arthritis and NOT pregnancy related. So it pays to keep going back to the drs if you don't succeed at first. xx